Orioles hire Mike Elias as Executive Vice President and GM

[now]

9 hours ago, Frobby said:

Here’s a couple of Fangraphs interviews of Elias, mentioned in Melewski’s column today.

From 2014: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/qa-mike-elias-houston-astros-director-of-amateur-scouting/

From 2017: https://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/mike-elias-on-drafting-and-developing-astros-pitchers/

The main thing I got out of these articles is that the Astros believe certain types of deliveries are more sustainable, and they tend to draft pitchers who already have those deliveries and coach them that way.   The philosophy of the development staff, the scouting department and even the major league coaches is all in sync that way.    

Wow, what a huge breath of fresh air (I mean, sea change) that would be! So un-Oriole way... unless you go back a few decades maybe. So sick of them tinkering, botching, reinventing, tabooing, clockwatching, injuring... messing.

[connja]

How many front office positions does Elias need to fill? 

[mdbdotcom]

9 hours ago, connja said:

How many front office positions does Elias need to fill? 

That's a great question. 

Are the Orioles ready and willing to build a front office infrastructure comparable in depth and breadth to that of the Astros, or do they want to adopt the Astros philosophy without investing the financial and human resources needed to implement it?

On their mlb.com front office roster page, the Astros show 42 positions in Baseball Operations, including two Assistant General Managers and 6 Special Assistants to the General Manager.

The Red Sox show 39 Baseball Operations positions. 

The same page for the Orioles shows 11 positions. Maybe they just don't show the entire organization, or maybe they expect the GM to get more done with a lot less.

We shall see.

[Frobby]

1 minute ago, mdbdotcom said:

That's a great question. 

Are the Orioles ready and willing to build a front office infrastructure comparable in depth and breadth to that of the Astros, or do they want to adopt the Astros philosophy without investing the financial and human resources needed to implement it?

On their mlb.com front office roster page, the Astros show 42 positions in Baseball Operations, including two Assistant General Managers and 6 Special Assistants to the General Manager.

The Red Sox show 39 Baseball Operations positions. 

The same page for the Orioles shows 11 positions. Maybe they just don't show the entire organization, or maybe they expect the GM to get more done with a lot less.

We shall see.

They’ve lost a lot of people.   Not 25-30, but probably 10.    That explains part.   

[Ripken]

I suspect Elias could name 12-15 people right now that he will likely hire for a variety of positions.

[Frobby]

I showed my wife a picture of Mike Elias, and she said he looks a lot like Seth Myers.    You know, she’s right about that.   I’m not technically adept enough to post a side-by-side, but if it were posted (hint, hint) the resemblance would be pretty obvious.

[foxfield]

26 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I showed my wife a picture of Mike Elias, and she said he looks a lot like Seth Myers.    You know, she’s right about that.   I’m not technically adept enough to post a side-by-side, but if it were posted (hint, hint) the resemblance would be pretty obvious.

 

[ScottP]

3 hours ago, mdbdotcom said:

maybe they expect the GM to get more done with a lot less.

A whole lot of Les

[TonySoprano]

27 minutes ago, ScottP said:

A whole lot of Les

Happy thanksgiving

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly

[atomic]

11 hours ago, foxfield said:

 

They look nothing alike.  Seth's fore head is too big his eyes are droopy and his nose is too big for his face.  Elias face seems pretty proportional.

[Satyr3206]

On 11/17/2018 at 8:32 PM, atomic said:

 

I don't get that hitting a baseball is hardest thing to do in sports.  Tons of little kids can hit a baseball. How many people can do a quad loop in figure skating or triple backflip on a motorcycle or can climb k2.  

Tons of little kids don't bat against guys throwing 90 plus with a few more pitches. Just curious, have you ever done it? I have. Try it sometime. Not to mention you don't get to practice against the exact same thing again and again.

[atomic]

22 minutes ago, Satyr3206 said:

Tons of little kids don't bat against guys throwing 90 plus with a few more pitches. Just curious, have you ever done it? I have. Try it sometime. Not to mention you don't get to practice against the exact same thing again and again.

No I sucked hitting in little league. But Tillman threw 90 mph and no one had any problem hitting him.  Even Rookie ball hitters.  Pitchers get hits.  Much harder to cover top receiver in NFL.  You think Tom Brady could do that?

[accinfo]

12 hours ago, TonySoprano said:

Happy thanksgiving

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly

Maybe the greatest sitcom moments in television history!!!

[weams]

* I heard at the Winter Meetings that the contract of executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias runs for five years. No one in the organization has offered confirmation.

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2018/12/leftovers-for-breakfast-83.html

[Frobby]

1 hour ago, weams said:

* I heard at the Winter Meetings that the contract of executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias runs for five years. No one in the organization has offered confirmation.

http://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2018/12/leftovers-for-breakfast-83.html

Assuming that’s true, I like it.   That’s a lot of rope for a first-time GM, and he’s going to need a lot of it.