Calling the Pen: Orioles’ Elias has done his part to restore hope

Hope springs eternal is a phrase that greets each new baseball season. It reflects the optimism that accompanies spring training and Opening Day.

It’s not enough, though, to just hope things will be better. There needs to be action behind it. Otherwise, it becomes an exercise in expecting a different outcome while doing the same thing. That’s not a sane approach but one closer to insanity.

For a short while during the offseason, I was convinced that was going to be the approach of Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias. He would continue to make the small moves while banking on a resurgence from his young core players — Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg, Colton Cowser and Jackson Holliday.

And while I wasn’t sold on trading away the often-injured but highly gifted starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez for Angels outfielder Taylor Ward, Elias was just getting warmed up. He pulled off the stunner when he signed premier slugger Pete Alonso, which no one saw coming since he already had two right-handed hitting first basemen, and the Alonso contract is for five years and $155 million.

That’s when it hit me that Elias wasn’t going to disappoint again this offseason after his team’s disappointing 2025 season when the Orioles went 75-87 and finished last in the American League East. He wasn’t going to just hope for better results from his core, which the Orioles will need, but he was taking action to ensure 2026 will be a better year.

He also secured a closer, Ryan Helsley, brought back a dependable reliever in Andrew Kittredge, and bolstered the starting rotation by trading for Shane Baz and re-signing Zach Eflin. And I don’t believe he’s finished.

The moves prompted this prediction from ESPN writer Eric Karabell: The Baltimore Orioles will win the 2026 World Series.

The Orioles finished last in the AL East in 2025, but their 75 wins were the most for fifth-place entrants. Gunnar Henderson should return to his 2024 form. Trevor Rogers may continue with his 2025 form. Top prospect Samuel Basallo will be a breakout star. The Orioles aren’t messing around, and don’t be surprised when Jackson Holliday becomes a legit AL All-Star and he makes a 30/30 run.

I’m also expecting results from hitting coach Dustin Lind, who will play a key role on new manager Craig Albernaz’s staff. I’m thinking that Lind, Albernaz and the rest of his team will help Rutschman regain his batting stroke and confidence, that Henderson will hit with power again, that Cowser will cut down on his strikeouts, that Holliday will stop pulling away on pitches that result in fly balls to left, and that Basallo will show why the Orioles gave him an eight-year extension.

For Westburg and Tyler O’Neill, health is the key for them to have a productive season.

The starting pitching still needs an ace, and I’d be surprised if Elias didn’t take care of that before he wraps up his offseason.

He is the one who tore down the existing but decaying structure after he was hired in 2018. He is the one who has built this team with promising young players. He is the one whose ascending team has been in decline for a year and a half. He is the one in whom I had lost confidence that he was capable of bringing home a champion.

He is the one who has resurrected hope for 2026. He has done it through action.