The Orioles Looked Done. Now They’re Threatening the Yankees’ Playoff Plans.

“It was sad to see those guys leave; they were a big part of our team,” said Pat Valaika, who has played six positions for the Orioles this season. “But our attitude was that’s just another opportunity for somebody to fill that role — and we have a lot of talented players. That’s what gets not really talked about that much: our team is talented. We have a few veteran guys, but we’re young and I think a lot of people underestimated us, and that’s kind of fun.”

The Orioles did not trade star players — their deals included Richard Bleier to Miami, Tommy Milone to Atlanta, Mychal Givens to Colorado and Miguel Castro to the Mets — but, then, they did not really have stars, anyway. They lost 115 games in 2018 and 108 last year, with Mike Elias taking over for Dan Duquette as general manager in between.

Elias, a former pitcher for Yale and scout for the St. Louis Cardinals, has been in this spot before. After the 2011 season, he was named scouting director for the Houston Astros, who were then the majors’ worst team. Under General Manager Jeff Luhnow, the Astros slashed payroll, compiled a lot of losses and a lot of high draft picks, and soon became a power.

An overlooked part of their rise — which has been marred by a sign-stealing scheme that cost Luhnow, and others, their jobs — may be playing out again in Baltimore. While the Astros were considered to have a barren farm system a decade ago, their new front office did inherit Jose Altuve, Dallas Keuchel and George Springer — a future Most Valuable Player, Cy Young Award winner and World Series M.V.P.

This summer, the Orioles are showing Elias that they, too, could have more long-term answers than many people realized.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/11/sports/baseball/orioles-yankees-playoffs.html