Connolly: Q&A with Mike Elias

[Mr. Chewbacca Jr.]

Dan Connolly recently just posted a two part Q&A with Mike Elias. Some really great answers on his approach to the rebuild and plan moving forward. I highly suggest reading it:

https://theathletic.com/1589224/2020/02/06/qa-with-orioles-gm-mike-elias-talking-second-year-strides-hires-and-promotions-and-the-astros/

[Can_of_corn]

Ah, sweet, sweet paywall. 

[Aristotelian]

Can you give a summary for those of us who do not subscribe?

I am a little surprised by Mike's dietary choice there. He looks like he is pretty fit and takes care of himself but that looks like a big old plate of grease and carbs. Come on, Mike, I want you to last a long time in this job!

[MurphDogg]

3 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

Ah, sweet, sweet paywall. 

$29.99 for a year with one of their frequent 50 percent off promotions. It is worth it to me.

[Can_of_corn]

5 minutes ago, MurphDogg said:

$29.99 for a year with one of their frequent 50 percent off promotions. It is worth it to me.

OK.

I'm rooting for them to fail.

[sportsfan8703]

8 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

OK.

I'm rooting for them to fail.

We may have found Dan Connolly's OH profile.  

Edited February 7, 2020 by sportsfan8703

[LTO's]

39 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

OK.

I'm rooting for them to fail.

It's clearly much better to read sports news on the websites with 74 intrusive ads playing at once.

[Can_of_corn]

2 minutes ago, LTO's said:

It's clearly much better to read sports news on the websites with 74 intrusive ads playing at once.

First off, https://adblockplus.org/

Secondly I didn't say that the reason I am rooting for them to fail is that they are a pay service.

 

[interloper]

What's the feeling on copy/pasting? I'd be happy to pull a few question/answers, but I don't know what's considered poor taste or against board rules, etc. 

[LTO's]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

I didn't say that the reason I am rooting for them to fail is that they are a pay service.

 

Ok good, my apologies. One of the most annoying things about that site are the people who feel the need to proudly announce that they will never pay for good sports writing. Some of the guys and gals there are great writers who do a lot of important work. The site isn't without it's issues though.

[wildcard]

6 minutes ago, interloper said:

What's the feeling on copy/pasting? I'd be happy to pull a few question/answers, but I don't know what's considered poor taste or against board rules, etc. 

Did Elias sat anything that we have nor heard before?

[interloper]

Just now, wildcard said:

Did Elias sat anything that we have nor heard before?

Not really, honestly. Still a really good read and fun to see him continue to never stumble in an interview. 

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, LTO's said:

Ok good, my apologies. One of the most annoying things about that site are the people who feel the need to proudly announce that they will never pay for good sports writing. Some of the guys and gals there are great writers who do a lot of important work. The site isn't without it's issues though.

As a plus member here on the OH saying that would put me in an awkward situation.

[wildcard]

9 minutes ago, interloper said:

Not really, honestly. Still a really good read and fun to see him continue to never stumble in an interview. 

See that is the thing.   I like to read Connolly's stuff but so far most of what he says I can get for nothing elsewhere.   Between the coverage of MASN, O's Hot Stove.  Baltimorebaseball.com and internet searches on the O's I just have not found a reason to spend $30 a year on the Athletic. Especially when I am mostly interested in the O's.

I had the on-line version of the Baltimore Sun while it on a $1 a month for a while then they switched me to $15 a month without telling me and that ended real fast.

I don't mind spending on good reporting when its something of value that is not available for free.  That is why I still have cable TV so I can watch the games.   I spend a ton on that.

[interloper]

Here are a couple from Part 2 that I thought were kind of interesting and will likely stir up some debate:

Quote

 

This was a question a reader posed to me and I’ll pose it to you. If the Orioles take another positive step and win, say, 65 to 70 games in 2020, that’s still probably last or fourth place in the division. But it also may drop the Orioles out of the Top 5 or Top 8 in the 2021 draft. Would that be counterproductive to what you’re trying to do in what is still relatively early in this rebuild?

I would love it. The more games that we win, the happier we are. I think what’s important is who is winning those games for you. Are the guys that are going to be here a while or have a chance to be here a while? And that’s the most important thing. I would love it if guys that are building towards being a part of what we hope is the next playoff-caliber team here take us to those win totals. The sooner, the better for me. But we can’t artificially force that along.

 

Quote

Are you done giving major-league contracts to free agents for 2020?

Not necessarily. We’re still engaging with people at the major-league-contract level.

Specifically, pitchers?

Yes.

Quote

 

When you were hired in 2018, you were told by ownership that you had the financial resources to make the moves needed to turn this organization around. Earlier this offseason, you traded Jonathan Villar for a minor-league pitcher in what appeared to be a way to shed salary. Do you feel like the financial wherewithal that you are now dealing with has changed?

It hasn’t changed, and we’re totally capable and on course of executing a rebuilding strategy like this. Right now, we’re in the phase where we’re hiring a lot of people; we’re building a lot of infrastructure, there’s a lot of work being done in the organization on both sides, both baseball and business. We’re also picking high in the draft. We’re maximizing our international expenditures, and there are a lot of investments that aren’t visible on the major-league payroll during a phase like this. You’d be surprised when you add it up. But at the time when it is necessary to apply our resources towards the major-league payroll in a bigger way, that makes strategic sense for where the team is at and what we’re trying to do when we’re at that point, we’re gonna have what we need. And we’ll also have the benefit of all of the work that we’re doing now to lay the foundation and have an internal pipeline of talent that will help us sustain that winning team.

 

Quote

 

How do you expect July 2, 2020 — the day to finalize and announce international signings — to compare to July 2, 2019, when you had a truncated period of time to sign international prospects? You and Perez now have had a full year of recruiting, but some top prospects are verbally committed to teams years before the official signing date.

We have spent roughly $5 million on the (July 2019) class. We had not wanted to spend money just to spend it if we didn’t think the players were any good. So, with us getting to $5 million, I think we are pleased with that. We’re pleased with the players that we got. And given that both Koby and I came in well after the process for that July 2 (class) started in earnest, it was a pretty big achievement for us. I think the big reason we were able to do that is that both he and I were sitting international scouting directors. So, once we put on our Orioles uniform, we had an idea of the market, and we could pick up the phone and get it going immediately. 2020, we’re working on right now, and I expect it will be a similarly large, if not larger, class. But we’re still in a position where we weren’t able to work at the very top of the market for that year. But I still think we’ll get a lot of good talent in 2020. And then, in 2021, we are very hopeful we’re gonna be able to participate more in the top tier of the market, and from there, we’ll be like your normal team going forward.