Mike Elias Will Never Get A Ring With The Orioles. He Might Deserves One From The Rays

Mike Elias is virtually certain never to get a ring for his work with the Baltimore Orioles.

They’re a combined 38 games out of first in the AL East the last two years. It’s truly pathetic.

But maybe he can get one from the Tampa Bay Rays, a team with far less resources and far less payroll than the O’s chief baseball executive has enjoyed while running the franchise into the ground and going backwards three straight years. Elias’s contributions to the Rays present and future cannot be overstated as his repeated transactions with them have yielded tremendous rewards for a Tampa front office that puts him to shame and exposes him in every way, shape and form – evaluations of both team’s rosters and systems, player-development strategies, understanding roster and lineup construction to maximize the strengths of the player, creating a winning climate in the dugout with a nimble manager.

The chasm between these organizations has done nothing but grow during Elias’s ridiculously long tenure here, and with the Rays now one win from possibly hosting the White Sox, yeah, the White Sox, in the American League Championship series, it’s only right that we give credit where it’s due and acknowledge Elias for the non-negligible role he played in the Rays immediate rise after a natural disaster wiped out their stadium in 2025 and forced them into an untenable schedule with home games in a Yankees minor league ballpark.

Not only could Mike not notice incredibly cheap talent that was right under his nose that Tampa has cultivated – my kids and I loved watching infielder Richie Palacios at Towson University; he killed the O’s for the Rays this season and is precisely the kind of high-IQ, gritty, versatile player Elias could never understand the value of – but he also ensured the Rays’ bullpen became a superpower again. And he sent the Rays their catcher of the future who joined their taxi squad as they clinched the AL Pennant.

Five of the players on their 26-man roster for the ALDS were formerly employed by Elias. And the entire industry believes 21-year-old catcher Caden Bodine will be with them for most of next season, with Rookie of the Year potential and a rare polished bat to go with truly exceptional skills behind the plate for a player so young. Bodine was just one of four key pieces Elias dealt for Shane Baz (outfielder Austin Overn could be in Tampa by next September, too,) while Baz is a totally pedestrian MLB starter who can’t strike people out nearly enough.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, the Rays “O’s core” could very well help carry them to the World Series (they also have former Orioles farm-hand Garrett Cleavinger in their pen but he was dealt away before Elias took over). The Rays are considering parade routes and Elias is back to rearranging deck chairs in a sophomoric front office that should be beneath Birdland.

Bullpen

Aug 26, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Tyler Wells (68) throws a pitch against the Detroit Tigers in the ninth inning at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Bryan Baker – The All-Star closer has all his swag back, and the Rays fixed his command issues immediately after Elias unloaded him in the summer of 2025 because he was struggling and out of options. Baker mowing down the Yankees in the 9th inning Monday and peacocking around was something. He was the AL leader in saves while the O’s operated all season without a true 9th-inningn arm. Consider this:

Baker In BAL: 3.37 ERA 1.20 WHIP 3 saves in 173 games

Baker In TB: 2.53 ERA 0.982 ERA 42 saves in 96 games

Oh, the pick they got for Baker, 37th overall, they used on IF Slater de Brun … who went back to Tampa in the Baz trade.

Tyler Wells – Can cover multiple innings, is great against lefties and righties, makes no rea money and is under team control for 2027. He was the O’s best closer option, so of course they dealt him to get … Michael Forret, who they also dealt for Baz, and who might end up a bullpen arm and who had a 5.43 ERA in AAA and walked 32 in 61 IP there. Was very young for that level, but still. If they keep Wells do the O’s fare a little better in one-run games (18-24) and sneak into playoffs? Elias didn’t care to find out! He wants a higher pick for 2028! And he's desperate for 9th-inning options in 2027.

Wells in TB: 1.50 ERA .722 WHIP(!) 2 saves

Cole Sulser – He was a high-leverage guy back when Elias was tanking so hard MLB had to change the draft rules and implement a lottery. Elias dumped him and Tanner Scott – both of whom have become quite accomplished – for two Marlins super-fringy suspects who never did a thing, a competitive balance pick that became Jud Fabian, who will not advance past AAA, and Yaqui Rivera, a very interesting relief arm who could be a pen piece for Baltimore in the future.

We know that Scott became an All-Star closer, who went on to get a monster contract, and Sulser went on to become a mainstay in Rays’ pen over four years. Brutal trade:

Sulser in TB: 2.94 ERA 1.16 WHIP 82 games

Position Players

Jul 23, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Baltimore Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins (31) celebrates his doubles in the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Cedric Mullins – He was a platoon guy and his skills have diminished since his peak with the O’s as a 30/30 leadoff guy, but the fact Elias never sold high on him as an All Star was damning although there is a chance that Anthony Nunez (acquired from the Mets for Mullins in 2025) becomes a nice relief option for them and he was quite strong in the second half. Mullins is the rare Oriole to drive in a postseason run in the Elias era, which includes no playoff wins. Yeah, Ced is going to get plenty of those this year.

Mullins did appear in 137 games for Tampa and contributed in smaller ways and still hit 15 homers, but an OPS+ of 75 is rough. Bet he has big moments for them in the playoffs, stealing a base, scoring from first on a double (stuff the O’s don’t do).

Jorge Mateo – Elias had a chance to sell high on him, too, putting together a Gold Glove-caliber season in Baltimore at a time Elias was doing nothing but draft alleged MLB shortstops. The O’s finally moved on from him in 2026, not exercising his option. He was a spare part in Atlanta and the Rays landed him for the stretch run. He stole nine bases in 32 appearances for the Rays and that, plus a versatile glove, is all they want or need from him.

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