ORLANDO, Fla. – The deep pockets worn by the Orioles’ ownership group didn’t shrink on the trip to the Winter Meetings.

President of baseball operations/general manager Mike Elias met with the media earlier today in his suite at the Waldorf Astoria and confirmed that the club should be able to add an impactful hitter and frontline starting pitcher.

“Yes, I think so,” Elias said. “You look at our payroll as it stands right now and it’s still well below where we were at last year, and we’ll just consider opportunities as they come up and have those conversions with ownership. But we do have room for more moves, multiple more moves.”

Top starters don’t come cheaply, with Dylan Cease providing the latest reminder after accepting the Blue Jays’ offer of seven years and $210 million. Long-term contracts aren’t common in Baltimore, but Elias said length isn’t a roadblock.

“Trust me, we’ve offered them a lot,” he said, “and we’re absolutely willing to do that.”

Elias already had a busy day and wasn’t done. He took a break to handle his media responsibilities before getting back to work.

“Kind of the usual of a lot of communication and meetings and information,” he said. “Obviously, we haven’t made any moves today yet at this hour, but a lot of furtherance of a lot of really important conversations for us.”

These talks can bounce from lineup to rotation to bullpen to bench. An important reveal today is that the Orioles are willing to plug a batter in at any position or at designated hitter.  

The offense ranked 24^th in the majors with a .235 average, .305 on-base percentage and 677 runs scored this year. Help in any form would be welcomed.

"We're talking to a whole bunch of hitters and we just view it as, do they improve the team, do they improve the roster, do they raise the ceiling of the team and do they have an impact?” Elias said. “If the player's good enough, we can figure out ways to accommodate them. So we have a lot of conversations going on, mostly in free agency but also some trades on guys we view as impact bats."

Asked specifically whether he’d consider a designated hitter, a subtle way to bring up Kyle Schwarber’s name without saying it, Elias said, “Yeah, we would.”

“You weigh it in your roster-construction decisions, but like I said, if we view somebody as impacting the team and making the team better, we’ll figure out how to fit them in.”

Also from today’s session:

* Elias said it’s “a possibility” that the Orioles acquire multiple starting pitchers on major league contracts.

“I think it’s just gonna kind of depend on the personnel,” he said.

* The team hasn’t decided whether to pursue a utility infielder similar to Ramón Urías.

“He could already be on the roster,” Elias said. “We’ve definitely got internal options and people like Jeremiah (Jackson), and there’s other guys in the organization who could fill that role, but it’s also something we’re talking about and looking at externally and is on the shopping list.”

Jackson will continue to be developed as a multi-positional player, though he only played right field and third base with the Orioles. His resume is much more expansive in the minors.

* Elias is confident that new closer Ryan Helsley will bounce back from his struggles with the Mets after the trade deadline. This makes sense, of course. Why else would the Orioles sign him? 

“We’re really tickled that we’ve added him,” Elias said. “We view this as a little bit of a blip and I know he’s got the right attitude and I think he’s just gonna fit in really well with us. He was really excited about joining our team, so really glad we have that in place.”

* The bullpen isn’t a finished product after the Orioles signed Helsley and traded for Andrew Kittredge.

“I think it’s in a better spot than it was before the offseason began with those additions,” Elias said. “We’re still looking to add and still looking to tinker, but I think we have a really interesting group aside from (Helsley and Kittredge). Some of the younger guys that were optionable last year and kind of auditioned and debuted a little bit. There’s some interesting arms in there, too, so we want to leave some room for those guys to compete and pop and help the team, but we’re still looking at external bullpen additions.”

* Whether the Orioles carry a third catcher is to be determined. They have four on the 40-man roster after claiming Drew Romo on waivers. They used seven this year to set the franchise record.

“Maybe,” Elias said. “It’s something that we haven’t exactly finalized our plan there yet. We’re looking at what’s available over the winter and we’re gonna have to figure out the plan before spring training, but we’re going to need catching depth, obviously. I think we, of all teams, demonstrated that last year.

“I don’t know exactly what that picture’s going to look like. We’ve got some guys on the 40-man roster now and some other players in the organization, but I’m sure there will be some external catching additions. And whether we carry a third catcher all year continuously or not, I don’t have the answer to that right now.”

* As you’d expect, Elias is on board with the added emphasis on fundamentals. Manager Craig Albernez spoke earlier today about his players expressing their desire to improve on them.

“Look, everybody talks about that topic all the time, everybody’s trying to get better at it, and we do want to emphasize it,” he said. “I think it’s hugely important. You have to keep your foot on the gas pedal when it comes to fundamentals. I think his staff and some of the guys that we’ve got working on this topic in the minor leagues now, including (upper-level coordinator of instruction) Mike Shildt, it’s gonna be a big focus for us.

“We wanted more roving instructors in the minor leagues helping polish them to prepare them for major league baseball, and getting an instructor with his track record, but also, he’s always been a passionate and accomplished guy and he’s in a place in his career where he wanted to go back and teach in the minors. I think it was a perfect fit.”

* Moves made by other teams in the division won’t increase the sense of urgency to make counter moves. This is just business as usual.

“I don’t know if there’s much more I can say about the American League East,” Elias said, smiling. “We pride ourselves in competing in that division and it’s invigorating to be in the American League East. And I think ultimately it’s a good thing for us and our players to have those stakes constantly being raised, and we’ve got to figure out a way to emerge.”

* A full 40-man roster seems to indicate that the Orioles will pass in the major league portion of the Rule 5 draft.

“It’s looking maybe a little less likely this year,” Elias said, “but we haven’t had our formal meeting about it yet.”