Matt Blood Out As Orioles VP After Just 10 Months In Role
Matt Blood, promoted to Orioles vice president of player and staff development last November, is out of the organization entirely, a source told The Baltimore Sun's Andy Kostka.
Matt Blood spent 7 years building a career in the Orioles' player development pipeline, and now it's over. Andy Kostka broke the news that Blood is no longer with the organization, a departure that lands barely 10 months after he was handed one of the bigger titles in the front office.
Andy Kostka@afkostkaMatt Blood, the Orioles' vice president of player and staff development, is no longer with the organization, a source said. Blood has been with Baltimore since 2019 in player development and scouting roles. He was promoted in November to the player and staff development position
Blood joined Baltimore back in 2019, working his way through player development and scouting roles before Mike Elias bumped him up to vice president of player development and domestic scouting in October 2023. Last November, he got another promotion, into the newly created vice president of player and staff development role. Kostka followed up minutes later with a second post confirming the exit through a source, not a leak or a rumor.
Andy Kostka@afkostkaMatt Blood, Orioles front office executive, no longer with organization, source says t.co/rVCi2MMyK4
New ownership reportedly views Mike Elias' job
The timing is what makes this one sting a little. Losing a longtime staffer isn't rare in baseball ops, front offices turn over every winter, but losing someone barely a year removed from a promotion, and one who'd been with the club since before the Elias rebuild really took hold, is the kind of move that gets noticed inside the industry even without an explanation attached.
It also comes at a moment when the rest of the org chart has looked stable. According to The Baltimore Sun, Blood and the Orioles mutually parted ways, though no reason has been given publicly. Owner David Rubenstein has been a vocal backer of Elias since taking over the franchise, going as far as saying ownership "couldn't be more pleased" with how he's running baseball operations.
That backing showed up again this week. Fox Sports' AJ Pierzynski told Foul Territory that, from what he's hearing, the new ownership group thinks Elias has done a good job and his seat isn't hot heading into the winter.
Foul Territory@FoulTerritoryTV"From talking to people, the new ownership group thinks he's done a good job." @AJPierzynski12 believes Mike Elias' job is safe this winter.
So the picture forming is a front office that's secure at the very top but shedding a mid-tier exec who was seen as a rising piece of it. Worth watching whether Blood's exit is a standalone personnel change or the first domino in a broader staff shakeup as Baltimore heads into an offseason where the roster, not just the org chart, needs answers.