The Baltimore Orioles might be having a rough season, but don't tell that to their general manager, Mike Elias. He's still got his eyes on the prize, ready to play the role of a buyer as the trade deadline looms.
Despite sitting below the .500 mark, Elias remains optimistic, telling reporters that the Orioles are just a game and a half out of the playoff picture. "If the deadline was today, we're a game and a half out," Elias noted, highlighting the peculiar standings situation affecting not just Baltimore, but several teams.
"I can't explain it, and I wish we were arriving at that in a much different way, and the context around that is unusual. But we're right there.
So, like I said, we're going for it."
With sky-high expectations following Pete Alonso's $155-million signing last winter, the Orioles hoped to shake off the previous year's last-place finish in the AL East. The franchise was riding the momentum of a rebuild that saw them reach the playoffs in 2023 and 2024, though without claiming any postseason victories.
Fast forward to 2026, and the Orioles seem to be echoing their 2025 form. The team, brimming with promising young talent, has stumbled to a 39-44 record with a minus-23 run differential.
Yet, as Elias pointed out, this hasn't knocked them-or several other AL teams-out of the playoff race. Heading into the weekend, Baltimore was tied with the Twins and just 1.5 games shy of the final AL wild-card spot, thanks to a topsy-turvy year in the Junior Circuit.
As of Saturday, five AL teams with losing records, including the Orioles, Twins, Blue Jays, Astros, and Rangers, were within striking distance of the playoffs. The Athletics, sitting at 40-42, briefly held the AL's No. 6 seed before Texas overtook them with a win over Toronto. Even the Royals and Angels, languishing at the bottom of the standings, were only 6.5 games out.
Elias acknowledged that these unusual standings are shaping his strategy but emphasized that he's ready to adapt as the season progresses. "I'm going to have to look at the circumstances and what happens.
And I will be doing the right thing for the franchise regardless of everything else," Elias stated. "We're going to have to see what the standings are and what our team is looking like at that time.
But we're certainly making those preparations."
In this unpredictable season, Elias's optimism could be the spark the Orioles need to catch a wave and ride it into the postseason.
In Other News...
Blue Angels Turned Camden Yards Into A Baltimore Moment Fans Wont Forget
Camden Yards had an extra soundtrack Saturday, and the Orioles made sure everyone in the ballpark knew it was coming. Before the game against the Nationals, the club alerted the umpires and Washington about the noise from the U.S. Navys Blue Angels flyover tied to the Sail250 event, then passed the warning along to fans on the video board as the planes prepared to cross over the stadium.
The reminder proved necessary in the middle of one plate appearance, when home plate umpire Jansen Visconti had to call time several times as the roar overhead interrupted the action. Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser also had a little fun with the moment, saying he wished he could have sent one out while the planes were flying by, even if he came up just short of making the scene even more Baltimore. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles May Finally Have To Cash In Top Prospects
With the trade deadline looming, the Orioles are once again facing one of the harder choices that comes with building a contender: whether to move from their prospect strength to patch holes on the major league roster. Baltimore has spent years stockpiling young talent, but not every promising bat can fit at once, especially with congestion at catcher and first base making the next step tricky for some of the systems more intriguing names.
The pull to keep the pipeline intact is obvious, yet the pressure to win now is real, and that is where the front office has to decide how much future value it is willing to spend. Some of the organizations better young hitters have seen their stock rise at the right time, which only sharpens the question of whether the Orioles should keep waiting on development or turn that depth into help for the stretch run. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Cant Ignore These Two Season-Defining Problems Any Longer
The Orioles have reached the point in the season where two problems keep showing up in different forms, and neither one can be brushed aside much longer. Gunnar Hendersons spot near the top of the lineup has become part of the conversation because the offense needs more than name value from a player in that role, while the rotation continues to look stretched as Baltimore tries to keep games from getting away early.
Kyle Bradishs latest start only deepened the concern on the pitching side, with another erratic outing that ended quickly after he issued five walks in four innings. There is growing reason to think the club may need to get creative with how it manages the staff, including the possibility of a six-man rotation if help arrives in time, but for now the Orioles are still stuck trying to solve issues that are hard to ignore and even harder to mask. [Read more 🡒]