The Baltimore Orioles have fortified their front office under president of baseball operations Mike Elias by hiring Jared Banner to be the club's new general manager, the team announced on Monday. Banner, who had been assistant GM of the Chicago Cubs, will "lead the organization's player development, coaching and performance efforts, while also partnering with Elias on strategy, staffing, and talent acquisition, among other duties," according to the team.
"Jared has been one of the rising talents in our league for some time now," Elias said in a statement. "He has demonstrated success running multiple different departments and has worked alongside some of the best people and front office talent in the league across multiple stops. He is a perfect fit to grow, evolve and improve the Orioles' baseball operations, and I look forward to working with him very closely as we build for 2027 and beyond."
Prior to filling that key role in the Cubs' front office, Banner had been the New York Mets' vice president of player personnel, and before that he spent some 11 years in the Boston Red Sox's front office. With the Red Sox, Banner earned World Series rings as a member of the front office for the 2007, 2013, and 2018 clubs. "I had the chance to learn from some really special people - some really great baseball minds like Theo Epstein, Jed Hoyer, Dave Dombrowski and Allard Baird. The list goes on and on," Banner told MLB.com in 2023.
Banner had recently been a candidate to become the Athletics' head of baseball operations. Instead, he'll be the Orioles' No. 2 after a search for a GM that's been ongoing for at least the past year.
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Banner joins the Orioles in uncertain times. Not so long ago, the club was emerging from a deep and painful rebuild that saw them lose 115 games in 2018, 108 in 2019, and 110 in 2021. Those depths allowed them to land premium young talents like Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, and Jackson Holliday, among others. The rebuild began to bear what figured to be a lengthy harvest with a 101-win season and division title in 2023. The O's again made the postseason in 2024, but across those two seasons, they went 0-5 in playoff games. In 2025, they stumbled early on, which cost manager Brandon Hyde his job, and wound up with a sub-.500 record and last-place finish in the American League East. Hopes for a rebound in 2026 came to grief, as the Orioles went 79-82 and finished in fourth place. Now that vaunted young core is older and has stalled in certain spots, and Rutschman plays for the Boston Red Sox.
All that adds up to an uncertain future in Baltimore, and no doubt the hope is that Banner's newfound influence will shore up some of Elias' established weaknesses as a lead executive. As such, the Orioles' forthcoming offseason could be one to watch, as their winter maneuverings could signal a change in approach or at least a different means of gearing up for another run while the current core is still somewhat intact. In other words, Banner is taking on a role that may be as challenging as it is important.
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