Monthly Archives: October 2018

Baltimore Orioles: Might the O’s have more than just new players?

As we wait for the promised word on what happens with the Baltimore Orioles’ coaches and front office staff, I read a very interesting article yesterday. Peter Angelos, while in ailing health, is the owner of the Orioles. In reality his sons John and Lou have been running the team from an ownership perspective for much of the year, and appear to be the heirs apparent when their father passes away. But will that truly be the case?

Thom Loverro of The Washington Times published this article in Sunday’s newspaper. You can read the article if you’d like, however the gist of it is that there appears to be no guarantee that the Angelos brothers will be allowed to own the team. And if Loverro’s to be believed, odds are actually against those ends.

Thom Loverro’s a well-respected journalist who’s covered MLB for some time. He works for the Times, as well as WJFK radio in DC – which happens to be the flagship station of the Washington Nationals. But while the Nationals claim they have an ax to grind with the Orioles/MASN, again keep in mind that Loverro does have credibility attached to his name. He also knows a lot of mover’s and shaker’s in the league office; so he might not necessarily be speaking off the cusp.

In short, the Nationals feel that they got a raw deal in the MASN contract. The fact is that they did – but they agreed to it. You can’t go back on a deal just because you wake up one day and realize it’s unfair. However it’s also become evident that the league itself not only wants the Nationals out of the deal, but has potentially been working behind the scenes for that to happen since the beginning.

MLB didn’t want to face Peter Angelos in court (can’t blame them there). So one has to wonder if it’s mere coincidence that this starts to come up in earnest now that he’s in failing health. But that aside, Loverro’s point is a very valid one. 75% of current owners have to approve either a transfer of ownership from Peter Angelos to his sons, OR approve the sons as the new owners upon Peter’s death – assuming that they inherit the team per his will. (For the record, Peter Angelos is simply the majority owner. There are minority owners as well, his partners.)

So the message may well be that the league wants the Angelos’ to play ball in the MASN deal, or MLB could force a sale. Peter Angelos in his prime would tie something like that up in court, and perhaps justifiably so. But his sons may not be him. They may be great people for the record, but they may not be the lawyer that he was.

This is all speculation, of course. But as I said, Loverro is in fact a reputable source. He isn’t the type of journalist who would pick a topic of this severity off the top of his head just to write about it. Incidentally, MLB tends to approve heirs as owners – for the most part. The Steinbrenner brothers of course got approved as owners of the Yankees, and just this year none other than the Washington Nationals formally changed ownership. Ted Lerner (who’s still alive) transferred the team to his son Mark (and it was approved by the necessary 75% vote).

There’s a lot involved in this, and not one party is 100% guilty or innocent. There are a lot of fans who are probably hoping that the league takes the team away from the Angelos’. However there is a flip side; what if it’s sold to a person or group who has no loyalty to the city? There are Baltimoreans such as Steve Bisciotti or Kevin Plank who could probably afford to purchase the Orioles. But…is there a guarantee that’s who would buy it?

Look no further than the Baltimore Colts for what could happen. Robert Irsay, and out of town businessman with no loyalty to the city, owned the team. Eventually he proves his disloyalty to Baltimore by moving the team. A local could certainly do that as well. But it would seem far less likely.

At the end of the day, this is a pretty heavy topic. My personal stance is that it wouldn’t surprise me if part of the whole “cutting payroll” idea is a move being made for the eventual sale of the team. Loverro actually said it could happen as quickly as this winter. That seems awful quick, but at the end of the day who really knows? From the standpoint of the fans, so long as the team heads in the right direction and most importantly remains the Baltimore Orioles, that’s all that’s really important.

Baltimore Orioles: Past the end of the line

Yesterday was both amazing and tough for the Baltimore Orioles and their fans alike. Especially the likes of Adam Jones and Buck Showalter. Neither is expected to return, although we should always throw in the term but you never know. And if the love fest we saw yesterday is any indication, I think most fans would be fine with that.

Specifically regarding Showalter, rumor has it that a formal decision and/or announcement is expected sooner rather than later. So in theory that could come as early as today. If in fact Buck’s out, I wouldn’t necessarily expect a new manager to be hired immediately. Most teams wait until the conclusion of the World Series to make those hires, first off because odds are some of the coaches involved could be candidates. But it allows the post-season to take center stage as opposed to a team not involved.

Showalter’s contract runs through the end of October, so he’s not going anywhere in the immediacy of today. And he’ll still be on hand and have the title of manager on October 27th when he and his wife Angela host the annual Kids Peace Trick-or-Trot. While yesterday’s festivities focused more on Adam Jones, that might be a great opportunity for fans to say goodbye to Buck if in fact he’s out.

This season was trying on everyone involved, yes including writers. There were times back in June where I looked to this day. However the Orioles always have a way of pulling you back in, and we certainly saw that yesterday. And regardless of whether a season was good or bad, there’s always a sad finality when the tarp goes on the field for the final time.

But that’s especially true this year with the circumstances surrounding the end of the season. I said this a lot yesterday, but nobody does nostalgia like the Orioles. And that’s quite frankly due to the fact that Baltimore is special. The people are special, and the teams are special. When the litany of trades went down this past summer I reminded fans that Baltimore really loves to embrace it’s athletes. And the next generation of athletes waiting to be embraced may well have been acquired in those trades.

The nickname “Smalltimore” doesn’t exist for nothing. Players come here, and in many cases become a part of the community. Adam Jones certainly did. They start families here, their kids go to school with your kids, you attend community meetings with them, etc. That’s what makes days like yesterday so hard. But it should also serve as a reminder that this isn’t just any team or any city. It’s the Baltimore Orioles. And they’re a special part of a special community.

There is a silver lining to 2018 for those who love regular season baseball. It doesn’t involve the Orioles, but the regular season isn’t quite done yet. Milwaukee will travel to Wrigley Field to play the Chicago Cubs at 1 PM this afternoon, and Colorado will travel to Chavez Ravine to play the LA Dodgers at 4 PM. Those games will decide the NL Central and West champions respectively. The losers will square off in the NL Wild Card game – tomorrow.

These games are playoff games for all intents and purposes. They’re certainly being treated as such, and justifiably so. But on paper, they actually go down as “regular season game 163.” Former 2018 Orioles Jonathan Schoop (Milwaukee) and Manny Machado (LAD) will be playing today. And the 2018 post-season is littered with former Orioles.

As for me, the season never really ends. Anyone who’s read me for some time knows that I’ll give you a full season recap at some point this week. It may not be pretty, but I’ll do it. I always take a few days after the season ends before doing that however, if for no other reason than to “digest” the entire thing. But you’ll get it – later this week, as I said.

In closing for today, I do want to thank you the fans. Certainly this season wasn’t what we thought it would be, but I appreciate any and all who read this column even once. And stick with me, as in typical Baltimore fashion, I don’t take days off!