The Orioles will benefit from Mike Elias’s experience with the #1 draft pick

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports When the MLB draft rolls around in about two and a half weeks, the Orioles are going to make the first selection in the draft for the first time since 1989. It’s unfamiliar territory for the franchise and its fans, as not even during the long stretch of dark years from 1998-2011 were the Orioles ever so bad to get the #1 pick in the next year’s draft.

Having the first pick in the draft might feel new to O’s fans, but it’s not new to the people who are now running the Orioles. General manager Mike Elias served as the scouting director for the Houston Astros during their stretch of three straight years picking at #1 overall. Analytics guru Sig Mejdal, who…