Orioles bring in Elias to lead rebuild
Youthful executive helped transform Astros into 2017 World Series champs
Houston Astros assistant general manager Mike Elias was hired Friday to rebuild the Baltimore Orioles, who traded many of their star players last season before finishing with the worst record in the majors.
Elias will carry the title of executive vice-president and general manager.
He will “oversee all baseball operations for the club and have full autonomy to build his staff and make decisions on all baseball matters,” the Orioles said in a statement.
Elias will be introduced at a news conference in Baltimore on Monday. The 35-year-old comes to the Orioles after working as scouting director and assistant GM in Houston, where he helped transform a last-place team into 2017 World Series champions.
Elias replaces executive vicepresident of baseball operations Dan Duquette, who was fired with manager Buck Showalter in October after Baltimore’s dreadful 47115 season.
One of Elias’ first tasks will be to find a new manager. He can then turn his attention toward reconstructing a team that was overhauled at the midpoint of the worst season since the Orioles arrived in Baltimore in 1954.
Elias served as a scout with the St. Louis Cardinals before being hired in 2012 by Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow.
He helped shape an Astros roster that produced successive 100-win seasons and three playoff appearances in the last four years, one of which ended with a World Series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
During his stint in Houston, the team had the top pick in the draft three times. Elias received much of the credit for Houston’s No. 1 overall selection of Carlos Correa in the 2012 draft. He’ll likely have the last word when the Orioles use the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s draft.