BALTIMORE -- A weekend away from the MLB Draft, the Orioles won’t tip their hand regarding the first overall pick. But they’re nearing a decision they’ve repeatedly called the most important they’ll make all year.

Mike Elias said Friday the club is strongly considering four players with the No.1 overall pick in Monday’s Draft, narrowing a field that stood five-to-seven deep as recently as last week. Elias said he’s personally scouted each candidate two or three times and watched them extensively on video this spring in preparation for his first Draft as Orioles general manager and executive vice president. The Orioles own the first pick for the second time in franchise history and the first time since 1989, when they selected right-hander Ben McDonald.

The Orioles’ entire scouting operation will meet in Baltimore this weekend to put together the final Draft board. Elias said the club’s choice at No. 1 won’t be made until after those meetings are complete.

“There is no reason to make the decision prior to when we have to make the decision,” Elias said. “There is really no utility in making the decision three days prior to the Draft. We’ll make it on the day of the Draft.”

Consider it standard operating procedure for Elias, who is no stranger to waiting until the 11th hour to finalize such decisions. Elias was the scouting director in Houston when the Astros had the first overall pick each year from 2012-14, drafting Carlos Correa, Mark Appel and Brady Aiken with those selections. Each selection reportedly came down to the final day, after signability, medical records and other logistics were fully vetted.

This year, given the nascent stage of their rebuild, the Orioles must determine whether a college hitter like Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman or Cal first baseman Andrew Vaughn, or a high school player like Texas prep shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is a better fit with the team’s competitive timeline. Or whether that matters more than simply choosing the best available talent.

“We’re going to focus on taking who we think is the right pick, and we’ll see how it all falls,” Elias said.

Rutschman, Witt Jr. and Vaughn are the top candidates to go No. 1 in most mock drafts, and all are playing this weekend. MLB Pipeline’s Jim Callis has Vanderbilt outfielder JJ Bleday going No. 4 overall to Miami in his latest mock; Baltimore had been keeping tabs on Bleday and Arizona State outfielder Hunter Bishop, but both are considered dark horses at this point. Sources indicate it’s Georgia prep shortstop CJ Abrams who has the final spot on the Orioles’ short list.

Most evaluators believe Baltimore’s choice will come down to Rutschman and Witt Jr. Asked if there is one player he considered the head-and-shoulders top talent in the class, Elias answered indirectly.

“You’d be surprised when you get into a Draft room, and you have 30 people weighing in, the lack of consensus that can occur,” Elias said. “We’re spending a lot of our time discussing those candidates and preparing for the Draft as a whole.”

The Orioles have three picks on Day 1 of the Draft, choosing No. 42 and No. 71 overall in addition to the top overall pick. Elias said the Orioles are considering up to 45 players for their second-round pick, with eight-to-10 names in serious consideration.

Baltimore has the second-largest bonus pool in this year’s Draft with $13,821,300 to spend, and the No.1 pick is valued at $8,415,300. No top overall pick has signed for full slot value since the current system was implemented in 2012, when the Astros used the discount they got by selecting Correa to entice later-round picks with above-slot bonuses. Elias said it was too early to predict the Orioles’ bonus-pool strategy, but the team isn’t expected to dip too deep into this current class given its top-heavy nature.

“If we end up using every dollar straight up, great, that means we really liked those guys and we got them,” Elias said. “If it ends up where we’re pushing some of that money around … that would be good too. It’s impossible to predict.”

Caps and gowns

Manager Brandon Hyde will be away from the team Saturday to attend his stepdaughter Arya’s graduation, with field coordinator Tim Cossins assuming managerial duties in his absence. It’ll mark the managerial debut for Cossins, who worked exclusively as a Minor League instructor prior to this season.

“I don’t think I’ve ever missed a game so it’s a little strange,” said Hyde, who will head home to Chicago for the ceremonies and rejoin the Orioles on Sunday. “We’ve gone over some stuff.”

The chain of command, though, is less clear after that. Who takes the reins if Cossins is ejected, as he has been once already this season?

“I have no idea,” Hyde quipped. “We should probably talk about that.”

Hello, old friend

Clad in orange and black, Mike Yastrzemski didn’t look all that different as he stood in the box for his first at bat at Oriole Park, six years after the Orioles drafted him in the 14th round out of Vanderbilt. The context was different though, with Yastrzemski wearing a Giants uniform and walking up from the visitor’s dugout. He hit second in Bruce Bochy’s lineup Friday, and started his night off with an RBI triple before hitting his first Major League home run in his second at-bat in the Orioles' 9-6 victory over the Giants.

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Consider it a strange reality for the former Orioles farmhand, whose recent promotion coincided with the Giants’ first trip to Baltimore since 2004. The grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, the younger Yastrzemski spent six seasons in the Orioles system before he was traded to San Francisco for right-hander Tyler Herb this spring.

“The way it all unfolded was never something you could have really predicted. I got put in a really good situation and got lucky. I’m just really happy for the way it turned out.”

Now 28, Yastrzemski had climbed methodically through the Orioles system but was largely blocked by a glut of other outfield prospects. He was having a career year for the Giants Triple-A affiliate in Sacramento, hitting .316 with 12 home runs in 40 games at the time of his callup last week. Yastrzemski made his Major League debut on Saturday, and has started regularly in left field for San Francisco since.

“It feels really good to make it,” Yastrzemski said. “Now to be on the other side of some friendly, familiar faces, it makes it really special to be here.”