Mike Elias Reveals Early Favorite in Orioles' Closer Race

The Baltimore Orioles have two pitchers with plenty of closing experience heading into 2027, but president of baseball operations Mike Elias wants to see them healthy before he hands either one the job.

Elias talked about right-handers Ryan Helsley and Félix Bautista with MLB.com's Anthony DiComo at the GM Meetings in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

He called them two power arms and said the team is excited to have both, but because they each had injured 2026 seasons, he said neither one is someone the Orioles can fully bank on to lock down the ninth inning.

Before setting the closer's role, Elias wants to see what other moves the team makes with the pitching staff and then talk it over with manager Craig Albernaz and the players, though he did give an early lean.

"But if Helsley's healthy, I think it starts with him, and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Elias told MLB.com.

Helsley's first year in Baltimore did not go the way anyone hoped.

After signing a two-year, $28 million deal last December, he went on the injured list with right elbow inflammation in late April, came back in June and then went back on the injured list on June 30 with right elbow discomfort.

He made a rehab trip to Triple-A Norfolk in September before the Orioles shut him down, finishing with a 4.11 ERA and eight saves in 17 games.

The team activated him off the 60-day injured list on Nov. 2, and he chose to stay in his deal for 2027, a contract decision that keeps him in the mix.

When he is right, Helsley is one of the best in the game, and he led the majors with 49 saves for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2024 while posting a 2.04 ERA.

Bautista missed most of 2026 after surgery in August 2025 to repair a torn rotator cuff and a torn labrum.

He came off the injured list on Sept. 19 and pitched in just two games, allowing three earned runs in 1 2/3 innings, but before the injuries he was dominant, with a 1.85 ERA and 48 saves in 121 games over the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

I agree with Elias making Helsley the starting point.

Helsley pitched in 17 games this year compared to two for Bautista, and a pitcher coming back from shoulder surgery is better off being eased in, so Bautista can work his way back as a setup man.

If both stay healthy, Baltimore has one of the best late-inning pairs in the American League.

There is still work to do in that bullpen.

MLB.com noted the Orioles could use another high-leverage reliever, especially a lefty, and right-hander Andrew Kittredge, who has since become a free agent, led the team with only 11 saves during a 79-82 season that left Baltimore fourth in the AL East.

Elias has said adding starters is on the menu too, and the front office has talked about its trade plans this winter, so the closer question is only one piece of a busy offseason.