Mike Elias enrages Orioles fans further with press conference complacency

Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias gave his end-of-season press conference on Thursday, and much to the dismay of the fanbase, didn't seem bothered by how their season ended. Orioles fans endured a half-decade of incompetence to build the best farm system in baseball. Despite trading for Corbin Burnes before the season, and some reinforcements at the trade deadline, the O's struggled down the stretch and predictably limped out of the postseason at the hands of the Kansas City Royals.

Catcher Adley Rutschman was at the center of said struggles, as the O's franchise icon and former No. 1 overall pick left fans wondering if he's the answer to their problems after all. Orioles manager Brandon Hyde, who will return next year per Elias, came to the defense of the young catcher postgame.

“I've answered this question a million times,” Hyde told the media. “I think that it's a young player that was dealing with some adversity. I think he's going to come back next year, and I think he's going to be a different player.”

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Mike Elias infuriates Orioles fanbase with postseason press conference

Adley is talented, as are the young Orioles, but the fanbase is right to be impatient. Elias has a background in scouting, and it shows. He's amassed a farm system loaded with talented prospects. However, finding the right balance between trading certain prospects and player development is key if Baltimore is to eventually break through in the postseason. Elias has failed in that aspect two years running. The Orioles haven't won a playoff game in a decade.

"I've never made a habit of making this immediate press conference right after the season ends to start talking about players, contracts, staff. It's not fair to me, it's not fair to anybody. We're going to examine things. Things did not go the way we wanted this year," Elias pleaded with the media.

Elias would only go as far as to say he's 'pretty confident' the team would increase payroll this winter, though Corbin Burnes is set to come off the books and become a free agent. Re-signing Burnes would be a step in the right direction, as well as adding help at first base and in the bullpen. Baltimore is under new ownership that (one would hope) is willing to spend more, but nothing is guaranteed in the business of professional baseball.

"I need to find the appropriate balance with all the positivity that we've achieved with this bad taste in our mouths and bad outcome in the playoffs," Elias continued.

For one, the O's refused to include Jackson Holliday in any and all trade talks this season. Holliday struggled mightily at the big-league level, and while he could one day be a productive MLB player, Elias's stubbornness in trade talks has led to reputation of prospect hoarding.

Eventually, the O's will have to make a risky move that involves their top prospects.