O's Mike Elias on how workload concerns factored into the Grayson Rodriguez deal

Plus he talks about building the current coaching staff and more

When the Orioles traded pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, there was an assumption by some that that meant the Orioles were not confident in his health moving forward.

And while Mike Elias is not going to say that, he did say during his video press conference Friday night that having multiple pitchers with innings concerns for next year was a factor in this deal.

There was the potential for three pitchers in the rotation next year that may have some form of season innings limits in Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells and Grayson.

Elias told reporters that did factor into his thinking in the one-for-one deal, Rodriguez for outfielder Taylor Ward of the Los Angeles Angels.

“Yeah, a little bit,” he said. “I think that both of those guys will be able to increase their innings totals quite a bit next year. (Trevor) Rogers too. He was hurt for the beginning of the year as well.”

Rodriguez pitched zero innings in 2025 and 116 2/3 in 2024. Bradish threw 32 innings in the majors last year and 22 on the farm and Wells pitched 21 2/3 for the Orioles and 25 1/3 in the minors.

“Really, Dean (Kremer) is the only guy, from the returning group, that kind of had a full, huge innings load (at 171 2/3 innings). Obviously, we are working very hard to import some more people this winter that would help check that box.

“But yeah, it factors in. Workload management, especially for 2026, was a factor in the thinking.”

Elias was also asked Friday if there was any frustration from the pitcher over how the Orioles handled Rodriguez’s injuries that might have created some issues between player and team?

“No, not in the handling. There is frustration about the bad luck of it. And, that’s disappointing. Grayson’s a great kid. We loved bringing him up in this organization and rearing him and he’s got a bright future. And, sometimes trades are a part of baseball,” he said.

Elias reiterated that the club is pursuing frontline starting pitching this winter.

“You know I’ve been pretty clear and direct. We’re trying to find, whether it’s top or front or top-half of the rotation – all those buckets. We’re trying and there are guys out there and we are in pursuit of every one of them.

“I can’t forecast how fast it’s going to move. … But you know everybody is working on it. The work’s happening. The conversations are happening with the agents and the front offices. But also the meetings. We’re doing meetings with players and this is all steaming along in the background right now,” he stated.

And he added that they are pursuing pitching depth as well. Those that could fit in the back-end of the rotation or the bullpen. Or fringes of the roster.

“Oh yeah. We’ll have to source all types of pitching. You have to go into spring training these days with at least eight options and probably more than that. So, we’ll be working all winter.”

On another topic, while expressing confidence that Colton Cowser is set up for a big bounce back year, Elias said the club might still pursue a center fielder.

On the farm they have Enrique Bradfield Jr. who was just named Defensive Player of the Year in the Arizona Fall League.

Rated as the O’s No. 4 prospect by MLBPipeline.com and No. 6 via Baseball America, Elias was asked if he could quickly get to Baltimore from Triple-A in 2026?

“Yeah that would be terrific to see,” he said of Bradfield. “We’re going to bring him to camp and we’ll kind of take it from there. He certainly, just looking at his baseball-reference page so to speak, he hasn’t exhausted the minor leagues. So, we’ll see where it goes.

“But he’s going to be in camp, It’s going to be a real important camp for him and look forward to seeing him there.”

Bradfield dealt with both left and right hamstring issues on the farm last season and was limited to 76 games. He hit .242/.348/.348/.696 but added 36 stolen bases.

The speed and defense are both top of scale, but Bradfield’s bat is going to have to prove to be major league ready next season to get him to the show.

The O’s coaching staff is coming together, but is not yet complete. The latest reported additions from this week were Hank Conger as bullpen coach and Brady North as assistant hitting coach. The O’s have 11 coaches on board for next year, although the club has not officially announced those additions yet.

Elias discussed how new manager Craig Albernaz has worked with the O’s front office to build out his staff.

“Yeah, he’s been terrific to work with so far. I’m really impressed with the coaches that we’ve landed and the type of guys that he’s been bringing in. And the sort of mix and blend of types of coaches that we appear to have on this staff.

“I think it’s a terrific looking staff. It’s not done. And so I can’t address every knook and cranny of it at this time. But you know there have been a lot of media reports about hires and those are accurate.

“They’ve been putting a lot of good work into it. I also credit Matt Blood (vice president, player and staff development) and Eve Rosenbaum (assistant general manager), who have been working with Craig on finding people, lining up interviews, deciding who to target. And it’s allowed me to focus on a very busy player market right now. I’ve been helping out, but those three, Craig, Eve and Matt have been doing a lot of work building the staff,” he said.