Tuesday Bird Droppings: Orioles ownership is in the news again

Feb 7, 2023 - 12:00 PM

Baltimore Orioles" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/QJuNjAzqccysGFmkyRRVAN-Sly0=/0x88:3919x2292/1920x1080/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71948408/usa_today_12521513.0.jpg" />

Good morning, Camden Chatters.

Even as the Orioles enter a (hopefully) successful new era of winning baseball, positioned for perennial contention thanks to a robust farm system and canny front office, there’s one lingering issue that continues to give fans pause: O’s ownership.

It’s been a rough offseason for the Angeloses, from their unwillingness to invest in a team on the upswing — saddling the club with one of the lowest payrolls in baseball — to John Angelos’s ill-advised scolding of a reporter on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The most public conflict involved the well-documented lawsuits that pitted younger brother Louis against older brother John and their mother, Georgia, for control of the team.

That last issue, at least, has been resolved, with all parties dropping their lawsuits yesterday. Mark Brown discussed all the details and what the end of the legal drama might mean, but the only short-term certainty is that it solidifies John as the undisputed control person of the team. As Mark wrote, it doesn’t resolve the litany of other off-field issues facing the O’s right now, including the team’s soon-to-expire lease at Camden Yards, its ongoing dispute with the Nationals over MASN revenues, or whether the Angeloses intend to remain the long-term owners of the Orioles. And it doesn’t, unfortunately, assure that the Birds will remain in Baltimore for the long haul, as awful as the alternative is to imagine.

So yes, even with ownership’s internal legal conflict now settled, Orioles fans probably aren’t feeling much more confident about the organization’s future under the Angelos family. I suppose the good news is that the return of actual baseball is just a couple of weeks away, which should serve as a welcome distraction from the ongoing uncertainty on the ownership front.

Links

What is next for Orioles and Baltimore after Angelos family settles lawsuits? - The Athletic
Dan Connolly offers his thoughts on the end of the Angelos legal disputes, which he speculates could lead to a significant but minority share in the team, perhaps 35 percent, being sold. I’ll buy it! How much could 35 percent really cost, anyway? (begins sifting through couch cushions)

Orioles Spring Training 2023 FAQ - MLB.com
Need a spring training primer? Jake Rill breaks down the key dates, names to know, and other goodies about the Orioles’ upcoming schedule. But what’s the date when everyone starts getting tired of spring training and just wants the season to start?

Orioles prospects working out at development camp - School of Roch
The big leaguers may not be in Sarasota yet, but a bunch of prospects are, with Jackson Holliday among the youngsters participating in development camp this week. If the hype about this guy is true, maybe Jackson should be teaching the development camp.

The Orioles’ rebuild holdovers are now a ‘big core part’ of the lineup. The team’s success in 2023 may hinge on them. - Maximizing Playoff Odds
Everyone’s rightly drooling about the up-and-coming prospects who could arrive this season, but don’t forget about the young veterans like Cedric Mullins, Anthony Santander, Ryan Mountcastle, and Austin Hays. The O’s won't get very far if those guys struggle.

Orioles birthdays and history

Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You are awash in Orioles birthday buddies — six of ‘em, to be precise. That list includes right-handers Scott Feldman (40), Jon Leicester (44), and Dave Borkowski (46), and outfielders Endy Chavez (45), Benny Ayala (72), and the late Al Smith (b. 1928, d. 2002).

On this day in 2012, then-O’s general manager Dan Duquette found himself in hot water when the Korea Baseball Organization filed an official protest of the Orioles’ signing of 17-year-old pitcher Seong-Min Kim. The league’s protest accused Duquette and the O’s of breaking protocol by failing to notify the KBO of their negotiations with Kim. As a result, MLB voided the Orioles’ deal with Kim, and the KBO banned O’s scouts from all league events. It was not a particularly high point in recent Orioles history.