Liftoff 2.0? After sell-off, Mike Elias says Orioles’ ‘future is strong,’ starting now.

There is a phrase that will forever hang over the 2022 trade deadline, when the Orioles passed on a chance to bolster the major league roster — and propel their improbable playoff run — in order to prioritize the future.

“It’s liftoff from here,” president of baseball operations Mike Elias said exactly four years ago in Arlington, Texas.

A few days earlier, Elias traded two key contributors: first baseman Trey Mancini and closer Jorge López. The Orioles had been within reach of a wild-card spot. Elias chose to maximize Baltimore’s chances in years to come, and especially given the return for López — which included right-hander Yennier Canó and left-hander Cade Povich — it can be argued that selling was the right choice.

Four years on from then, though, the Orioles sold once again. They have not played like a playoff-caliber team. They are 54-58. But given the mediocre American League, the Orioles were again within reach of a postseason spot and Elias decided against fighting for it.

In doing so, he may have offered another phrase that will linger over this trade deadline.

“The future is strong, and I think it starts right now,” Elias said Monday evening after trading catcher Adley Rutschman, outfielder Taylor Ward and right-hander Tyler Wells.

The circumstances around those two deadlines, of course, are different. In 2022, Baltimore was just beginning to rise from the doldrums of 100-loss seasons. In 2026, the Orioles have slid down the other side, failing to capitalize on 192 regular-season wins in 2023 and 2024.

The outcomes, ultimately, were the same. Elias thought of the future.

This time, Elias advocated that despite trading four regular contributors — Rutschman, Ward, Wells and right-hander Dean Kremer — Baltimore can still compete in 2026. When asked how that might be the case considering the departures from the roster, Elias noted that the Orioles are in a “bad position.”

“We have a chance. We have talent. We’ve had the talent all year. I really believe that,” Elias said. “But we’ve put ourselves in a bad position record-wise and we’ve got ground to make up. Our odds are stacked against us a little bit, but we have a good shot. And I clearly would have approached this trade deadline differently if our record had been in a different place. That’s something you take into account.

“But, I think, despite the fact that we’ve moved some players off this team, veteran players, and brought in younger players and brought in many players at the minor league level, that we’ve got a team that has a shot to make it in and we’ve got a great coaching staff and a great energy in the clubhouse, and these guys can do it. I think there have been a lot of examples the last few years of teams that have made late surges after the trade deadline and made the postseason, and I hope that’s what this group does.”

There is no denying the haul the Orioles received for Rutschman from the Boston Red Sox. In addition to major league catcher Carlos Narváez, Baltimore added three of Boston’s top prospects: right-hander Anthony Eyanson, right-hander Kyson Witherspoon and outfielder Enddy Azocar.

They don’t help this year’s team. In all likelihood, they don’t help in 2027. Some of the other additions, such as right-hander Michael Forret (a former Orioles draft pick), are closer to the major leagues. But Wells and Rutschman were still under team control next year, too. Opting to move them now is “an unfortunate reality of the business of Major League Baseball,” Elias said, but it risks signaling another reset in a baseball city that has been hurt before.

“The reality is that our record, and the odds that come with that record, were not strong enough for me to go into the deadline with 2026 as the sole focus,” Elias said. “We had to start looking at future years and take those into account as we assessed moves. But we did not dismantle the team. We still have a very good team and a very good rotation, and we’re going to keep grinding. We’ve got talent in the minor leagues, some new talent and some players who will come up.”

More than anything, Rutschman’s departure to an American League East foe will sting in Baltimore. Elias said dealing Rutschman within the division was a “weightier” consideration.

There’s also the weight of moving on from Elias’ first draft pick in 2019. Rutschman was the face of the rebuild, and while “things don’t last forever in sports,” Elias said, the Orioles opted to cut their relationship with the catcher short.

“It’s very hard. I have a lot of personal affection for Adley,” said Elias, who declined to get into specifics of whether the Orioles felt a contract extension was possible.

He said that trading Rutschman for minor leaguers “is not a declaration of setting back our timeline. It’s about making moves to enhance the level of talent in the organization, and we want to continue to win in the near terms. It’s a balancing act when you’re in my position.”

Whether they can really strike that balance remains to be seen.

The Orioles will deal with facing Wells on the Tampa Bay Rays and Rutschman on the Red Sox. The Orioles can think about the future, and perhaps that future blossoms into something great.

Before then, Elias hopes the present is quite good, too. It hasn’t been lately, and cutting from the major league roster rather than adding to it isn’t a likely formula for winning right away. Still, Elias said these moves were in the best interest of the organization — now and later.

“We’re in a really good spot with the health of the org, the talent that’s in the org, the players, the system that we have,” Elias said. “We need to get better. We need to continue to adjust and evolve. Our competition is very, very stiff. But I like where we’re at. The way that we’ve gotten here has felt different, because of the last couple of years and how we’ve tapered down the last couple years from where our record was in 2023 and 2024.”

And then that phrase, the one that may linger: “The future is strong, and I think it starts right now.”