Jared Banner says the Orioles are frustrated too

Banner said he wasn't looking to leave the Cubs. Then he sat down with Baltimore's executives, and he used his first public remarks to defend his new boss.

Andy Kostka

@afkostka

Jared Banner said he had a role he wasn’t necessarily looking to leave, but upon meeting with Baltimore’s execs, he was convinced of the Orioles. Added: “In baseball circles, which is a long way from Twitter, we know Mike [Elias] is one of the most talented executives”

Andy Kostka

@afkostka

New Orioles GM Jared Banner is here in Baltimore t.co/gPc8CbX43b

The "long way from Twitter" line is the giveaway. Banner knows exactly how Mike Elias is talked about online right now. The Orioles went 79-82 in 2026, finished 4th in the AL East and missed the postseason for the 2nd straight year. A young core that looked like it would win for a decade has gone flat, and Elias spent the end of the season saying the club would "aggressively" chase "fresh voices." Banner is the first big one.

He isn't a big name, but he's spent a long time in front offices. Banner is 41 and just finished his 18th year in baseball operations. He started as a fellow with the Red Sox in 2007, ran player development for the Mets from 2018-20 and had been the Cubs' assistant GM since January 2024. In Baltimore he'll run baseball ops day to day under Elias and lead player development, coaching and performance. That's the part he leaned on hardest at the podium.

Andy Kostka

@afkostka

Jared Banner acknowledged that he knows Orioles fans are frustrated. He said the Orioles are frustrated internally, too. Banner said Baltimore is committed to building a winning group. Much of that will come from player dev, and Banner said that comes from evaluating everything

Saying the building is frustrated too is the right thing to say, and it costs him nothing on day 1. The more telling part is where he says the fix comes from. "Player dev" and "evaluating everything" means the farm system and the coaching pipeline are getting audited, not just the 26-man roster. For a franchise built on drafting and developing hitters, that's a polite way of saying the process stopped producing what it used to.

He's also done the local homework. Before his first press conference he'd already been on the phone with the 2 biggest names in franchise history, plus the guy in the dugout.

Andy Kostka

@afkostka

New Orioles general manager Jared Banner said he has spent time talking with Orioles greats Jim Palmer and Cal Ripken Jr., as well as manager Craig Albernaz already

Talking to Jim Palmer and Cal Ripken Jr. doesn't win a single game in 2027, but it matters in Baltimore. The fan base has spent 2 losing seasons wondering whether the analytics-first front office cares about the club's identity. Getting on the same page as Craig Albernaz early matters more, because the manager is the one who has to make whatever the development staff changes actually work on the field.

The most concrete news of the day came from Elias, not Banner, and it's the one fans have been begging for since the rebuild ended.

Andy Kostka

@afkostka

Mike Elias said the Orioles are looking at rotation upgrades. Said that’s “on the menu.”

"On the menu" is not a promise, and Orioles fans have heard front-office pitching talk before. But a new GM brought in to fix development plus an Elias who's openly shopping for starters is the clearest sign yet that Baltimore doesn't plan to run back the 79-82 team. The real test of Banner's first winter is whether that menu turns into an actual order.