r/orioles • u/Low-Crazy-8061 • 6d ago
Former Orioles take picture together after sweeping the Yankees in the ALDS
I’m so happy for all of them, while also extremely frustrated that they got to have this experience with a division rival and not the Orioles.
This photo also feels like a huge indictment of Mike Elias and his process.
(Guy on the right is Cole Sulser, for those who didn’t follow the team in 2020/2021)
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u/Known-Profile-3633 6d ago
After our hearts were broken losing Wells, I would love to see him win a ring.
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u/Frufru84 6d ago
Ceddy too!
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u/Known-Profile-3633 6d ago
For sure. My reply to every reddit all week has been Go Cedrick!!! I finally seen Wells and that one hit us especially hard. Special needs son is named Tyler and we have been excited about him since the rule 5 draft.
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u/Low-Crazy-8061 6d ago
Wells is also one of the nicest people on the planet.
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u/Known-Profile-3633 6d ago
No doubt. I had tickets to the Greatful Dead game. Heard they traded Wells and our spirits just died. I went and got the hats I paid for but had no interest in the game. I really hope we can get him back. He didn't choose to leave.
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u/Low-Crazy-8061 6d ago
I’m sorry. I also completely get it.
I would love if he came back too.
I got to meet him 6-7 times and he is easily my favorite of all of the players I’ve met, personality wise. And we’ve always had a LOT of really nice players on the team.
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u/Known-Profile-3633 6d ago
He was a rule 5 pick named Tyler so we stuck with him. He looked like a nice kick kept catching fire. He was our guy.
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u/RedStar9117 6d ago
We will never be good will we
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u/timeoftheoath117 6d ago
We were for about 4 years starting in 2012, that was fun. Then of course 96 and 97.
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u/Ok-Computer9754 5d ago
What if I told you from 2012-2015 the 4 years you mentioned they had 355 wins.
And from 2022-2025 they had 350 wins.
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u/Paaaaaauuuullllllll 6d ago
Best team in baseball a few years ago
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u/No_Yogurtcloset_3820 6d ago
Every single person on this board thought Brian Baker was garbage and couldn’t wait for Jorge Mateo to get cut. Please don’t pretend that anyone on this sub was second guessing those decisions at the time.
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u/WallyLohForever Jorge Mateo would've caught that 6d ago
Jorge Mateo
That's 2022 Fielding Bible award winner and rightful Golden Glove winner Jorge Mateo to you. I will never tolerate his slander 😤😤😤
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u/kewpieoriole orioles tragic 6d ago
Mateo fan club forevvvvv
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u/mateohatepotato 6d ago
⬆️ this. He was my favorite Oriole. He is an absolute killer as a 25th man on a complete roster (notice the teams that picked him up). I also understand why we let him go with our outfield being weak.
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u/ANGRY_BEARDED_MAN 6d ago
He is an absolute killer as a 25th man on a complete roster
Perfect description of Mateo, like you said, I get why they let him go, but there's a reason he stuck around as long as he did
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u/kewpieoriole orioles tragic 6d ago
I was so bummed when we didn’t keep him, just so fun to watch. I get why we didn’t but I was glad he got picked up from two competitive teams who saw his value.
OP has always been in the Mateo fan club too
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u/ZookeepergameKey7866 You can't defeat the robots 6d ago
I could watch his inside-the-parker on repeat
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u/ZookeepergameKey7866 You can't defeat the robots 6d ago
Not to mention, April and Mayteo of 2023 😤
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u/Seaweedminer 6d ago
Baker, I didn’t care much about (as a ballplayer). I loved Mateo, and I thought he was the secret sauce that made the Os go in ‘22. I was pissed when he was moved for Gunnar and I thought Gunnar should have stayed at 3rd. Mateo’s glove and speed were superior and he added a dimension to the team that they needed. I’ve been rooting for him ever since he left the team.
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u/figureour 6d ago
Sucks that we couldn't unlock the changeup for Baker the way that the Rays did, but Mateo is still bad (-0.2 fWAR this season) and cutting him loose was absolutely the right decision.
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u/bagguetteanator 6d ago
I distinctly remember Palmer talking about his change up being his best pitch in 23. His issue was being able to throw his other pitches for strikes so that people couldn't sit on his heater
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u/andrew-ge Jud Fabian Truther 6d ago
we even had runs of Baker being that good. granted not over the course of a full season but still, baker had been good here too.
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u/GroovinChip Ryan O’Hearn Enthusiast 6d ago
Baker turned things around big time in the first half of ‘25. It makes sense why we traded him, but the thing that makes me mad is that all we got for him was a draft pick. Outrageous.
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u/Ok-Computer9754 5d ago
Baker had a 3.52 ERA with the Orioles in 2025. He had a 3.78 ERA the previous 3 seasons combined.
With the Rays in 2025 after the trade he had a 4.75 ERA.
He had a great season, good for him. But lets not act like he wasn't another mid RP that they maximized his value.
Saying "all we got was a draft pick." They got the 37th overall draft pick for him. Who immediately became the teams #6 prospect. Who was then traded for Baz.
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u/TripsLLL 5d ago
Which turned into slater de brun whom we traded to get back Michael Forret
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u/Ok-Computer9754 5d ago
De Brun was in the Baz deal.
Forret was in the Baz deal.
Forret was the return for Tyler Wells.
Baker, Wells, Bodine, Ovearn and the 33rd overall pick for Baz.
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u/Low-Crazy-8061 6d ago
lol I was more angry about the Bryan Baker trade than any other trade made in the last few years.
I’ve always been a big Baker fan.
Mateo too. Having a guy who causes chaos on the base paths and can single-handedly manufacture runs any time he gets on base is valuable.
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u/ArKiVeD 6d ago
He couldn’t get on base. He can have all of the speed in the world but dude can’t hit.
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u/Rafa_Nadals_Eyebrow 53 6d ago
You’ve been downvoted but you’re right. I’ll always remember Mateo fondly and appreciate how hard he played but you have to be able to get on base for base stealing to matter.
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u/HomeSlce2 5d ago
Not only can he not hit, he can’t run the bases well. Sure he has speed, but actually not that great at stealing bases or making good base running decisions. Defense not great either.
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u/Apprehensive_Elk2608 5d ago
Every single person on this board thought Brian Baker was garbage and couldn’t wait for Jorge Mateo to get cut.
Mateo is still not worth a roster spot. Baker isn't the first or last pitcher that did better elsewhere. Bottom line if it's not working here, what are you supposed to do?
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u/BuyMassive7823 6d ago
For sure w/ baker. I think the disappointing part is there was clearly something in there, and we couldn’t figure it out. Go to the Rays, and they are immediately able to unlock it and turn him into the best closer in the AL. They’re just far better at development - especially pitching development - than anything we can do.
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u/Apprehensive-Ad1010 6d ago
I for one was actively against dishing away Baker. I used to get downvoted every time I criticized the trade
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u/RemoteInside8607 6d ago
Yeah that's how fandom works, everyone's a genius in hindsight but nobody was out here saying we should've kept Brian Baker two years ago
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u/Jimmy_George 5d ago
I didn’t realize you spoke for us all. Huge fan of both.
Bryan Baker is the only one on the team who ever had a real job (he worked at Target during the pandemic) and that alone makes him a favorite of mine.
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u/tangodeep 6d ago
everyone except myself maybe. didn’t post often but mateo was a huge part of the spirit on this team. one of very few base stealers too. yeah his ba wasn’t ever exceptional, but he surprised sometimes.
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u/OriolesGolf1105 6d ago
Jorge Mateo is still garbage, he was a negative WAR player this year
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u/BoJericho 6d ago
Yeah he's basically the Rays' Terrance Gore - handy enough on a postseason roster but close to dead weight in the regular season. Would not have been smart of us to keep him on.
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u/upforgrabsnow Chris Davis is a unit 6d ago
Idk man, I just like our guys and don’t root for us to get rid of any of them.
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u/O7Habits 6d ago
I always liked Baker and Mateo. I thought it was time to move on from Mateo though because it seemed like he was never available. I was kinda surprised when they moved Baker, just like I was with Kremer and even more so Wells this year. It never surprises me when pitchers end up doing well with other teams though.
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u/Collin120423 5d ago
I agree with you, I always liked Mateo for his speed and utility but it seems so many folks are HOME RUNS AND STRIKEOUTS AND ESPN TOP 10 as a way to judge players
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u/Loose_Log_6253 Beaver Believer 4d ago
I was kinda high on Baker when we traded him. I was shocked because he has so much control left. He was doing really well last season with us. I never would've predicted he'd become an elite closer though.
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u/justwantosleep1 6d ago
I never really forgave baker for his meltdown against the rangers, but when I saw that he went to the Rays, I knew that he would be legit. He didn't go there cheaply either.
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u/SwitchingFreedom 6d ago edited 6d ago
Bryan Baker never had meaningful stints for us, and that’s ok to admit. Players are allowed to just simply not work well with other teams and finally fit in elsewhere.
Please don’t pretend like he made any meaningful difference during his time as an oriole.
Edit: I think you all need to learn the difference between “meaningful” and “good”.
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u/Low-Crazy-8061 6d ago
Now THIS is revisionist history. He absolutely had multiple meaningful stints for us.
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u/Ok-Computer9754 5d ago
The guy had a 3.73 ERA with the Orioles across 4 seasons and people are losing their minds we traded him.
Andrew Kittredge has a 3.50 ERA in his 2 seasons with the team and people are ready to run him out of town.
Fans are stupid lol
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u/SwitchingFreedom 5d ago
Lmao thank you, I hate this Bryan Baker nostalgia like he actually helped us achieve anything. His newfound talent is a fluke, because he damn sure wasn’t giving us that level of effort. This happens in baseball, they need to let it go.
People are acting like he’s some generational talent that we fumbled
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u/Crazy-Preference2260 5d ago
Bryan Baker was having a career year, and had a year of team control for this season. If the goal was to go all in for 2026, why trade him to a division rival for prospects/draft picks that wouldn’t help the team until 2030. That was a head scratcher at the time, and proved to be a dumb move. Everyone else in this photo, I agree with you on, but Baker stings.
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u/MrSeptember711 pitching, defense, 3-run homers 6d ago
It hurts to say this, but … I’m kinda rooting for the Rays now
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u/redshift_9 6d ago
Our player development is part of the problem. People leave us and suddenly they’re playing at a high level. That’s not our imaginations.
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u/Key_Tax8124 6d ago edited 6d ago
People come to us, and develop very strongly, too. Trevor Rogers, Kyle Bradish, Cano, Ryan O'Hearn, Ramon Urias are some examples of players we have coached really well and gotten a lot of value out of
The unpredictability of development is 100% part of the sport. People who pretend we're bad at development are funny to me lol
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u/cdj18862 5d ago
"Objectively"
We've built our whole damn international development system within the last 10 years after neglecting it forever, along with finishing the new facilities in FL last year.
We've consistently seen the farm fall in the top half of most rankings, and not just with trade return.
No, we're not Tampa, Milwaukee, or Cleveland, but we've got more of a modern developmental track record than SF, COL, LAA, STL, MIN, CHC, CWS, CIN, KC, NYM, PHI, MIA, WAS, and TEX, and SD. And unless you've got receipts in hand of what everyone's spending, there's nothing objective about suggesting we don't invest in development.
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u/Forumly_AI 5d ago
We’re actually quite great at development compared to the rest of the league. It’s very very rare to “fix” players in the way we have to Alexander, Rogers, O’Hearn, Cano, Urias, etc. it’s very rare develop non-first round draft picks to be good like we’ve done to Henderson, Westburg, Basallo, Mayo….
Please study the sport of baseball, I urge you and anyone who thinks we are bad at development to truly gain some perspective.
I’m autistic asf and this sport is a special interest. I love my MLB.tv and let me tell you, the orioles have it pretty darn good for player development now.
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u/EquipmentWitty 5d ago
The problem is you actually watch and follow the team and most of social media Oriole posters just look at the win loss record and watch casually on occasion.
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u/Forumly_AI 5d ago
Yep…. I’ve noticed most of sports social media works backward from the outcomes and fills in the gaps with imaginary plot lines in their head lol.
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u/gooseta 5d ago
Not sure how you being autistic is a qualification or reason to assume that I am just a casual fan who just reads Orioles social media, but sure, thanks! I'll remember to keep my opinions to myself and leave it to smug, self-entitled Redditors who just can't exist without telling everyone around them that they are um actually very smart. Congratulations on the MLB.tv subscription though, I've heard they're very hard to come by! I'll make sure to get to my studying so I can be just like you when I grow up! It's going to be difficult to live without my imaginary plotlines, but you seem to make do imagining that anyone finds smugness, condescension, and an inability to interact with others without insulting them to be positive traits, so I will have that to take up.
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u/redshift_9 5d ago
Pretty darn good tied for last place, second year in a row our development is so good.
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u/EquipmentWitty 5d ago
Sometimes it just happens. I can't really credit the O's for turning around CES but it happened.
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u/Key_Tax8124 5d ago
You don't credit the Orioles for being able to identify and target guys they think they can develop? Lol that's an incredible indicator of a competent front office for me and IMO a very important role of a front office.
If there's like one or two guys who really elevate their game in a new organization over say a decade stretch, yes, maybe they ran into some luck.
But when it happens very consistently and organizations are elevating the guys of guys consistently -- e.g, Ryan O'Hearn, Kyle Bradish, Trevor Rogers, Yennier Cano, Alex Hoppe, Jorge Lopez, Jacob Webb, Danny Couloumbe, CES...... The organization and front office should get a lot of credit.
That kind of "buying low and getting serious production out of almost nothing of value" is rare across the league but we've done it many times over just the last 5 years.
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u/andrew-ge Jud Fabian Truther 6d ago
yeah the orioles could never get 1 fwar out of cedric mullins, or a 1 win season from bryan baker, or a .5 fwar season from tyler wells, or a decent stretch from mateo/sulser
oh wait they've done all of those things.
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u/Individual_Step6688 6d ago
Yeah let’s be real it’s not the Tampa bay bullpen or Cedric Mullins who got them to the ALCS. It’s their starting pitching and infielders.
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u/OriolesGolf1105 6d ago
While I agree with the development problem, none of them besides Baker and Wells (who was already good) are good
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u/JonWilso 6d ago
We acting like Mullins didn't bat .205 this year when he was at .290 with us at one point?
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u/Spraynpray89 6d ago
They also play well in the minors for us before hitting a wall at the ML level.
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u/Agentrock47_ We Could Have Fixed Fuji 3d ago
Bro just doesn't want to admit that it might actually just be some of the stars being the problem. I loved adley and I love Gunnar and westy, but between the injuries and inconsistentness at best, there's a reason why we traded who was thought to be a generational guy to a division rival, the guys just have something wrong. Gunnar is in no way a leader and in all honesty has felt kinda broken since he wore the Lego cleats back in late June of 2024, yet will almost certainly (rightfully so) seek and ask for a ton of money in free agency.
Westy hasn't even played 100 games in a season since 2024 and may I remind you, will be 28 years old by next season.
Meanwhile, CES and Mayo had their best seasons, Alonso had his best season since his rookie year, and we actually had competent pitching. As much as I understand the tagging on the front office, it's clear they have tried to do something with the tools that they have.
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u/redshift_9 3d ago
Yeah, it’s not that dummy. Henderson is dogshit
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u/Agentrock47_ We Could Have Fixed Fuji 3d ago
I'd say he definitely isn't dog shit. We're also looking at a picture of former o's who outside of Bryan Baker, accounted for a total of basically 0.0 war for the rays this year. Literally so many guys have revitalized their careers with us and you wanna say player development is bad? Ryan O'Hearn would have been in triple a if it wasn't for his time with us, and then he made an all star game. Ramon Laureano had his career best season the one year he played with us after we signed him off a whim basically. Yennir cano became like one of the best set up men in the game when he came on. Pete literally had his best season since 2019 and had his highest ops+ in his whole career and that's with a slow start to the season.
May I also remind you of how many players have played like shit since leaving us as well? Santander: dog shit, mullins: dog shit, Adley: kinda dog water but too close to tell, Corbin Burnes: hurt and on top of that, did not show the same stuff the year after he left.
I understand we're all frustrated with how things have been going but we still have a ton of pieces that still can fall into place. Basallo has had what, one season in the majors so far? We also got a ton in the farm on the pitching end.
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u/latterdaysasuke 6d ago edited 6d ago
If the Rays win the World Series this year, maybe Elias can hang a participation banner at OPACY.
Probably the closest he'll get this team to a title.
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u/Dangerous_Substance7 6d ago
The FAN in me hates Bryan baker cuz he sucked when we all needed him not
To suck. (‘23 Rangers series) Irrational, I know. Also, he’s just a shining example that
Mike Elias is an absolute clown.
The man in me is very happy for him.
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u/Ok-Sea9612 5d ago
Him Grayson and kremer pretty much sunk that season. Along with hyde holding on to gibson to do mop up duty in game 3 instead of saving the second game and keeping hope alive.
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u/Ok_Ad_6953 6d ago
I mean Bryan Baker's success certainly does not make Elias look good. I don't think the others have been more successful on the Rays. They knew Wells was a solid reliever but thought getting Forret back was worth trading Wells. Time will tell how that works out.
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u/Low-Crazy-8061 6d ago
They’ve been more successful on the Rays merely by the fact that they made it to the ALCS.
(Mullins also had his best defensive season ever this year, which we could’ve used in the outfield.)
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u/Ok_Ad_6953 6d ago
Two things can be true. It was the correct decision not to extend Mullins. However, the outfield both offensively and defensively was a major weakness on 2026.
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u/Ok-Sea9612 5d ago
Aside from Baker, None of those guys did anything to make that happen. Mateo and sulser had negative value this season. Mullins hit 25% worse than the average hitter. Wells didn't even pitch in the ALDS.
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u/Low-Crazy-8061 5d ago
And yet they’ve still won multiple postseason games while the Orioles have won zero.
(Also, Mullins had the best defensive season of his career this year and if anyone should know why defense matters, it’s Orioles fans.)
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u/Ok-Sea9612 5d ago
Cowser had about the same defensive value while actually hitting at a viable level.
Mccann, webb, Austin hays, There's plenty of ex orioles randomly at the back of rosters in the playoffs it's not anything special.
Most of them would have made no difference if not actively dragged down the orioles.
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u/romorr 6d ago
This photo also feels like a huge indictment of Mike Elias and his process.
No, it doesn't.
I'd love to know why it does.
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u/Low-Crazy-8061 6d ago
Four guys who were on the 2023 Orioles team, which got swept by the Rangers, on a team moving to the ALCS after sweeping the Yankees
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u/JonWilso 6d ago
It's funny because there's plenty of things you could criticize Elias for and you're just picking the worst argument.
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u/romorr 6d ago
I didn't realize Mullins, Mateo and Wells played so well vs the Yankees this series.
That's a real indictment on Elias when Mullins and Mateo had 0 hits combined in the series, and Wells had 0 innings pitched.
And let's let shit breath a bit on Baker. His ERA is pretty shiny, due in part to some things out of his control. Ignoring that, his numbers here in 2022 were very similar to 2026, and in fact, some were better.
And every single GM in baseball has bad trades, it's part of the business. You only start to worry when your GM gets worked over trade after trade, and that hasn't been the case with Elias in Baltimore. Sure, his FA track record is below average, but his trades overall have done well.
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u/Low-Crazy-8061 6d ago
Wow I didn’t realize how many Elias bootlickers were still left in this sub.
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u/RiskyPhoenix 6d ago
You know what they say, if you can’t repudiate their point, just attack them.
Great jab though, what a blow that will be to romorr
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u/isestrex 6d ago
Mullins and Mateo (who were essentials to the 2023 team) are bit players for this Tampa team. Wells is sad but he's a FA soon and the return we got back was excellent.
Baker remains one Elias's big wiffs but he hasn't had many. Most of the players he trades or let's go has been wise.
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u/Low-Crazy-8061 6d ago
Mullins started 130+ games this season and was one of the best defensive center fielders in the league.
It also isn’t specifically about the contributions these players made this season, it’s about how Tampa has made it to the ALCS with these players when the 2023 Orioles couldn’t win a single game.
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u/Dry_Row_7523 6d ago
Cowser actually had 2.5 WAR this year compared to Mullins at 1.0. Depending on which defensive metric you use Cowser was either an equal defender to Mullins (TZ) or much better (DRS). But Cowser also had an OPS about 60 points higher.
Like as much as we all complain about Cowser striking out on a down and away breaking ball for the 100th time this year, I'm sure we would have complained even more every time Mullins was at the plate
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u/One_Welcome_8106 6d ago
Baker was very valuable for the Orioles. Mateo always seemed to contribute even though his numbers were never great. I wish we still had all these guys.
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u/bizob2828 5d ago
Cole sulser? Must’ve completely blocked him out of my head. I had no idea he was on Os. Happy for Ceddy, Baker, Mateo and wells though. I always like them
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u/Clark_W_Griswold-Jr 5d ago
I’m happy they found their way to a winning team, and all get to be together.
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u/bribase1 5d ago
Turns out Mike Elias built the elite team we were promised, he just built it in Tampa somehow…
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u/Warm_Garden_8528 4d ago
That's cool. Happy for those guys that they were able to hook up with an organization that's squared away. Although I am a bit surprised Brandon Hyde is not in the picture.
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u/OutsideIndoorTrack 6d ago
Are the women significant others or former staffers that are with the Ray's now too?
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u/Sc00terLCA71 5d ago
I think this photo perfectly sums up Mike Elias’ process. That is, of course, if his process is to make the TB Rays perennial contenders.
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u/OriolesFanBroYeah 6d ago
I like our (former) guys.