Grading Mike Elias and the Baltimore Orioles front office at the season’s midway point

Acquired or traded

Since the conclusion of the 2022 season, Elias trades, purchases or waiver claims have brought to the Orioles five players who have seen some major league duty. From a playing time standpoint, the most impactful of those five moves was the January deal with Oakland that landed starter Cole Irvin.

He came with a minor leaguer for another minor leaguer, and was immediately inserted into Baltimore’s rotation. It was a rough landing. Irvin gave up six runs in four innings to New York in his debut, and by mid-April was laboring with a 10.66 ERA. Optioned out, he was recalled a month later for one start, optioned out a second time, and recalled a second time June 10.

To this point, Irvin’s line shows a 1-3 record in six starts, and he’s carved the ERA down to 7.18. That still equates to a very problematic -0.8 WAA.

Danny Coulombe is the other name acquisition. A reliever, he was purchased from the Twins toward the end of spring training, and has made 35 appearances with a 2.20 ERA. A veteran in his ninth season, Coulombe’s WAA is at +0.6. If he can keep it there, it would be a career-best.

In terms of actual major league talent, the cost was not much. Since the end of the 2022 season, Elias has sent only one major leaguer to another team. That was Tyler Nevin, an infielder sold to the Tigers on January 1. Nevin  has seen only occasional duty with the Tigers, probably because he’s batting .136.