Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias met with reporters after Monday's 6 p.m. deadline to explain the decision to trade catcher Adley Rutschman — the No. 1 overall pick of his first draft in charge back in 2019 — to the division-rival Red Sox. The move ends an era that began less than eight months into Elias' tenure in Baltimore.
Three moments worth pulling from his remarks:
On the emotional weight of the move: "It is an incredibly emotional moment to have Adley depart the organization in this way. … I just want to thank him very, very much. When he was projected to be the No. 1 pick and he realized the gravity of the assignment ahead of him, he really embraced it. He's a wonderful human being. We love his family. This is an unfortunate reality of the business of Major League Baseball."
On the front office's thinking behind the timing: "He wasn't signed to a [long-term] contract, and... our team fades out of direct contention that season to that degree, we have to start looking at opportunities when a player nears the end of his term and so those opportunities are the offseasons and the trade deadlines."
On how recent performance factored in: "I think Adley and I both wish some of these seasons hadn't gone the way that they had."
Elias also described the front office as "overwhelmed" by the return offer Boston put together, a package headlined by pitching prospects Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon. "It had to something that we were overwhelmed by, and we were," Elias said.