Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across MLB. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Orioles fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
As the Orioles have spent chunks of this season flailing about and getting nowhere good while looking bad doing it, the question of Mike Elias’s job security has been the subject of a lot of discussion across Birdland. Will he be back? Should he be back? Just last weekend, owner David
Rubenstein raised eyebrows when he said that he “couldn’t be more pleased” with the job that Elias has done. The eyebrows were raised mostly because the on-field product has had its share of problems this season.
Appearing before last night’s game, Elias gave one of his classic media sessions where he tried to assess the state of the team and managed to get a lot of fans mad at one or two particular things he said, specifically that the team is not going to push a lot of chips in for this year.
In more words than were necessary, he essentially confirmed recent reports that the Orioles would be listening to offers both as buyers and sellers. We got an example of the seller part after the game, with news leaking out of the O’s trading Dean Kremer to another wild card team, the Twins. We’ll find out between now and Monday evening whether Elias makes any moves that might actually bring major league help from other organizations onto this roster.
This week’s poll question was about Elias’s job security. Here’s what you said:
I was surprised by this result. The Elias haters are ready to pounce at all times, and I thought that kind of sentiment would dominate the poll answer, with people voting with their hearts rather than their heads. To my surprise, close to two-thirds of voters think Elias will be back for next season.
That includes me. That’s not to say I think it’s a good idea for Elias to be back. As I have said a number of times this season, if the Orioles don’t make the postseason, I think Elias should be fired. Missing the postseason two years in a row means his plan was not a success. But, as far as whether Elias will be back, it seems like the owner is happy with him, and it seems like that will continue as long as the Orioles stay somewhat competitive in the wild card race.
This week’s survey is sponsored by FanDuel.
