From the offices of Major League Baseball

SCOTTSDALE – Baltimore Orioles Executive Vice President and General Manager Mike Elias, whose young club finished with the American League’s top mark for the first time since 1997, was named the recipient of MLB’s 2023 Executive of the Year Award, MLB announced during the annual General Managers Meetings. 

The official Award bestowed by MLB resulted from voting among the 30 Clubs, each of which cast a vote prior to the start of the Postseason.  The runner-up for the 2023 honor was Atlanta Braves President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Alex Anthopoulos, while Mike Hazen, Executive Vice President and General Manager of the Arizona Diamondbacks, finished third.

The Orioles posted a 101-61 record, MLB’s second-best mark overall in 2023.  With their first 100-win season since 1980, Baltimore edged two fellow Postseason participants, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays, to earn the AL East crown for the 10th time in Club history. 

Under manager Brandon Hyde – hired by Elias within weeks of the GM’s arrival – the Orioles tied for the Major League lead with an AL-best 48 comeback wins and avoided a sweep throughout the entire regular season for the first time in the club’ 52-year history.

Baltimore’s core included homegrown Draft selections such as All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman and 2023 Most Valuable Oriole-winning rookie infielder Gunnar Henderson, who joined an already established group of Orioles like Cedric Mullins, Austin Hays and Félix Bautista, all of whom have emerged as All-Stars, as well as outfielder Anthony Santander. 

Elias acquired pitchers Kyle Bradish and All-Star reliever Yennier Cano in trades, veteran Kyle Gibson in free agency, Tyler Wells in the Rule 5 Draft, reliever Cionel Pérez through waivers and reliever Danny Coulombe via a purchase. 

The acquisitions of seasoned veterans including catcher James McCann, infielder/outfielder Ryan O’Hearn, infielder Adam Frazier and outfielder Aaron Hicks contributed to an exemplary culture on and off the field.  Among Orioles who debuted in 2023, Elias-era selections Colton Cowser, Heston Kjerstad, Jordan Westburg and Joey Ortiz were ranked among MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospects upon joining Baltimore’s roster.

Elias, who was named to his position with the Orioles following the 2018 season, is concluding his 17th year working in Baseball.  He began his career as a scout with the St. Louis Cardinals, later serving as Manager of Amateur Scouting.  In 2012, he joined the Houston Astros as a Special Assistant, soon becoming Director of Amateur Scouting.  In 2016, he was promoted to Assistant General Manager, Player Acquisition.  The Virginia native was a four-year pitcher at Yale University.

MLB began its official Executive of the Year Award at the conclusion of the 2018 season, with Billy Beane of the Oakland Athletics earning the inaugural honors, followed by Erik Neander of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019; Andrew Friedman of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020; Farhan Zaidi of the San Francisco Giants in 2021; and Chris Antonetti of the Cleveland Guardians in 2022.