According to a bombshell report from the Winter Meetings, the Baltimore Orioles consider themselves more of a social experiment than a baseball team.

In what can only be described as a hit piece on Baltimore GM Mike Elias, Pitcher List’s Ben Palmer claims a source told him that the renewed optimism surrounding the Orioles’ ownership change has been purposely muted by their baseball operations leader. Though new owner David Rubenstein has given Elias and Co. the “green light” to match baseball’s top teams in spending, Elias is reportedly still reluctant to do so, preferring to build his roster differently.

The piece goes as far as to call the current O’s a “vanity project” for Elias, who wants Baltimore to “serve as the antithesis to teams like the Yankees and Dodgers,” despite the Yankees and Dodgers recently meeting in the World Series.

Will he have the same vision when both Gunnar Henderson and Adley Rutschman are seeking top-dollar paydays, forcing him to choose between his own ego and the reset button?

SOURCE: Orioles GM Mike Elias refuses to spend money despite green light from owner David Rubenstein.

FULL STORY from @benjpalmer at Pitcher List.https://t.co/oAJ1Qz3rIe

— Nick Pollack (@PitcherList) December 12, 2024

Orioles refuse to spend money despite green light from owner. Mike Elias has given Yankees renewed hope!

Building a roster from the ground up is a noble pursuit. Of course, when those pieces come of age, a necessary decision must be made: supplement the players you believe in by filling roster holes before they age out of their rookie contracts.

Neither Henderson nor Rutschman seems particularly amenable to foregoing money to remain in Baltimore, and so the time will come soon to pay the payroll piper, in one way or another. Scott Boras’ comments at the Winter Meetings on Henderson only served to reinforce that notion.

Is Gunnar Henderson one of those “select players” Scott Boras believes should wait for free agency?

“That would be something that Gunnar has to define over time, where he’s playing. Certainly, skill-wise, he is already one of the elite young players in the game.” https://t.co/BZ14dd1qVJ

— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) December 11, 2024

The Orioles have gotten the first part right. Like Steve Cohen and the Mets, they’re run by a genuinely enthusiastic fan with the wallet to make his dreams come true. Now, it may be time for them to find a David Stearns-type who’s willing to work in lockstep to catch up to the realities of modern baseball, fulfilling the region’s hopes in the process.

Until then, the Yankees will gladly watch Baltimore cap their own ceiling and neuter their own threat level. Or they could always just change the wall again.