On Saturday, Mike Elias sat alone in his new suite, watching as the Rays beat the Orioles on the way to an 11-3 win, another drumming in a season full of them.

A year ago, the Orioles general manager probably would have been in the stands behind home plate, walking through the concourse shaking hands and interacting with fans. Now he knows that’s not going to be a pleasant conversation — the Orioles are 36-47, 12 games back in the American League East and seven games back of a wild-card spot — and fans are frustrated that they sat through a rebuild only to see the team regress this season.

“People maybe aren’t as happy to see me right now,” Elias said in a conversation with The Baltimore Banner. “We’re working on things, and we’re going to get out of this.”

But, at this point, getting out of this appears to be a resolution the Orioles have to save for next season. July 1 and the All-Star break — which begins July 13 — are two milestones that Elias said he uses to assess where the team is and how he will attack the trade deadline. If things don’t change, and change fast, the team will be a seller before the July 31 deadline.

“We’re going to have to be realistic about the situation, and the byproduct of that is that you have an opportunity to make some trades that set yourself up better for the near future or the long-term future, and so we’re preparing for that scenario,” Elias said. “It’s not what we wanted coming into the year and it’s been a big disappointment to be in this position, but we’re doing the best we can in the short term to climb out of it, and if we don’t then we’ll tackle the deadline the way that we should.”

Elias would not specify what the team would be seeking at the deadline, but the needs, as he pointed out, are obvious. “I think anyone following the team can see where we’ve got some gaps in the roster right now,” he said.

At the top of the list is starting pitching — the Orioles do not have a qualified starter with an ERA below 4.00 — and counting on Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells (elbow surgeries) and Grayson Rodriguez (lat) to all return this season and be at their best is likely unrealistic given the amount of time they’ve missed. If they are buyers, the Pirates’ Andrew Heaney or the Angels’ Tyler Anderson could be options. If they are sellers, the Orioles should seek close to major league-ready pitching.

The core — Jackson Holliday, Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser — likely remains untouchable in potential trade talks. But others, including clubhouse leaders Cedric Mullins, the longest-tenured Orioles player, and Ryan O’Hearn, who has grown into one of the most vocal players, could be on the chopping block. Both will be free agents after this season.

Trading them could impact the dynamic of the clubhouse. In 2022, the Orioles, then hovering around .500 and only a handful of games outside of a wild-card spot, sent Trey Mancini to Houston, a move that did not go over well with a clubhouse that felt it needed Mancini’s on- and off-field skills.

That reaction is something Elias thinks about as he considers potential moves.

“It’s really tough, and that’s why we do everything possible to avoid that situation if we can here in the next few weeks,” Elias said. “But you know, if that comes, we’ll communicate, we’ll handle it but, you know, fingers crossed we don’t get there right now.”

Last year, the Orioles made a flurry of moves at the deadline, picking quantity over quality. Zach Eflin, Seranthony Domínguez, Gregory Soto and Trevor Rogers were part of those moves, and all came with at least another year of team control. With additional moves in the winter, that should have set them up better for this season.

But, in the offseason, the Orioles failed to do anything to drastically change the makeup of the team, instead getting starters Charlie Morton (5.63 ERA) and Tomoyuki Sugano (4.06). Tyler O’Neill, their offensive headliner, has played only 24 games and hit just .188 with two home runs, both on opening day.

So does Elias regret not doing more?

“I think it depends. There were a lot of players that we tried to be aggressive with, and they’ve been hurt or bad and we didn’t get them,” he said. “There have been a lot of injuries, but I’m not going to act like that’s the extent of it. And right now we’re trying to get our group of players on the field playing better, and they have been battling and moving things slowly in the right direction. We want to set ourselves up for a better season next year one way or another, so that’s what our focus is on.”

The Orioles already made a drastic change this season, firing manager Brandon Hyde and major league field coordinator/catching instructor Tim Cossins. As for if there will be more change coming, Elias said they are “doing a lot of self-reflection” and looking at things up and down the organization but that he isn’t ready to announce anything.

He accepts responsibility for the way the season has gone. And his message to fans is to stick with him — and the team — even though this season is going downhill.

“We’re frustrated too,” Elias said. “I mean, this group has had a lot of talent and they’ve had a lot of success. ... There’s a lot of young talent that’s very invested here and that’s going to be here a while out there playing the rest of the year, regardless of our record. So this group is battling; they’re well worth continued support from the fan base.”