Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias and manager Craig Albernaz walked into the interview room on the lower level of Camden Yards early this afternoon and sat at the same table where too many postgame media sessions were held after losses.

Playoff teams were conducting workouts today prior to the Wild Card round. The Orioles packed their belongings for the trips home but also had a lot to unpack regarding why they didn’t finish above .500 and continue playing in October.

“This was a very disappointing season for us,” Elias said. “Our expectations were high. The results did not come in that we expected, but I never felt like the fight and effort or passion from our players were lacking, so we really want to thank them for pouring it all out there this year. I really think the group did their best.”

Elias also thanked fans were being supportive and “hanging in there with us.”

“I’ve lived in Baltimore a long time and right now I know how important this is and how badly we all want it, and that certainly does not stop at the people at this table, and for sure not our ownership group, as well,” Elias said. “They’re doing everything in their power to support us and we feel really disappointed that we’re not providing the results, especially this year, that I think we expected.

“We’re accountable about that. On the other hand, like, this is sports and it’s hard. There’s a lot of stiff competition and there are seasons where you work to be better and improve things within your organization and know that you’re going to have another shot in the future. So we’ll have a constructive mindset about it, but we’re open to criticism and we involve it in our decision making.”

The session wasn’t a Monday news dump. There were only a few nuggets worthy of quick posting on social media. But here’s a sampling of today’s shared information.

Updates on Kyle Bradish and Jordan Westburg

Bradish will undergo surgery Tuesday with Dr. William Meyers in Philadelphia to repair a sports hernia.

“Hopefully that goes smoothly,” Elias said. “We’ve had a few of those the last few years early in the offseason. Typically, it’s a pretty smooth deal. So hopefully Kyle will have the same experience.”

Bradish went on the 15-day injured list Sept. 13 because of lower abdominal discomfort and later was moved to the 60-day IL to create space on the 40-man roster.

Albernaz said the hernia impacted Bradish over his last three starts.

“Once we kind of realized what we were dealing with and the degree that was affecting him,” Elias said, “we went ahead and shut him down.”

Infielder Jordan Westburg, who missed the entire season after undergoing ligament-reconstructive surgery on his right elbow, is beginning a hitting progression this week.

“He’s on track,” Elias said.

De León returning to original role

The Orioles converted Luis De León from starter to reliever at Triple-A Norfolk and put him in their bullpen in September. De León responded with a 1.93 ERA and 0.857 WHIP in eight appearances covering 9 1/3 innings. He allowed two earned runs and six hits, walked two and struck out six, and his usage came while the Orioles were playing must-win games to stay in the Wild Card chase.

The last six appearances were scoreless.

That didn’t change the organization’s thinking.

The No. 7 prospect in the system, per MLB Pipeline, will work out as a starter next spring and hop back into Norfolk’s rotation if he doesn’t break camp with the club.

“We brought him up as a reliever to get him experience at the big league level,” Elias said.

“Yeah, he’s going to come into camp as a starter,” Albernaz said. “He did a great job. We talked about being thrust into the bullpen for two weeks in the minor leagues, and he did outstanding at the big league level in his first taste. It’s impressive how he handles himself, his demeanor, and obviously the stuff stands out. It’s elite stuff and, with his demeanor and that stuff, we’re going to give him every avenue to be a starter.” 

Follow-up on Henderson

Gunnar Henderson shared in New York that he was playing with some right wrist soreness for about half the season and switched to a different bat knob for relief. He also said it wasn’t an excuse for his disappointing season.

Teams always toe that line between wanting players to grind, knowing the difference between being hurt and injured, and alerting the club about a health issue that could worsen without rest.

Henderson played in 158 games and would have tied his career high from 2024 if rain hadn’t forced Sunday’s cancellation.

“Well, it certainly never helps when you’re fighting through something,” Elias said. “Credit to Gunnar, he stayed out on the field all year and played so hard. Alby rested him here and there, but I don’t recall him ever being too hurt to play a game, and he didn’t spend time on the IL. In that sense, he did a great job navigating everything. It’s part of baseball, and I think the organization and Gunnar handled that particular situation about as well as you could.

“But yeah, we’ve been getting killed by injuries the last couple of years. It’s no secret. We don’t make an excuse about it, and it’s a very hard thing to control. But we’re going to do whatever we can within our control to get better results on that front going forward.”

Albernaz mentioned the daily check-ins with his players.

“But also anyone that’s been around Gunnar, sometimes you just have to just let him be because he’s intense and he’s as competitive as anyone I’ve been around,” Albernaz said.

“With Gunnar, there was extra work in the training room to make sure that it was not ready to go for the game, but you want to make sure you stay on top of it so it doesn’t get worse. Gunnar and the training staff did a great job, and Gunnar also made an adjustment with his bat as well, where he had a regular knob bat pretty much the whole year, but towards the end of the season he switched to an axe-handle and that helped a lot.

“I always say this, but the real separator from big league players and minor league players is that big league players are the elite of the elite compensators. Where they play every day, it’s 162 games, and you’re not 100 percent healthy, just Day 1 of spring training. After that, it’s a slow decline, and Gunnar did a great job of going out there and playing for us.

“I know it wasn’t the results that he wanted, but you look up and he had over .700 OPS and 24 homers. It’s still productive for a shortstop at this level. So I’m proud of Gunnar the way he went about this business this year. “

Rogers negotiations on the agenda

Trevor Rogers has stated many times that he wants to stay with the Orioles and there haven’t been any talks with his agency. He also seems eager to test free agency for the first time.

The ideal outcome is for Rogers to sign a new deal with the Orioles.

“As I’ve been over the years, I don’t like to be the person contributing too much public information to these sorts of things, unless it’s like absolutely necessary,” Elias said. “I’ll say a few things about Trevor. Was extremely impressed. We traded for him in the middle of 2024, he didn’t come over in the best spot. He went to a pretty low place in his career and through his own hard work and guts brought himself up to where he is now, with the help and support of our organization. I’m really proud of him and everyone involved in that. Thought he had a really good year, and we love him. And we would love for him to stay.

“I’m certainly going to be talking to his camp before free agency, but then also during free agency, if it gets to that point. That said, I think as he said publicly, he’s a pitcher who’s worked really hard since being drafted and he’s managed to get to the precipice of free agency at a healthy spot and an impressive spot. The system affords him that right, and I’m sure there’s a big part of him that’s going to value that, too. That’s my take on it. But the interest is very high from our side of the fence.”

Elias can’t offer many specifics yet on immediate improvement goals

There’s more to do than just roster upgrades. Meetings are forthcoming to address many areas of the franchise.

“This is a very busy time of year,” Elias said. “You’d much rather be busy in the playoffs and everything that entails, and so, it’s a very bitter feeling, especially doing this two years in a row now. And it’s a full organizational review. And that’s how you kind of spend your October weeks. So we’re doing that and it’s very difficult for me to answer the question perfectly, being at the outset of having an opportunity to really address and think about things.

“We’ve got a lot of roster business to handle. We’ve got HR business in the organization, both in terms of adding and looking at people and retaining them and things like that, and we’re diving into all that now. And then also a lot of conversations with Alby, coaching staff, players. Those things will be ongoing, but there’s only so much I can say.

“You know, we want to be better, results-wise. The results need to be better. This is the second year in a row that they haven’t been there to this degree, and we’re tired of it.”

Elias still assumes that he’s returning without getting official word

Elias said this during a Sept. 19 dugout session with media at Camden Yards and nothing changed today.

“I don’t seek those assurances or anything like that,” he said. “I work as hard as I possibly can. I pour everything I have into this every day until somebody tells me to stop. So that’s all I need to hear and we’re focusing on what we’re doing.”