Angelos and Money Thread (Here Be Monsters!)

[Going Underground]

Hmm... I thought I read the exact opposite and his law firm has had reduced revenues and had some layoffs. I am married, though, so I could be wrong on that.

Or the reporter could be wrong. I really don't know. But if this was Bar Rescue he would have to bust open the books.

[weams]

Correct place for these discussions.

[DrungoHazewood]

Is it? Is it really?

I think so. If he really wanted a huge profit, wouldn't he do something other than have a middle-ground payroll? Wouldn't the surest way to have a guaranteed profit be to have about a $50M payroll while bringing in revenue sharing dollars? Just rely on the Nats for MASN revenues. Why spend a league-average amount if your main goal was profit taking? Or go the other way, go huge on payroll but then get non-linear returns from big attendance, higher ticket prices, more playoff revenues.

Even in the bad old days circa 2007 the Orioles were never anywhere close to the lowest payroll. They could most certainly have won the same 67 games a year with half the payroll they actually had. If profit was/is the goal I don't get the methods.

[weams]

I think so. If he really wanted a huge profit, wouldn't he do something other than have a middle-ground payroll? Wouldn't the surest way to have a guaranteed profit be to have about a $50M payroll while bringing in revenue sharing dollars? Just rely on the Nats for MASN revenues. Why spend a league-average amount if your main goal was profit taking? Or go the other way, go huge on payroll but then get non-linear returns from big attendance, higher ticket prices, more playoff revenues.

Even in the bad old days circa 2007 the Orioles were never anywhere close to the lowest payroll. They could most certainly have won the same 67 games a year with half the payroll they actually had. If profit was/is the goal I don't get the methods.

I think we can all agree that he was a poor owner as far as providing a great on field experience for the fans for a 14 year period of time.

[24fps]

I think what he really does is set up a wall that forces his GMs to get approval for any budget decision over a certain amount. I think Dan has fairly free reign until he wants to drop 9 figures on Chris Davis. And then Angelos takes a much, much larger role. Making calls to the agent himself, etc.

Do you see anything wrong with this? I don't, I'd probably do the same in his position. I think the assertion that PA "constantly injects himself into baseball decision making" might have been true (or partially true) prior to Andy MacPhail, but there is considerably less evidence that that is the case now.

[weams]

Do you see anything wrong with this? I don't, I'd probably do the same in his position. I think the assertion that PA "constantly injects himself into baseball decision making" might have been true (or partially true) prior to Andy MacPhail, but there is considerably less evidence that that is the case now.

Andy would never have taken the job under any other circumstances. I am so happy that he got Mr. Angelos' ear when they were on the MLB committee together.

[Aristotelian]

MD's the wealthiest state in the Nation too.

And you can mock it, but if MASN isn't extremely profitable something's terribly wrong.

A lot of that wealth is concentrated in Bethesda/Montgomery County and those are not people who are going to make a trip to Baltimore for a baseball game.

[TheDirtyBird]

A lot of that wealth is concentrated in Bethesda/Montgomery County and those are not people who are going to make a trip to Baltimore for a baseball game.

My family, as well as a number of other people I know have made the trip up for games for quite sometime. However, I do agree with this statement, it's much easier to hop on the metro for 20minutes and get to nats park than it is to get up to Camden. I can't tell you how odd t was to see a lot of the orange go away and turn to red colored gear when the nats came. Saw it happen in a flash down here. No doubt at all its hurt the birds

[Number5]

A lot of that wealth is concentrated in Bethesda/Montgomery County and those are not people who are going to make a trip to Baltimore for a baseball game.

This is wrong. Many did. Many. Some still do, but most have switched to the Nationals.

[Barnaby Graves]

You guys seem to really enjoy having the exact same thread with the exact same posts every few weeks/months for 10+ years.

[Frobby]

In 2015 we were 16th in payroll and 19th in attendance. In 2014 we were 13th and 14th, respectively. It seems reasonably proportional to me. If the O's had won the MASN arbitration they'd have about $25 mm more per year to spend. As it stands, it would be very imprudent to assume that the result of the arbitration will be better the second time around.

As to the Royals, 2015 was the first time their payroll was higher the Orioles' in many years. Most years, they haven't been anywhere close. I'm sure the extra revenue from the playoffs (which exceeded $20 mm for them in 2014) helped them a lot, and this year they had a 750,000 fan jump in attendance that I'm sure paid for a lot of the increase. I'm willing to bet they will have a sizeable increase in attendance again next year.

I think one thing people around here ignore is that tickets are cheap in Baltimore. The average seat cost $24 in 2014.

[Frobby]

A lot of that wealth is concentrated in Bethesda/Montgomery County and those are not people who are going to make a trip to Baltimore for a baseball game.

Ahem....I live there, and I make the trip. But you are certainly right that many don't.

[Plutarch]

I believe he gives a good bit away, spend foolishly on horses and racetracks and restaurants. I am certain he has taken advantage of enriching his family. I have not seen him buy a soccer team. In Liverpool.

Speaking of soccer and since we really don't know where PGAs money goes, perhaps he has taken the George Best approach to finances: "I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered," he famously said of his lifestyle.

[weams]

It's the Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore.

[weams]

I think one thing people around here ignore is that tickets are cheap in Baltimore. The average seat cost $24 in 2014.

I think there is a fair amount of civic responcibility to this.