SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias was voted Major League Baseball’s executive of the year on Tuesday after the team finished with the American League’s best record for the first time since 1997.
Baltimore went 101-67 with a $67 million payroll, 29th among the 30 teams and ahead of only Oakland. After their first 100-win season since 1980, the Orioles were swept in the Division Series by the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers.
The 40-year-old Elias is a 2006 graduate of Yale, where he pitched for the Bulldogs. He joined the St. Louis Cardinals as a scout after college, became manager of amateur scouting and joined the Houston Astros in 2011 as a special assistant to general manager Jeff Luhnow.
Elias was promoted to director of amateur scouting in 2012 and assistant general manager for player acquisition in 2016. He was hired by the Orioles as GM in 2018.
Voting was conducted among the 30 teams before the postseason. Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos finished second and Diamondbacks GM Mike Hazen was third.
Baltimore’s drafted players included All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman and rookie infielder Gunnar Henderson. The Orioles acquired pitchers Kyle Bradish and Yennier Cano in trades, pitcher Tyler Wells in the winter meeting draft and reliever Cionel Perez off waivers.
Oakland executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane won the initial award in 2018, followed by Tampa Bay general manager Erik Neander in 2019, Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman in 2020, San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi in 2021 and Cleveland president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti last year.
The award was announced on the first full day of the annual general managers meetings.