Orioles GM's offseason failure is already ruining Jackson Holliday's breakout year

Baltimore Orioles fans had high expectations entering the 2024 offseason. The team had just won more than 90 games for a second consecutive year, there was a new ownership group in place, and they had very clear, identifiable holes on their roster, particularly in the starting rotation. All GM Mike Elias had to do was address them. That ... did not happen.

Corbin Burnes, the team's ace, departed in free agency. Rather than splurge on a different high-end arm either on the open market or via trade, Elias went the cheap and uninspiring route, signing 41-year-old Charlie Morton and 35-year-old Tomoyuki Sugano to one-year deals. All of a sudden, Baltimore's rotation looked old and underwhelming on paper. Somehow, it has only gotten worse since the start of spring training.

Grayson Rodriguez joined Kyle Bradish on the sidelines with an injury during camp, and now, Zach Eflin, the team's best healthy pitcher, departed his most recent start with shoulder fatigue. Eflin hopes that he dodged a major injury, but who knows at this point?

The Orioles managed to win their game on Monday, but if Eflin has to miss time, that win came at a major cost. Elias' refusal to make a major starting pitching addition made little sense at the time and has only aged worse. That mistake has overshadowed a very promising development in Baltimore's early season: the play of Jackson Holliday.

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Jackson Holliday's breakout is being overshadowed by Orioles' offseason mistake

Holliday, a former top prospect coming off a very disappointing rookie year, made some mechanical adjustments and is already seeing them pay off in a big way. He did go 0-for-4 on Monday, but is slashing .294/.314/.471 in his first 35 plate appearances. Holliday might not be hitting with a ton of power yet, but he didn't get his 10th hit last season until he was nearly 60 plate appearances into his MLB career. He has cut that just about in half in year two.

Perhaps the most encouraging development from Holliday is that he has cut his strikeout rate down from 33.2 percent last season to 25.7 percent this season. Small sample, sure, but again, the differences are noticeable.

The Orioles, especially with Holliday playing well, are an offensive juggernaut. They were fourth in the Majors in runs scored last season without Holliday playing much of a role, and are seventh in the Majors in that category as of this writing despite playing fewer games than a couple of teams that rank ahead of them.

Even with their offensive firepower, though, the team has gone just 5-6 thus far because of their lackluster pitching. Baltimore's 4.36 ERA is tied for 18th in the Majors, and the team's 5.17 rotation ERA ranks 24th. If Eflin is hurt, that latter number figures to only dip lower.

The Orioles are in trouble, and nobody is really to blame other than Elias. Yes, they can score runs at will, but if they can't keep the opposition off the board, it's really tough to expect big things from this team. The Orioles have had numerous opportunities over the past couple of years to go all-in on winning the World Series with a strong foundation and a loaded farm system, but Elias chose to refrain from making the big move for the most part, and that has cost Baltimore dearly.