{"id":837240,"date":"2026-10-25T03:36:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-25T03:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/837240\/"},"modified":"2026-10-25T03:36:55","modified_gmt":"2026-10-25T03:36:55","slug":"can-jared-banner-fix-the-orioles-heres-what-his-mentors-said","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/837240\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Jared Banner fix the Orioles? Here’s what his mentors said."},"content":{"rendered":"

Join the dugout. Sign up here<\/a> for Orioles updates in your inbox.<\/p>\n

A 21-year-old Jared Banner, then interning for the Boston Red Sox out of Amherst College, sat with a blank expression on his face in the suite at Fenway Park.<\/p>\n

Theo Epstein, the Red Sox\u2019s general manager, couldn\u2019t believe Banner hadn\u2019t heard of Kent Hrbek, the longtime Minnesota Twins first baseman who retired when Banner was a child. <\/p>\n

\u201cTheo was like, \u2018What the f–k? How old are you?\u2019\u201d recalled Jed Hoyer, another Red Sox executive in the suite that night in Boston. \u201cTheo made him do a full presentation the next week on baseball in the \u201980s.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a joke of sorts, friendly banter with the young whippersnapper right out of college, and yet Banner poured himself into it. With a poster set up in a conference room and what Hoyer described as \u201cscience fair\u201d flair, Banner didn\u2019t just deliver a presentation on 1980s baseball.<\/p>\n

He aced it. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn typical Jared fashion, he embraced it,\u201d said Hoyer, who now leads the Chicago Cubs, with whom he worked again with Banner. In that early demonstration for the Red Sox, Hoyer and everyone else caught a glimpse of Banner\u2019s energetic and problem-solving nature. And it\u2019s those attributes that the Orioles are banking on Banner bringing to Baltimore, where he is needed to inject new life into the organization.<\/p>\n

The Orioles hired Banner, now 40, to become their general manager under president of baseball operations Mike Elias. According to a release from the team, Banner is charged with leading day-to-day operations of player development, coaching and performance efforts while partnering with Elias on strategy, staffing and acquisitions. <\/p>\n

Orioles fans have clamored for this sort of change as Elias\u2019 prolonged rebuild stalled. Given the finite competitive window allotted to most major league teams, the timeline for getting back on track must be short. Elias has repeatedly mentioned the need for outside voices, but it\u2019s fair to wonder: Can a newcomer enact systemic change when so many of the people responsible for building the system remain? Put another way: Will Banner be able to convince Elias, his boss, of what\u2019s broken and how it can be fixed? <\/p>\n

According to those who have worked alongside him throughout his life \u2014 from Amherst College to the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and, most recently, as the assistant general manager of the Cubs \u2014 there is no better position for Banner to find himself. He has taken hold of these sorts of tasks at each stop on his rise, after all.<\/p>\n

Banner\u2019s first task will be much steeper than that presentation on 1980s baseball. He must learn, then revolutionize, the Orioles\u2019 player development system. He must recognize the reason so many highly talented prospects plateaued or regressed for the Orioles in recent years and correct the problem. He must help the Orioles get back on track following two straight losing seasons.<\/p>\n

Elias became the Orioles\u2019 general manager and was given years to rebuild the team. Banner will face immediate pressure to enact dramatic change \u2014 a task his supporters say he is up to.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo be able to hold your own in the Red Sox front office at 21 years old speaks volumes of who Jared is,\u201d said Brian Hamm, who served as the assistant coach at Amherst while Banner was there. \u201cJared\u2019s most impressive character trait outside of his consistency is his courage, and I don\u2019t mean to say that in any clich\u00e9 way. He\u2019s one of the most courageous people I\u2019ve ever met.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just look at him in New York eight years ago, as a 32-year-old in the room where it happens.<\/p>\n

Not just player development<\/p>\n

Brodie Van Wagenen kept a tight circle during those two years as the general manager of the Mets. He came to the job from a unique path, serving as an agent before jumping into one of the most prominent executive positions in baseball, but he wasn\u2019t alone.<\/p>\n

Banner was one of four people he leaned on, a group that included veteran baseball executive Omar Minaya.<\/p>\n

Yet Banner \u2014 who was not made available to speak for this article \u2014 was involved in every decision. He ran the minor league system and player development group but weighed in on the draft and \u201cevery trade-deadline decision and every major league roster decision,\u201d Van Wagenen said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a very robust role at a very young age, and he\u2019s only built upon that the last six years with the Cubs,\u201d Van Wagenen, who now runs Roc Nation\u2019s baseball division, said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t stagnate.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Van Wagenen, \u201cdiffering opinions were helpful and were valuable as we were assessing things,\u201d and Banner was never shy about standing out.<\/p>\n

What Hamm meant by his former player being courageous goes beyond the catch Banner made as a senior playing for Hamm and Bill Thurston at Amherst. The center fielder ran full speed into the cinder block fence at Terry Park in Fort Myers, Florida \u2014 and then got up and finished the game.<\/p>\n

Banner also had a more subtle kind of fortitude that drew other players to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s true to his moral compass and his belief system that he\u2019s had, which he\u2019s always had, from the moment I\u2019ve known him,\u201d Hamm said. \u201cAs you and I both know, that\u2019s a rare quality in somebody, to be so consistent and have such conviction in what you stand for.\u201d<\/p>\n

It became clear Banner\u2019s path in the game would be off the field, and he made a connection with another Amherst grad, current Pirates general manager Ben Cherington, who helped him land the internship with the Red Sox. Over the next 18 years, he worked his way up but always had a hand in player development. <\/p>\n

His background appears to pair well with the Orioles\u2019 greatest need. They parted ways with Matt Blood<\/a>, the vice president of player and staff development, in September. Early in the process of hiring a general manager, the search focused on individuals with player development experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to push initiatives and be aggressive and there\u2019s things he believes in that he\u2019s going to push, and push people, and I think that\u2019s the accountability piece,\u201d said Ryan Flaherty, a former Orioles infielder who is now the Cubs\u2019 bench coach.<\/p>\n

Flaherty said Banner would spend three or four hours a day in the clubhouse, in the coaches room or on the field in Chicago. He built relationships with players and staff members. He studied nutrition and strength training. And he wasn\u2019t afraid to challenge players and coaches.<\/p>\n

After games, if Flaherty was frustrated over some mistake that occurred on the field, Banner would cut through the noise with a direct question.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019d say, \u2018Flash, did you practice it with the player?\u2019\u201d Flaherty recalled. \u201cI\u2019d sit there and say, \u2018No, I didn\u2019t.\u2019 He\u2019d say, \u2018Well, why are you mad? You didn\u2019t practice it, right?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a reminder to make sure the same mistake wouldn\u2019t happen twice.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone\u2019s searching for that dynamic, right? That dynamic of front office, coaches and players, and how leadership and how all those things mingle together to create that culture word everyone\u2019s searching for,\u201d Flaherty said. \u201cIt takes a special person. He\u2019s empathetic at times. He\u2019s challenging at times. You can connect with him. It\u2019s all those things I think he really embraces.\u201d<\/p>\n

Banner has always yearned for information. He soaked in what Thurston, the legendary coach at Amherst, taught him. He asked question after question with the Red Sox, Mets and Cubs \u2014 and his curiosity hasn\u2019t waned even as he steps into one of baseball\u2019s premier roles.<\/p>\n

Banner worked with Dave Dombroski, the Philadelphia Phillies\u2019 president of baseball operations, in Boston. Ever since, he\u2019s made time to grab lunch whenever the two are in the same city.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are very busy. People have a lot going on. Chicago plays a lot of day games, so it\u2019s not always easy. But he always did that,\u201d Dombrowski said. \u201cHe was always interested in just staying in touch and reaching out for information and help and trying to continually grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what stands out to those who know him is his ability to filter what he\u2019s learned into his own framework for how to go about his task.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s always had confidence and conviction to have a voice in the room,\u201d Van Wagenen said. \u201c He has a keen sense of being able to apply what he\u2019s heard and what he\u2019s experienced into good decision-making.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hoyer said Banner had the autonomy in Chicago to negotiate his own trades and contracts. The acquisition of Pete Crow-Armstrong stands out as a major win for the Cubs. Banner remembered the rising outfielder from his time with the Mets, and he was an advocate for bringing the game-changing player to Chicago.<\/p>\n

But Crow-Armstrong didn\u2019t become a potential MVP by accident. Hoyer said a key factor in enabling the Cubs to restock after their 2016 World Series win was Banner\u2019s leadership of the minor leagues, which included clear messaging, lofty goals and \u201cattention to detail at every level.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was a continuation of what he brought to the Mets. Every team has individualized plans for prospects. But Van Wagenen was most impressed with how in-depth Allard Baird and Banner went for each player in the system.<\/p>\n

Those plans went beyond swing adjustments and pitch usage. They included nutritional needs and mental skills instruction. The all-encompassing focus is what Banner expects of himself and, because of that, others follow.<\/p>\n

\u201cJared has discipline and expects everybody to put forward the same level of work ethic and commitment that he has,\u201d Van Wagenen said, \u201cand it can be infectious.\u201d<\/p>\n

The task ahead<\/p>\n

After one game during Banner\u2019s senior year at Amherst, a scout approached Hamm with a message that aptly applies all these years later.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat Banner kid out in the outfield, man, that guy plays the game like it\u2019s the last game of his life,\u201d Hamm remembers the scout saying.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll he cared about was winning,\u201d Hamm said. \u201cThat\u2019s the cool thing, certainly, for the Orioles. If you look at Jared and the organizations that he\u2019s been with, his teams have won everywhere he\u2019s gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

That intangible has been missing from Baltimore. The Orioles have been in steady decline since a 101-win 2023 season. They\u2019ve missed the postseason for two straight years. They haven\u2019t won a postseason game since 2014. Their last World Series win came in 1983.<\/p>\n

Most recently, a vaunted farm system \u2014 three Orioles players were No. 1 in Baseball America\u2019s top-100 rankings from 2022 to 2024 \u2014 has failed to deliver at the major league level. For something to change, more than introspection is required.<\/p>\n

Elias is betting that Banner \u2014 who\u2019d run through a wall or assemble a detailed presentation, whatever it took \u2014 can figure out what needs to change and then pull off the hard part: changing it. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe challenges people, but at the same time, through that, really ends up connecting,\u201d Flaherty said. \u201cHe has a unique way of creating a fun, open work atmosphere, but at the same time, accountability is really high.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Join the dugout. Sign up here for Orioles updates in your inbox. A 21-year-old Jared Banner, then interning…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2374],"tags":[143,47,2538,5,4,125],"class_list":["post-837240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-baltimore-orioles","tag-baltimore","tag-baltimore-orioles","tag-baltimoreorioles","tag-baseball","tag-mlb","tag-orioles"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/117499464512886884","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=837240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}