Anyone can really be forgiven for thinking, after the Orioles dramatically got back up to .500 after months of wallowing below it, that this would mark the start of a September ascent. The opportunity was right there in front of them. What we have gotten instead is the ultimate case of the 2026 Orioles pulling the rug out from under anyone foolish enough to believe in them, with the team going on to lose its first six September games, in some ways each more pathetic of a loss than the one before
it.
With this year’s team having buried itself, focus must turn to how to make things better for next year. In this episode, that’s what I’m trying to do. I think that has to start with change at the top of baseball operations. For months, I have felt that if they don’t make the playoffs, Mike Elias needs to be out of here. It is clear that he cannot fix the problems that have afflicted the roster going back to right around the All-Star break two seasons ago. It’s going to take someone new to make sense of this.
I also think that change at the top is going to need to mean change in the dugout leadership as well. I don’t blame Elias for choosing Craig Albernaz as the manager. Every indication was he was the #1 manager-in-waiting in baseball for multiple offseasons, and he could have chosen any job he wanted since around the end of the 2024 season. It’s not that very many of the Orioles problems are his fault, but making them better is his responsibility and it’s clear he can’t do that.
I’m not optimistic about David Rubenstein sharing either of these ideas. So, all that’s left is to guess at who Elias will think are the keepers on this roster and what he might even be able to try to do in this coming offseason, when it’s looking like the lack of a new labor agreement will probably cut away months of time where free agents could sign and trades could be made.
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How are you feeling about the way things are going with the Orioles right now? Answers could make it into the mailbag section of a future episode of the podcast.
