Jared Banner is here to kickstart Orioles’ player development, plus other takeaways

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Jared Banner was not looking for this job.

The new Orioles general manager was more than happy as an assistant general manager with the Chicago Cubs. But after meeting with president of baseball operations Mike Elias, president of business operations Catie Griggs and members of the Orioles ownership group, Banner realized that Baltimore, in fact, was where he wanted to be.

“Storied franchise, iconic ballpark, passionate fan base, owners who care and want to win, and most importantly of all, the organization is chock full of a talent, from top to bottom,” Banner said Tuesday during his introductory press conference. “It really made it a pretty easy decision for me.”

The Orioles hired Banner as their new general manager under Elias last week, and on Tuesday, he delivered his first analysis of how he will attempt to redirect Baltimore to its winning ways. The franchise, which reached the heights of a 101-win season in 2023, has stagnated — and the two straight losing seasons prompted Elias to make his largest addition to the front office setup yet.

Banner joins with a track record in numerous roles, but he has previously handled player development responsibilities with the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Cubs. He will continue doing so in Baltimore, where one of his first major tasks will be figuring out how to get the Orioles’ core to blossom.

“By and large, we’re going to be partnering on everything, but there are certain aspects of baseball operations that we are going to split up and direct more exclusively between ourselves,” Elias said.

Banner, Elias said, will “take over everything to do with our internal players, our internal coaches, player development, performance, healthcare. All of that is going to fall under his umbrella.”

“I think he’s better than I am in those areas,” Elias added.

That will allow Elias to focus more fully on scouting and player acquisition tasks. That is Elias’ background. He came up as a scout with the St. Louis Cardinals and became the Houston Astros’ scouting director in 2012. Upon arriving in Baltimore as the general manager in 2018, he promised to build an “elite talent pipeline.”

While the Orioles have stocked their farm system with highly regarded prospects, many of them have struggled to make the adjustment to the major leagues. That’s where Banner comes in.

“I’m excited to get going to see what we can do with this group, because they’re so talented,” Banner said. “The sky is the limit. We’re going to create a high standard and we’re going to protect that standard.”

Banner didn’t immediately outline exactly how the Orioles will turn a high standard into winning. But he said the Orioles will “challenge all of our processes, and we might have to get comfortable being uncomfortable. One of my main player development philosophies is we have to make practice more like the game, so the game gets easier once we get in there.”

A central figure on whom Banner will focus is shortstop Gunnar Henderson, who has experienced a steep decline since an All-Star 2024 season. Henderson, 25, saw his on-base-plus-slugging percentage fall from .893 in 2024 to .715 in 2026.

Banner compared Henderson to Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, who was an All-Star in 2025 despite holding one of the highest chase rates in baseball. While Crow-Armstrong accumulated 5.9 wins above replacement in 2025, “he wasn’t satisfied with that,” Banner said.

“We talked about never being satisfied and he went back to the drawing board, and we supported him in that,” Banner said. “He then became a 10-win player and presumably the National League MVP. The sky is the limit. We’re not putting any ceilings on any of these guys. We’re going to raise the standard, protect that standard and get after it.”

It remains to be seen how large the turnover will be in Baltimore’s player development setup. Matt Blood, the vice president of player and staff development, left the organization in September. Banner and Elias praised the work Mike Shildt and Cal Ripken Jr. have done in the minors, however.

Shildt, the former Padres manager who was hired to become Baltimore’s upper-level minor league coordinator of instruction, worked with Ripken, now a part-owner, to teach fundamentals in the minors.

“Sort of teaching the finer points of the game, I think, is something across the league can use more emphasis these days, and what better experience to have talking to our kids than those guys,” Elias said.

Elias said the Orioles made improvements in 2026 in that department, and Banner will continue the work. When asked if Shildt will keep working with the Orioles next season, Elias said, “We would like to.”

If it wasn’t already apparent when the Orioles hired Banner, however, Elias made it clear Tuesday. The Orioles looked in the mirror and saw a weakness in player development. Banner’s hiring is meant to change that.

Learning from club legends

Over the first week of Banner’s time in Baltimore, he has already made calls to several former Orioles legends, including Ripken, Hall of Famer Jim Palmer and longtime outfielder Adam Jones.

Banner quipped that he “made sure I hit Jim back right away,” alluding to Palmer’s comments about manager Craig Albernaz not replying to a message earlier this year. But most importantly, Banner said, he wants to soak in what those former players have to say about Baltimore.

“I’m excited to learn from those guys, spend time with them,” Banner said. “I’m looking to listen, learn, understand Orioles tradition and culture, and see what new, fresh perspective I can add.”

Hoping to keep coaches in place

Over the last several years, the Orioles have seen ample coaching turnover. Part of that, of course, came with the firing of manager Brandon Hyde. Albernaz brought in some new pieces.

But even before then, the Orioles have rotated through hitting coaches. They’ve had seven hitting coaches since 2024. Currently, Baltimore has Dustin Lind and Brady North leading the hitting department.

Banner said the Orioles are in the process of reviewing their coaching staff but added that they’re “hoping for some continuity. Things do change. Some of our staff members could get new, big opportunities other places, things like that. We’ll see how that all shakes out, but we’re hoping for some continuity.”

A groundbreaking hire

When the Orioles hired Banner, he became the first Black general manager in franchise history. He became the eighth Black general manager in major league history.

That isn’t lost on Banner.

“I think representation matters, and if there’s some little kid in Baltimore who sees me up here and thinks that they’re capable of something they might not have thought otherwise, that’s a big responsibility and something I take a lot of pride in,” he said.