(Scottsdale) Baltimore Orioles general manager Mike Elias beat Atlanta Braves’ Alex Anthopoulos to the finish line for the title of Major League Baseball’s top executive on Tuesday, after the Maryland team posted the best record in the American League for the first time since 1997.

The Orioles went 101-61 despite having a payroll of just $67 million, 29th out of 30 major league teams. Coming off their first 100+ win season since 1980, the Orioles were swept in the first round of the playoffs by the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers.

Elias, who is 40, is a 2006 graduate of Yale University, where he also pitched for the Bulldogs. He joined the St. Louis Cardinals as a scout after college, then became the director of amateur scouting and joined the Houston Astros as special assistant to general manager Jeff Luhnow in 2011 .

Elias was promoted to director of amateur scouting in 2012 and assistant general manager, responsible for player acquisition, in 2016. He subsequently became the general manager of the Orioles in 2018.

Voting was done to all 30 teams before the start of the playoffs. Anthopoulos finished second, ahead of Arizona Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen.

The Orioles notably drafted star catcher Adley Rutschman and rookie infielder Gunnar Henderson. They acquired pitchers Kyle Bradish and Yennier Cano on the trade market, got Tyler Wells in the winter draft and claimed reliever Cionel Perez on waivers.

Oakland Athletics executive vice president of baseball operations Billy Beane won Major League Baseball’s first MVP award in 2018, followed by Tampa Bay Rays general manager Erik Neander in 2019, Oakland Athletics president of baseball operations Los Angeles Dodgers Andrew Friedman in 2020, San Francisco Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi in 2021 and Cleveland Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti last year.

This title was announced on the occasion of the first day of the annual meeting of Major Baseball general managers.