Angelos Speaks on Baseball Economics
If when we talk about the progress the Orioles have made we’re “drinking the kool aid,” we’re not the only ones.
Writing for mlb.com, Hal Bodley says that “every indication points to dramatic improvement for 2010.” I don’t know that “dramatic” is the word I’d use, but I won’t stop Bodley if he wants to go there.
Bodley’s take on the team, though, is the least interesting part of the article. There are some thoughts on Millwood and Tejada and some nice quotes from Andy MacPhail about the decision-making process and the goals for 2010. These are also good, but still not the most interesting.
The real news is buried at the bottom. Bodley had a chance to speak to Peter Angelos, and I have a feeling he might have poked the hive.
Angelos talks about how the World Series has become “strictly a money game” because “a couple of teams decided they were going to buy their way” in. He follows it up by saying that “It’s a question of how much money you can generate,” and that “Once in a while there is an exception to that rule, but it cannot be sustained year-to-year.”
From there he essentially goes on to call for a salary cap without ever actually uttering those words, saying:
“That’s going to require probably some ingenious way of getting everyone to at least be close in the dollars they have available to pay the players they think they need to be competitive.”
We know what’s coming next. It’s as predictable as the daily tides (and almost as interesting). There will be people who seize upon these remarks and declare them further evidence that Angelos isn’t willing to spend the money it takes to win.
To be fair, that argument would appear to hold water given that the team’s payroll has been in decline. It ignores the fact that Angelos offered nearly $200 million to Mark Teixeira and doled out $100 million to keep Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis in the fold, but no matter. We’ve learned the pattern from our friends on that side of the aisle and it’s a simple one. They believe that if the Orioles don’t spend wildly in the free agent market every year, they’re not trying to compete.
That’s yesterday’s news. What’s interesting about what Angelos said is that it tips his hand. He clearly believes that the system is in need of reform, and he certainly seems willing to advocate for it. I doubt it sits well in the commissioner’s office when an owner comes out and says that teams are buying their way into the World Series and that everyone needs to be close in the dollars they have available. It probably doesn’t sit well with the players union, either.
I’m agnostic on Angelos. I’m not a fan and I think he deserves most of the responsibility for the team’s downward spiral in the late 90s and early 00s, but I don’t hate the man. I think he’s done his share of good and that blaming him for everything is lazy.
What I can’t figure out is his motivation in making these comments. There’s no way the goal is to manage the fans’ expectations. If he wanted to do that he’d speak to local media and not to a relatively obscure columnist for mlb.com. Maybe it’s politics? Perhaps he’s making a push behind the scenes for reform and this interview is designed to send a message.
Most likely he’s just being honest, saying out loud what pretty much every owner (save for an obvious few) is thinking.
Whatever the reason, I wonder if he gave enough thought to his words before going public. Honest or not, it’s a safe bet that quite a few folks are less than pleased.
Hrm. Angelos brings up ticket prices as the reason the Orioles couldn’t keep up with the Yankees and Red Sox? He kept ticket prices down, and that’s the reason he points to as an excuse for the field lapping?
Yeah, I’m not buying that. Fact of the matter is that until the Orioles’ Plan starts bearing fruit, they just can’t point fingers in this game, because regardless of what the Yankees were doing from 1998-2009, the Orioles would still have been terrible. The decision making was horrible, and that was why they fell backwards.
And besides, ticket prices? Really? If Angelos – or anyone else – wants to complain about competitive imbalance because of payroll disparity, then by all means go ahead, open up your books and lets see exactly what you’re capable of. But nobody does that, because that would be a serious move towards trying to fix something without pocketing a ton of money.
@Andrew -Dead on.
Very little of the Orioles’ misfortune over the past 12 years had to do with money. They spent to bring in Tejada/Lopez/Palmeiro and it didn’t work because the organization was in shambles and there was no infrastructure to back up the outlay.
Now that the organization is (apparently) stabilized, money will only become a real issue when the team gets close to a breakthrough. If at that point Angelos balks at spending to bring in an extra piece to get over the top, well…that’ll be ugly.
I really find his quotes here fascinating. I wish I had access to the whole conversation so I could understand the context in which he made them. It’s tough to speculate on what he was getting at when we’re only given access to a small sample of the whole.
And just so we’re clear: I’m not defending Peter Angelos. What I’m trying to do is suss out his perspective and motivation.
Is anybody going to Opening Day? More importantly, anybody up for meeting on Opening Day? I’ll be there the 9th-11th
@Kevin – I’ll probably be around. I’ve never been to OD, and I’d like to. I went to Opening Day in Rochester last year instead…and well, let’s just say I’d rather be in Baltimore.
Can’t wait for opening day – it’s my Christmas as an adult. Downtown is so vibrant and fun. Everyone seems happy (especially if they win – the drunks usually start chanting “Why Not?”)
I’m quite surprised that Angelos, the union man, is even making noises about a cap.
I could go on and on about the 2008 Rays, the 2003 Marlins, yada yada yada – but we all know that it’s not just money.
Oh well. No one ever accused Pete of being the best owner of the bunch.
Interesting stuff all around. On one hand, kudos to Angelos for coming out and speaking his mind. As far as finding some context, I kind of just get the feeling he’s an old dude that doesn’t really care what he says anymore. If it’s one thing he’s not, it’s afraid of the Commish or the Player’s Union. On one hand, he’s right, you can basically try to buy yourself into the World Series. On the other hand, that’s far from being the reason that has kept the Orioles from sniffing the playoffs the last 10+ years.
If the Orioles could just convince those couple of big name players to come here when the time is right, this club could be a contender year in, year out if it continues to be run well. We’re not a small market team… we’ve just made so many terrible decisions (by Angelos, the GMs, scouting, whatever) that we’ve become small market because no one wants to sign here. Hence MacPhail’s small market plan to build the farm system and get quality young players into the lineup and rotation. Once we can prove to the world that we can make some noise, we can (hopefully) become a slightly less expensive Boston, in which we continue to have a smart, “small market mentality” coupled with the ability to spend big.
nice find neal. at least someone had the cahones to call a spade a spade (even if the orioles would have been bad regardless…it’s still not a moot point for mlb as a whole), so i gotta give him credit for that.
re: opening day: i will be there, and i think there is a big group going through turps sports bar, which is in mt vernon right by the light rail.
nice find neal. at least someone had the cajones to call a spade a spade (even if the orioles would have been bad regardless…it’s still not a moot point for mlb as a whole), so i gotta give him credit for that.
re: opening day: i will be there, and i think there is a big group going through turps sports bar, which is in mt vernon right by the light rail.
we had an absolute blast last year (of course beating up on the yankees/tex/sabathia will do that), but i’m sure with opening day being on a friday afternoon, it will be a pretty good time this year as well
Off-topic: I’m glad we don’t root for the Royals.
http://royalsblog.kansascity.com/?q=node/492
Ugliest team ever.
Outfield: Posednick, Ankiel, DeJesus. Really?
They’ve been losing for years and still have one of the worst farm systems in the game. How is that possible?
Oh, and I wanted to reply to Ryan from the previous thread about realignment:
Consider that in 2009 the Orioles held records of:
17-20 against the AL Central (.459)
12-23 against the AL West (.343)
24-48 against the AL East (.333)
11-7 against the NL
So, you know, with the unbalanced schedule, if the Orioles had been in the AL Central (in this highly hypothetical lab-case-study), they’d have had a record of 68-94, a whopping 4 game improvement.
If they had been in the AL West, 64-98, which is what they actually were anyway.
We can blame the division all we want, but the fact is that the Orioles were bad against everybody last year. It isn’t like they were buttering up their loss totals against the AL East.
I can’t wait to (hopefully) beat up on the Blue Jays.
Losing Halladay is huge, even though they have some promising young arms in their rotation. But aside from Romero, do any of them really compare to Matusz/Tillman/Bergesen? Who are you afraid of in their lineup? Aaron Hill for sure but aside from that, there’s no one that seems particularly threatening. Other teams at least have to be concerned about a break out season from Jones, Wieters, and Reimold. And Scott is always a threat to get hot.
3rd place! .500! Kool-Aid is delicious!
I don’t want to violate any cut and paste/link rules and I already got banned from one web-site in town for “self promoting”…but I, like Neal, paid special attention to the Angelos-Bodley interview.
If you want my (fair) opinion, feel free to go to WNST.net, read it for yourself and, naturally, comment away where applicable.
Every single time I read something from the O’s where they are caught in what basically amounts to a “professional fib”, I always think about guys (and gals) of your ilk first. You’re the ones still hanging on for dear life (an admirable quality) and hoping beyond hope that your years of unrelenting passion pay off with wins and a competitive team someday soon.
@dan the man – I don’t think the Blue Jays are as bad off as most seem to. Yes, they’ll drop at least 5 extra games without Halladay, but they aren’t going to be as bad, say, the Orioles were last year. They aren’t going to the Adam Eaton well up there.
Also, third place? I can maybe squint and see .500, but there’s no way the Orioles are breaking into a conversation about third place in this division.
@df1570 – So glad you could drop by to advocate yourself without talking down to us. Oh wait…
Proof will be in the pudding after to 2010 season when the free agent crop is better. If they do not buy a premium bat then, McPhail has been lying to us.
@Ballmer Bruce – The 2010 free agent crop really isn’t all that much better. There will be much better pitchers available, but not so much hitters. And remember, MacPhail can only offer money, the player has to agree to take it.
@Ballmer Bruce – I don’t think it’s so much the year as the circumstances. The time for a big free agent strike will be when (a) the team is winning more than they’re losing and (b) there’s a player available who fills a need.
In fact, that’s not even about the Orioles — the same is true for every MLB team not named Yankees or Red Sox. Free agency is a terrible way to try to build a team. It’s good for augmenting, but not building.
All that said, I will be as pissed as anyone if the day comes when we lose a critical FA target because Angelos won’t authorize the $$$.