Mike Elias, the man charged with guiding the Orioles through a homegrown rebuilding process that now features this summer’s coronavirus-caused detour, has been steadfast this week that if anyone on the major league team wanted to opt out of the 2020 season, the team would understand.
Manager Brandon Hyde said as much Friday during the team’s first workout at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, noting that COVID-19 “is a real thing” and he’s “seen the wide spectrum of what it can do” from people in his life who have contracted the disease. That would put him in “total understanding for whatever decision” an Orioles player made.