The World Series matchup is set, and it comes with a twist of fresh history. The Tampa Bay Rays punched their ticket by beating the Cleveland Guardians 7-3, sending them to their third World Series. Their previous trips ended with losses to the Phillies in 2008 and the Dodgers in 2020.
Game 1 is Friday in Milwaukee, and that meeting carries a neat little wrinkle: neither the Brewers nor the Rays has ever won the World Series. So the best team in the National League and the best team in the American League will spend October chasing a title neither franchise has ever claimed. The Guardians, meanwhile, will have to wait at least another year for their first championship since 1948.
Closer to home, the Orioles finally made a notable front office change of their own. President of Baseball Operations Mike Elias hired a general manager, bringing in Jared Banner to handle player development and coaching while also helping Elias with more strategic work. Elias had already been operating as the club’s top baseball decision-maker, even after the secret promotion to POBO before the 2025 season.
The move follows some other restructuring at the end of the regular season. Baltimore parted ways with Matt Blood, who had been vice president of player and staff development, and reassigned Sig Mejdal. Mejdal, previously an assistant GM overseeing analytics, will now focus on emerging technologies.
Banner arrives from the Cubs, where he had worked since 2020 and served as assistant GM beginning in 2024. Beyond that, there’s not much public consensus on what he’ll bring. As Mark Brown noted in his story yesterday, the track record of an assistant GM from another market doesn’t always translate into something obvious, even for baseball diehards.
What this does show is that Elias understands the old approach wasn’t getting it done. He should have been fired after his failed rebuild, in my opinion, but he wasn’t, and the Orioles are moving forward with him in charge. I like the idea of bringing in outside voices and different perspectives, especially with a front office that has been notoriously insular.
Is Banner the right hire? Nobody really knows yet.
I can’t celebrate the choice itself, but I can recognize the fact that changes are finally being made. Some will see a built-in scapegoat or another example of Elias making a questionable call.
I don’t agree with that. Since Elias is here to stay, the only reasonable move is to hope this brings something better.
On the Orioles history front, there’s not a whole lot to work with, but there are two birthday notes worth mentioning. Bobby Floyd, who began his career with Baltimore and played 47 games for the club from 1968-70, turns 83. Ty Blach, who appeared in five forgettable games for the Orioles in 2019, turns 36.
There’s also a little datebook trivia attached to the franchise. On this day in 2015, the Orioles claimed Vance Worley off waivers from the Pirates. He went on to appear in 35 games for Baltimore in 2016, mostly in relief.
And with the World Series approaching, Milwaukee’s own October history gets a reminder too. On this day in 1982, the Brewers played Game 7 of the World Series against the Cardinals, taking a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth before watching St. Louis score three times there and twice more in the eighth to win it all.
Two other World Series notes round things out. In 1990, the Reds swept the A’s, with José Rijo allowing one run on two hits over 8.1 innings and future Oriole Randy Myers getting the final two outs for the save.
Then in 2002, Francisco Rodriguez, another future Oriole, became the youngest pitcher to earn a World Series win, throwing three scoreless innings in Game 2 at 20 years, 286 days old. Jim Palmer, for comparison, was 20 years and 356 days old when he won Game 2 of the 1966 World Series.
In Other News...
Orioles Outfield Prospect Paths Just Took Two Very Different Turns
Nate George and Enddy Azocar spent the 2026 season in the same High-A Frederick outfield, but their routes there could hardly have looked more different. George, a 16th-round pick in the 2024 draft, opened fast before a non-baseball-related medical condition ended his season early, leaving the Orioles with questions about how soon one of their better-looking young outfielders can get back on track.
Azocars year moved in the opposite direction. After signing with the Red Sox in 2024, he made noticeable strides in 2026, earned a promotion, then was traded to Baltimore and finished the season with Frederick. For the Orioles, the two outfield prospects now represent very different kinds of uncertainty, with George focused on recovery and Azocar trying to carry his progress into a new organization. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Fill Long-Open GM Role With Elias Plan In Mind
The Orioles have finally filled a long-open spot in their front office, hiring Jared Banner as general manager and giving Mike Elias a longtime baseball operations lieutenant to work alongside him. Banner arrives from the Cubs, where he served as assistant general manager, and his background fits the kind of layered decision-making the Orioles have been building under Elias.
Banners role is expected to stretch well beyond a traditional GM title, with responsibilities that include baseball operations, player development, coaching and talent acquisition. For Baltimore, the addition is another sign that the organization is continuing to shape its infrastructure around Elias plan, while adding a voice with experience in one of the games more closely watched front offices. [Read more 🡒]
Former Orioles Are Becoming October Weapons For A Division Rival
October baseball has a way of turning familiar faces into problem solvers for somebody else, and that was on display in a recent playoff game involving the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians. Former Orioles relievers Tyler Wells and Bryan Baker were part of the Rays effort in a key win, with Baker finishing off the game and extending a remarkable stretch of late-inning reliability. Baltimore fans also had reason to notice Cedric Mullins and Jorge Mateo in the mix, a reminder of how many former Orioles are still hanging around the postseason bracket.
For the Orioles, it is a useful little snapshot of how talent can move on and still make an impact in October. Wells and Baker are doing it in relief, where one clean inning can tilt a playoff game, while Mullins and Mateo add to the sense that Baltimores recent roster churn has spread its imprint across contenders. It does not change what the Orioles have in front of them, but it does add another layer to the division rivalry: the next time these clubs cross paths, some of the names haunting one dugout may look awfully familiar. [Read more 🡒]