Amid the Orioles’ agonizing 13-23 start, the biggest target is the man at the top of the operation.

Mike Elias doesn’t just know he’s in the crosshairs. Lately, he’s been calling for the arrows.

It can feel uncommon and even slightly refreshing to hear a top executive acknowledge in real time that he’s made mistakes. The Orioles GM can typically weave a long response to difficult questions without surrendering much actual insight. But on a Wednesday appearance on “The Show” podcast with the New York Post, Elias didn’t dodge the straight-shooting questions fired his way, including criticism that the Orioles aimed far too low this offseason.

“It’s hard to push back on criticism that we didn’t do enough when we’re in this spot right now,” Elias said.

It is hard to push back. Because the Orioles didn’t do enough. Acknowledging this shortcoming is only a tiptoe toward redemption for Elias and this front office, who need to amp up their ambition and save at least some of this forlorn season before it’s too late.

One of the consistent drumbeats of the offseason was the collective head-scratching of baseball observers and local fans watching Corbin Burnes make his getaway to Arizona and asking themselves: When is Elias going to start doing the big moves? The winning moves? When is he going to do what it takes to win a championship?

Given Elias’ astute, deliberate construction of a farm system that was the top-ranked in baseball for years, he earned a bit of credibility even among the impatient folks. But, with the underwhelming performances of the starting rotation, the former top prospects and the entire lineup when a left-handed pitcher is on the mound, it’s clear the popular opinion of Baltimore’s tepid offseason was the right one.

While acknowledging that the Orioles’ many injuries put this ugly performance in the realm of “extreme outcomes” as Elias put it, it would have also been extreme if this conservative approach put Baltimore back in the World Series. The ceiling for this roster (especially its pitching) always felt low, and clearly the floor has fallen, too.

It’s good to see Elias, at least in a small way, owning that he’s made mistakes. But that’s only the first step.

It’s not enough simply to take the blame and redirect some heat off his embattled manager. Elias and his front office have to change the way they do business, and it needs to start immediately.

While firing manager Brandon Hyde can definitely be on the table (the Pittsburgh Pirates opened up the coaching carousel Thursday by firing manager Derek Shelton), it seems evident based on the Orioles’ combination of injury and underperformance that not even Earl Weaver himself could whip this undermanned group into a contender as is. Fixing this team isn’t going to be as easy as serving Hyde a pink slip, especially since the Orioles replaced much of his staff in the offseason with coaches with little Major League experience.

Frankly, a trade for Seattle’s Luis F. Castillo — which a handful of fans excitedly (but mistakenly) believed for a few joyful seconds was the other, seasoned Mariners starter also named Luis Castillo — for a fistful of cash was a bit of a downer move during the team’s five-game losing streak.

It’s the kind of low-risk, low-reward move Elias has trafficked in for years, back in the day when mere competence was the goal. That’s not what anyone was hoping for this season, and it’s not a good sign that the front office feels this is a helpful piece to dig out of the AL East basement.

At this point, the answer might not even be trading for an ace. Trading for a starter who isn’t Charlie Morton would be a significant upgrade that would make the suffering fanbase sigh in relief. And, sorry, the early returns on Kyle Gibson (as great a clubhouse guy as he is) are showing why he was still on the market deep into March.

The concern is the season is too far gone for triage. I’m sure this front office has a computer model somewhere in the warehouse spitting out advice that it’s too risky to chase this season’s recovery.

But I doubt Orioles fans — who are bitterly waiting to be blown over by something this front office does — will crucify Elias more for trying to make this team better with something other than the marginal moves of the past.

Brainy forecasts rarely take the hope and spirit of the team and fan base into account, and, frankly, allowing this slide to continue is too damaging to both of those things. It’s not great when you’re about to introduce a renovated, enlarged scoreboard just as nobody wants to see the score itself.

Making the playoffs is looking like a long shot in 2025 but, at the bare minimum, this team has to start winning again. Wasting three-quarters of this season for a slightly better shot at 2026 is far too dispiriting even to consider at this point, and it sends the wrong message to a ballclub that has taken a downturn and a fan base that was getting used to winning again.

So, yes, accountability is the first step for Elias. Raising his ambition is another. Getting in the muck and trying to pull his team out of it with real moves is next. Resignation that everything is already over just a month and a half in won’t cut it.

It says something that Elias is willing to take shots on the chin. But it will be more meaningful when we see him fire back — and try to save this season.