BALTIMORE — When Mike Elias took over as Baltimore’s general manager before the 2019 season, he brought in Matt Blood, a former colleague, to serve as the club’s director of player development. Blood held this position for Elias’ first five seasons, overseeing the progress of young talent at each of the organization’s Minor League affiliates.

This past offseason, Blood assumed a new role as the Orioles’ vice president of player development and domestic scouting.

While Blood continues to be involved in player development, much of his year has been dedicated to preparing for the 2024 MLB Draft. This marks a return to his roots, as he was a scout for the Cardinals from 2008 to 2016, a period that overlapped with Elias (a Cardinals scout from 2007-2011) and Baltimore assistant general manager Sig Mejdal (an analyst for the Cardinals from 2005-2011).

“It’s been a lot of fun to be back involved with the Draft in this capacity,” Blood said. “Working closely with Mike and Sig is something I’ve done for a while now, but now doing [it] again on the Draft, which we did a while back in St. Louis. … I’m continuing to learn a lot, and I’m just very fortunate to have those two guys, with all the experience they have, alongside me.”

The prep work that Blood and the Orioles’ scouting department have done will ideally pay off soon. The 2024 Draft begins Sunday (7 p.m. ET at Cowtown Coliseum in Fort Worth, Texas), with the first two rounds and supplemental rounds broadcast live on MLB Network, ESPN, and MLB.com.

Monday will feature Rounds 3-10, and Tuesday will bring Rounds 11-20. The Draft resumes at 2 p.m. ET each day, with coverage available on MLB.com.

After winning the American League East title last year, Baltimore’s first pick in the Draft will be No. 22. However, the Orioles, who have a bonus pool of $10,920,900, have two additional Day 1 selections: No. 32 (a prospect promotion incentive pick awarded for Gunnar Henderson winning 2023 AL Rookie of the Year) and No. 61 (second round).

“I think we’re going to have some good players to choose from,” Blood said. “You’ve got a combination of some interesting college hitters, potentially college pitchers, and then some of the higher upside high school guys that we like. We’ll see what happens. At 22, there’s a lot of different scenarios of what could happen, and we’ll be ready for all of them.”