The Baltimore Orioles named Jared Banner general manager Tuesday, promoting the 38-year-old from assistant GM in Chicago to oversee player development, coaching infrastructure, and performance operations. He reports to Mike Elias, who remains president of baseball operations. The hire reunites Banner with Elias—they overlapped in Houston's front office before Elias left for Baltimore in 2018.
Banner spent six seasons with the Cubs, ascending from director of baseball operations to assistant GM under Jed Hoyer. His portfolio covered the minor-league system, amateur scouting coordination, and performance science integration. Chicago's farm system ranked 11th in Baseball America's midseason organizational talent rankings in 2024, up from 18th when Banner arrived in 2019. He did not negotiate major-league contracts or lead trade discussions; those sat with Hoyer and senior adviser Carter Hawkins. The Orioles are installing him one layer below Elias with explicit domain over everything before arbitration.
The appointment clarifies Baltimore's post-championship-window structure. The Orioles entered 2025 with the youngest projected opening-day roster in the American League—average age 26.8—and a top-five farm system by consensus industry rankings. They won 101 games in 2023 and 91 in 2024, reaching the playoffs both years, but were swept in the wild-card round each time. Elias has managed trades and free-agent signings himself since arriving; Banner's hire suggests he wants a dedicated operator to manage the pipeline while he focuses on major-league roster construction and ownership relations. The Angelos family sold the club to a group led by David Rubenstein for approximately $1.7 billion in 2024, and Rubenstein has signaled plans to increase payroll after years of Tampa-style efficiency.
Banner's Chicago tenure offers a template. The Cubs rebuilt their player development infrastructure under Theo Epstein, then maintained it through the Hoyer era while cycling major-league talent. Banner helped implement biomechanics labs, hire performance coordinators, and standardize coaching language across affiliates. Baltimore already runs similar systems—Elias imported Houston's infrastructure—but the GM role creates accountability and dedicated bandwidth. Worth noting: Banner was in the room when the Cubs traded Yu Darvish to San Diego in 2020, Kris Bryant to the Giants in 2021, and Willson Contreras to St. Louis in 2022. He did not lead those deals, but he managed the talent flowing in and the roster spots opening up.
The Orioles have $18 million in luxury-tax payroll space before reaching the $241 million first threshold in 2025, per Cot's Baseball Contracts. They also hold the 22nd overall pick in June's draft after finishing third in the AL East. Banner will oversee both. His immediate decisions include hiring a farm director—Baltimore's previous director, Matt Blood, left for the Mets in November—and filling two vacant minor-league manager positions. The Orioles also need to decide whether to extend pitching coach Chris Holt, whose contract expires after 2025, and whether to add a second hitting coach to support Ryan Fuller.
Banner's phone started ringing the day Chicago was eliminated in September. He interviewed with the Mets for their president of baseball operations role—they hired David Stearns—and with the Astros for GM. Baltimore waited, then moved once the winter meetings concluded. Elias wanted someone who had built a system, not someone who had inherited one.
The Orioles open spring training in 37 days. Banner starts immediately.
The takeaway
Baltimore slots a Cubs pipeline architect into the GM chair, betting Elias-plus-Banner replicates Houston's front-office depth as payroll rises.
Editorial & Disclosure Notice: This article was written with artificial intelligence from public sources and is published without individual human review. Artificial intelligence and other digital tools are also used for research, analysis, editing, formatting, and production. Errors, omissions, outdated information, or inaccuracies may occur. References to companies, brands, products, services, organizations, or individuals are for informational and editorial purposes and do not imply endorsement, sponsorship, affiliation, partnership, or approval unless expressly stated. All trademarks and other intellectual property remain the property of their respective owners. Opinions, analysis, estimates, and commentary are informational only and should not be construed as financial, investment, legal, tax, medical, procurement, or other professional advice. Information may be corrected, clarified, or updated after publication. Corrections or removal requests: jenny@pops4.com.
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