This year is a loss. The Orioles need to solve some problems so next year isn’t too.
Not even firing the manager was enough to shake the Orioles out of their losing streak over the last week, stretching out to eight losses in a row with all different ways of losing. Bad starters, bad bullpen, bad hitting, it’s all been there. Mike Elias kept it vague when he finally addressed the media, but it’s clear he knows that things are going to need to be changed to get the O’s back somewhere good.
In today’s episode of the podcast, I’m trying to get my head around all of it. There’s probably no salvaging any hopes for 2025 fortunes, but what do the Orioles need to improve to carry some positive feelings into next season? They can’t just coast along and let the losing seep into their bones. Fortunately, it sounds like changes will be tried. I guess we’ll see if they work.
In addition to reacting to recent developments, today’s episode features a couple of listener questions out of the mailbag. One person asked if maybe Mike Elias’s offseason plan to not go too hard on committing anything beyond 2025 looks better in retrospect after this mess. The start of my response to that:
I hate thinking about the Orioles having any kind of “plan to fail” season. Mike Elias needed to get caught trying to improve the Orioles and by and large he did not. Still, nobody is wrong to think that the Orioles, if they had conjured up a #1 or #2 pitcher and a better/healthier outfielder than Tyler O’Neill, that they still wouldn’t be good. You’ve gotta try! The years go by fast. Nobody has been extended. The Orioles can’t waste opportunities with their current core and go along with loser thinking assuming the coming year might be a wash. You need to do stuff to make it not be a wash!
Episodes are released at midnight every Monday and Friday. Subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or your preferred podcasting platform to get them all.