Questions about Elias and the Rutschman trade | MAILBAG

Question: Mike Elias’ trade of Adley Rutschman seems like an admission of failure, and establishes a good case for termination. We’ve entrusted the team to his care for eight years, and this is what he gives us. The Orioles seem to have a great deal of trouble fully developing their young talent, so I wonder why do we keep stockpiling more and more prospects that we will end up ruining? From: Al Spoler

Answer: Al, you speak for a lot of fans that I’ve heard from, before and after the trade.

As you may know, I wrote that the Orioles shouldn’t trade him, and I didn’t think they would trade him. If the Orioles are serious about contending in the final 50 games of this season and in 2027, Rutschman is an important piece, and I don’t think you automatically have to trade players as they near free agency. Having a frontline catcher for another season-plus is a great thing.

Elias has done some good things. When he arrived there wasn’t any presence in Latin America. Now, the Orioles have Samuel Basallo and the likelihood of more players coming from that region.

The Orioles had the smallest analytics department in baseball when he arrived. Now, they have a large one.

He’s made some good trades for Kyle Bradish, Yennier Cano and Blaze Alexander.

I have been critical of his failure to draft pitchers in early rounds, and I think a huge failing has been the failure to surround his young players with veterans, though the signing of Pete Alonso was a good move.

The failure of the young, core players to develop falls on him, and the team hasn’t won a playoff game during his time.

In 2025 and 2026, Elias acquired a significant number of highly rated young pitchers. Some of them won’t develop, but if a few of them do, that’s great. They developed Brandon Young, who wasn’t drafted into a good starter. They can also trade some of them for needed position players.

Question: Do you think fans are too harsh on Mike Elias? Not a one of us knows one-hundredth as much about baseball as Elias does. Not a one of us doesn’t make bad as well as good decisions at work.

Under the circumstances the deals involving Rutschman and Ward were about as productive as you could expect.

Let’s be patient and see how it all plays out. After all, we could still make the playoffs. From: Ron Somers

Answer: Ron, I didn’t aim to juxtapose pro and anti-Elias questions here. You also represent a large number of fans, though the majority of comments I receive are critical of Elias.

Part of being a sports fan is believing you know as much or more as a manager, coach or general manager. Of course, you don’t believe you know as much as your doctor or accountant, but sports is supposed to be fun, and having critical opinions is part of it.

It’s also part of my job to encourage readers to express their opinions, and they’re often critical of things that I write, which is part of the job.

There’s a lot more to being a general manager than just making trades. Considering the youth and inexperience of the three prospects acquired for Rutschman, I think you’d have to wait at least three years to fairly evaluate the trade. 

Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. If you’d like to submit a question, send it to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com. Questions may be edited for clarity, length and style.