I'd say that the Rockies are directly competing against the Orioles. There are 30 MLB teams, they are all directly competing with each other. I'd also say that it's murky enough that Angelos could tie it up for the rest of the season.
I think that if they tried to extend the agreement past this season that they'd lose. I don't see how a couple of months would count as unreasonable or oppressive. Brown could be free to find work with anyone that isn't one of the other 29 teams. Thorne has done Hockey for instance.
You might be right, but I think the Angelos family could, and would, tie things up in court in a way Brown might not be able to easily deal with.