The Orioles’ front office has made its first big move of the offseason -- and it’s a significant one.
On Monday, Baltimore announced the hiring of Jared Banner as general manager. The 41-year-old, who was previously an assistant GM for the Cubs, will work alongside president of baseball operations Mike Elias in managing the baseball ops department on a daily basis.
Banner has spent 18 seasons working in baseball operations. He had been Chicago’s AGM since 2024, though he had been in the Cubs’ organization since December 2020, previously working stints as their vice president of special projects (‘21) and vice president of player development (2022-23).
Now, Banner will come to Baltimore, where he’ll try to help get the O’s back on track after two consecutive years in which they missed the postseason. He 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.
“When I first heard Mike’s vision, I knew it was something I wanted to be a part of. The Orioles are a storied franchise with a passionate fanbase, a historic ballpark and an organization full of talent,” Banner said in a statement. “I look forward to building upon the foundation laid by Mike and his team to construct a world-class organization and bring championships back to Baltimore. I am extremely grateful to Mike, [control owner] David [Rubenstein] and [ownership partner] Mike [Arougheti] for the opportunity, and I am excited to get to work.”
The hiring of Banner shouldn’t come as a surprise. Elias has been considering hiring a GM since last offseason, as he was promoted to POBO prior to the 2025 season and had been carrying both titles since then.
But Elias had publicly expressed interest in using the GM title to add a talented executive to the Orioles’ front office. It didn’t happen last winter, but it felt more likely to happen this offseason, as Elias stated at his end-of-season press conference on Sept. 28 that the club would be aggressively looking for fresh voices and “good people.”
It appears Banner fits the mold of the type of leader Elias had been looking for.
“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.
“We welcome him and his family to Baltimore, and we are very pleased that they chose our team and our community for the next phase of their baseball journey.”
A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Banner played four seasons as an outfielder at Amherst College in Massachusetts, also serving as the team’s captain in 2007. He began his career in pro baseball as a fellow in the Red Sox's baseball operations department in ‘07.
Banner spent 11 years with Boston, serving as a player development assistant (2008), assistant of amateur scouting (‘09), coordinator of amateur scouting ('10-12), assistant director of player personnel ('13-16) and vice president of player personnel ('17-18). During his final two years in the organization, Banner oversaw scouting professional players, notably in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Mexico.
The Red Sox won three World Series championships (2007, ‘13 and ‘18) during Banner’s time working for the club.
From 2018-20, Banner served as the Mets’ executive director of player development, overseeing the organization’s Minor League system, before joining the Cubs.
The Orioles, who made consecutive postseason appearances in 2023 and ‘24, started to make changes to their front office before the end of the ‘26 season, during which they went 79-82 and finished fourth in the American League East.
Assistant GM Sig Mejdal shifted roles, as he’ll no longer be overseeing Baltimore's analytics department and will instead oversee the research of emerging technologies and innovative practices across baseball operations. Also, the club mutually parted ways with Matt Blood, a longtime executive who was working as vice president of player and staff development.
It’s possible the O’s will make more additions/changes to their front office this offseason.
The Orioles will introduce Banner during a press conference at Camden Yards on Tuesday, Oct. 27.