Obando

My list of priorities for DR (in no particular order): 1. Lock up Elias, Sig & Eve and all key front office members to long term extensions 2. Lock up our young stars like Adley, Gunnar, & Holliday to long term deals (I would include Santander as a core member of the lineup) 3. Sign Kevin Brown to a long term broadcasting extension 4. Resolve the MASN situation (ideally resulting in multiple streaming options) 5. Upgrade the stadium using the $600M public funds approved by the General Assembly 6. Develop the land around the stadium

I seriously doubt it. I’m guessing Rubenstein offered to let JA stay on as an ownership consultant for this season as an olive branch for selling the team to him, and until the full 70% stake is acquired, but I doubt JA wants to stick around without having control of the franchise anymore.

My understanding from someone in the know is that the owners’ vote to approve the sale will take place on or before Wednesday, but that it will be made official on Wednesday, just in time for Opening Day. Don’t kill the messenger if it doesn’t happen, but that is what I was told.

Interesting. I figured that Elias & Rubenstein have probably spoken by this point, since it’s now public knowledge that the team is being sold to DR. I would think that Mike Elias probably impresses most people he speaks with, as he’s incredibly smart, articulate and personable, and being a Yale grad is probably a big selling point for DR right off the bat, in addition to the fact that Elias is from the DMV region, just as DR is.

He seems to have an inside source from all indications.

Nestor is such a D-bag! He has found a way to get himself alienated by the Orioles and Ravens when that’s who he basically owes his career to. He has no one else to blame but himself for killing his own career. He’s basically an afterthought in Baltimore sports media now that is trying to stay relevant and failing miserably.

This is great to hear! I was concerned this process might drag on for a while. Would be great to celebrate the new ownership on Opening Day and maybe gave Rubenstein throw out the first pitch with a grand introduction to the fans.

It’s possible that Holt no longer wanted to juggle being the Director of Pitching and also the major league pitching coach, which is a lot to be responsible for. I can’t imagine Elias/Hyde would just make this change without having Holt be on board with it, especially after the pitching staff as a whole made so much progress over the last 2 years. I’m guessing Holt preferred to have some flexibility and wanted to be able to focus more on the development of minor league pitchers, which he couldn’t do as ML pitching coach, and Elias/Hyde were on board with it. If I recall correctly, Holt had to take a leave with the team for a period of time last year, so he could have some personal things going on off the field that have made it harder for him to focus on both jobs, and he decided it would be best to focus more on minor league development. He and Drew French have a relationship going back to Houston, so I would assume he played a big role in picking him as his replacement, since they probably have the same pitching philosophy and speak the same language, so to speak, which should make the transition more seamless.

I know Holt is still with the organization as Director of Pitching, and I’m probably reading too much into this, but I think it’s strange that Holt isn’t listed on the Orioles organizational directory as being in the front office or coaching staff. It could just be that the directory hasn’t been updated yet to reflect this, but all the other Director positions are acknowledged, and even Justin Ramsey is listed as Upper Level Pitching Coordinator and Triple-A pitching coach. As the Director of Pitching, Holt oversees pitching instruction & strategy for both the major & minor leagues, so to me, that would put him under the general Player Development category, and I just don’t see him listed anywhere. Like I said, I have no concern about this, but I just think it’s a bit strange.

It’s very possible that Elias already has POBO power & pay without the POBO title, and he may be fine with that. Regardless, he is the clear leader of the O’s Baseball Operations department, so unless another team comes calling and offering him a POBO title and much better salary than he’s making now, I don’t see John Angelos letting him go without doing everything necessary to match whatever is on the table from another team. JA might be viewed as cheap, but that seems to be more associated with spending on top free agents, not with front office personnel, scouting, player development, analytics, etc. Mike Elias knows what he’s building in Baltimore, and I think he wants to see it through, plus he grew up in the region, so this is probably a dream job for him.

I’m already paying for Express VPN but I might need to try NordVPN as well and see if that works any better. I don’t want to have to pay for a 2nd VPN, but if that’s the only shot I have to be able to watch the games, I’d be willing to bite the bullet.

I’m sorry to hear you are having this issue as well. If only MASN would allow for paid streaming without needing a cable subscription, that would solve this problem, but unfortunately that doesn’t appear to be in the cards anytime soon. Regardless, we as fans shouldn’t have to go to these great lengths to watch our teams play, and especially not when we’re paying good money for it and still have roadblocks preventing us from doing it. It’s a total money grab and should be outlawed.

I am a YouTube TV subscriber as well with no MASN access. Do you live in Baltimore like I do? If so, how are you able to get the games on MLB.TV with the blackout restrictions? Do you have a VPN?

Yes, I have tried changing the source country for the VPN and it hasn’t made a difference. It’s just strange that it was working fine up until about 2 weeks ago, and ever since then I just can’t get it to work. I have even tried deleting the MLB app and then reinstalling, and it hasn’t changed anything. How do I clear the cache & cookies for MLB.TV? I use the MLB app on my iPhone & iPad to watch the games, so how do I use a separate browser and configure it to clear all data on shut down? Would it make a difference if I tried watching on a Mac or PC?