When Brandon Hyde became the Orioles’ manager before the 2019 season, he knew what he signed up for: guiding a rebuilding team that would continually have assets stripped from its major league roster and directed elsewhere, in hopes of building what executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias once called an “elite talent pipeline” capable of sustaining a competitive team for years.
Hyde saw that process come to fruition firsthand as a member of the front office and coaching staff of the Chicago Cubs, culminating in a World Series title in 2016. The next season, the Houston Astros won a championship three years after picking first overall in the draft for the third straight season, with Elias overseeing those talent-acquisition efforts as amateur scouting director and assistant general manager.