I’ll resist the urge to make snap judgments on the hiring and introductory press conference of Jared Banner, the new Orioles general manager.
However, there are several things I’m curious about.
During the season whenever there’s major news—or it’s been more than several weeks since he spoke—Mike Elias would brief us.
Many of those briefings weren’t brief at all. Since Elias gives lengthy answers, and it’s been a long time since the last one, those sessions often stretched for 20 minutes or more.
During the season will Elias be the one answering questions? Or will it be Banner?
With many teams having both a president of baseball operations and a general manager, it’s usually the higher ranking official who’s the face of the organization.
Elias is very formal, and doesn’t stick around for bantering with the press.
Banner, whose answers were much shorter than Elias’, displayed a welcome sense of humor and seemed at ease in front of an unfamiliar audience.
It was interesting to hear Elias say that Banner’s area of influence would be on the players, coaches, player development and healthcare. Elias will concentrate on scouting, signings and acquisitions.
Those are areas that Elias is often asked about during his sessions. Those are also areas where a person at ease with people rather than processes could help.
“I think he’s better than I am in those areas,” Elias said.
It was a welcome sign of self-awareness from Elias.
Elias pointed out that the Orioles have a small front office. Besides Banner, they have three assistant general managers — Sig Mejdal, Eve Rosenbaum and Brendan Fournie. Mejdal, who has headed the analytic department since arriving with Elias in November 2018, is transitioning to a new role but will remain with the club.
Matt Blood, who had been with the team since 2019, left near the end of the season. His most recent title was vice president, player and staff development.
Elias said there’s more hiring coming.
“We have done a lot in that regard, but this is still an area where we still have room for improvement, where we need to grow,” he said. “We are working on growing our operation. It’s been really small. It’s not necessarily the worst thing in the world. There’s positives to that. We feel we’re at a point where continuing to grow baseball ops is on the agenda.
“Jared’s going to be spearheading some searches in the next couple of weeks, and he’s already hit the ground running.”
Elias was promoted to his current role before the 2025 season and didn’t find a suitable general manager until now.
“He’s been on successful teams. He’s led multiple departments. He’s got a great reputation,” Elias said about Banner.
Banner needs to get to know the players and staff quickly. With a lockout widely expected on December 1st when the Collective Bargaining Agreement ends, he won’t have much time.
“It’s business as usual. The first thing I’m doing is getting on the phone with everyone I can,” he said.
Besides talking with manager Craig Albernaz, Banner has spent time with Cal Ripken Jr., and spoke with Oriole greats Jim Palmer and Adam Jones.
Former players have often felt ignored under Elias, and if Banner can develop relationships with them, that would be a positive.
“I’m looking to listen, learn, understand Orioles tradition and culture and see what fresh perspective I can have,” Banner said.
Banner will try to bring what he’s learned from two recent World Series winning teams, the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, and one that’s disappointed, the New York Mets.
“We haven’t made any really big outside front office addition in many, many years,” Elias said. “Now that we’re in what we call the steady state of competitiveness in the American League East, where we want to be on the horse competing in this division year-in and year-out, we thought it made sense to try to grow and bring in impact in the front office from the outside and see what different perspectives are out there and ways that we can improve.”
Banner said he’s learned from watching other teams.
“I think there are things to take away from all the clubs in the big leagues,” Banner said. “That’s one of the things I’m actually really good at, is stealing other people’s ideas. If we see something that someone else is doing better than we’re doing, we’ll have no shame in taking that idea.”
Bassitt wins award: Oriole starter Chris Bassitt was named the winner of the Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award by the Major League Baseball Player Association. The award, part of the Players Choice Awards, is named after Miller, who was the first executive director of the Players Association.
It recognizes the player “whose leadership most inspires others to higher levels of achievement.”
Bassitt, who’s a member of the Executive Committee of the Players Association has “provided leadership and a steady reliable voice in his role.”
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: [email protected]