Mike Elias

Michael Elias

• School Yale University
• High School Thomas Jefferson High School

• Born December 28, 1982

Biographical Information

Mike Elias became a scouting director at age 29.

Elias was 18-5 as a high school pitcher. In college, he was 1-2 with a 4.08 ERA as a freshman in 2002 then 3-4 with a 5.44 ERA as a sophomore. He did not pitch in 2004 then allowed 8 runs in 9 1/3 IP in 2005, going 2-2 for Yale. He improved to 3-2, 5.62 for his senior year. After college, he was a St. Louis Cardinals scout from 2007 until September 2009, when he became a crosschecker for the Cards. In January 2012, he joined the Houston Astros as special assistant to the general manager. He was promoted to Scouting Director in August 2012, replacing Bobby Heck and eventually rose to the title of assistant General Manager.

On November 16, 2018, he was hired by the Baltimore Orioles as Executive Vice-President and General Manager. He replaced the fired Dan Duquette. The Orioles were coming off the worst season in team history, having lost 115 games and conducted a mid-season fire sale. It was not the greatest situation to come into, as the farm system was not particularly well stocked either, in spite of the bevy of trades. 2019 was a slight improvement, but the Orioles were again last in their division and the pitching staff was a disaster area, as they surrendered homers at a record pace. Elias torched the front office in the same manner as his predecessor had done to the major league roster, firing 25 persons over his first year, most of them in the player development and international operations department, areas where there had been a marked lack of success in recent years. It was not a cost-cutting move, as he then hired a similar number of people.

The Orioles began to turn things around in 2022, when they were more competitive than anyone would have imagined, largely on the strength of their young players starting to come up and contribute at the big league level, chief among them being C Adley Rutschman. In 2023, they took another massive step forward, with IF Gunnar Henderson joining the team, a much improved pitching staff, and more prospects on their way, the result of excellent drafting when they were in the doldrums. The O's finished with the best record in the American League and while they made a quick exit from the postseason, being eliminated by the eventual World series winners, the Texas Rangers, in the Division Series, they looked to be ready to be a top team for years to come. Elias was rewarded by being named MLB's Executive of the Year.

Preceded by Dan Duquette

Baltimore Orioles General Manager 2018-

Succeeded by current

Further Reading

• Brittany Ghiroli: "Elias introduced as O's GM, lays out vision: Former Astros assistant GM wants to build an 'elite pipeline' in Baltimore", mlb.com, November 19, 2018. [1]
• Blair Young: "Orioles Mike Elias named MLB Executive of the Year", WBAL-TV, November 7, 2023. [2]

Related Sites

• Yale bio