BALTIMORE -- When he was officially unveiled on Monday afternoon, new Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias wouldn't comment specifically on the long-speculated possibility of adding Sig Mejdal to his front office. Instead, Elias spoke of "aggressively" making additions, providing easy tea leaves to read for the media assembled.
So, it was no surprise when the Orioles made it official on Wednesday that Mejdal will join Elias as assistant GM for the club. Together, the pair give a formidable new look for the Orioles front office, bringing a blend of scouting and analytic expertise with their accomplished pedigrees.
"Sig Mejdal is one of the most experienced and accomplished analysts working in baseball today," said Elias in the Orioles' news release. "To have him join our Orioles organization is a major moment for this franchise, and I look forward to him charting the course for all of our forthcoming efforts in the analytics space."
Mejdal, a former NASA engineer, began his career in baseball with the Cardinals from 2005-11, rising as high as the team's director of amateur draft analysis before leaving for Houston. While there, Mejdal was influential in helping the Astros become one of baseball's most forward-thinking front offices. He and Elias worked closely in optimizing sabermetrics and using analytical decision-making to help the Astros go from being consistently at the bottom of the American League table to World Series champions in 2017.
Mejdal allowed his contract with Houston to expire earlier this fall, prompting speculation that he would join Elias as word leaked out that he had gotten a position in Baltimore last week.
Mejdal earned bachelor's degrees in mechanical engineering and aeronautical engineering from the University of California, Davis, as well as master's degrees in operations research and cognitive psychology from San Jose State University. Prior to beginning his baseball career, he worked for NASA as a biomathematician.
Chief among Elias' priorities upon assuming the top spot in Baltimore's front office is to beef up the analytics and international scouting departments. The O's, who seldom utilized either in recent years, lost their director of analytics and Major League contracts, Sarah Gelles, earlier this month. Gelles coincidentally left for Houston.