Angelos Claims He's Not Selling

[interloper]

Just now, Frobby said:

I heard that.  That’s a totally different statement than your paraphrase.  He didn’t say the pandemic was lucky or allowed him to pay his players.  He said the O’s were lucky that when the pandemic hit, they happened to have a low payroll.  

I'll grant you that I'm twisting his words a bit. But it's a cringey statement. He's saying, look, see, our incredibly low payroll was GOOD, actually, because other teams were struggling with payroll without attendance. It's just not something he needed to say. No one cares about the fortunate financial luck of this billionaire who doesn't want to spend money on the team. And then to tie it to the pandemic was just overall a weird thing to say. 

[Going Underground]

2 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Lawyers are only as good as their most recent case.   Angelos had some great paydays, but they’re over.  An investment guy like Seidler can have money rolling in while he’s out playing golf.   Anyway, as I said, I don’t feel an owner has any obligation to subsidize his team, and most don’t.  For now, Seidler appears to be an exception.  

Hopefully the Angelos family has some smart investment advisors. Maybe use Seidler.Have noticed the real estate sales or put up for sales of Peter Angelos properties has intensified over the last two years. 

[Frobby]

Just now, interloper said:

I'll grant you that I'm twisting his words a bit. But it's a cringey statement. He's saying, look, see, our incredibly low payroll was GOOD, actually, because other teams were struggling with payroll without attendance. It's just not something he needed to say. No one cares about the fortunate financial luck of this billionaire who doesn't want to spend money on the team. And then to tie it to the pandemic was just overall a weird thing to say. 

Didn’t bother me, but to each his own.  

[RZNJ]

26 minutes ago, Frobby said:

He didn’t say anything remotely like that.  Where are you getting that from?

Yeah, I don't get the problem with him saying, paraphrasing, "we were lucky because we had low overhead at at time when we were all going through a pandemic".    That's not bragging or being insensitive.  It's just stating a fact.    I think the problem is more on the people who have a problem with it.

[LTO's]

8 minutes ago, interloper said:

I'll grant you that I'm twisting his words a bit. But it's a cringey statement. He's saying, look, see, our incredibly low payroll was GOOD, actually, because other teams were struggling with payroll without attendance. It's just not something he needed to say. No one cares about the fortunate financial luck of this billionaire who doesn't want to spend money on the team. And then to tie it to the pandemic was just overall a weird thing to say. 

It would be OK I guess if he was speaking about this in the context of using that money he saved in those years to meaningfully up the payroll now that the team is competitive. But that.....didn't happen and reading between the lines, doesn't appear all that likely to happen in the near future. 

[interloper]

57 minutes ago, LTO's said:

It would be OK I guess if he was speaking about this in the context of using that money he saved in those years to meaningfully up the payroll now that the team is competitive. But that.....didn't happen and reading between the lines, doesn't appear all that likely to happen in the near future. 

Right, exactly. No one cares that your job was easier during the pandemic than other people's jobs. We already knew that, for one, because you're rich as hell and own a baseball team. To the degree that other billionaires had a harder time than you, another billionaire, is neither something fans sympathize about nor is it really pertinent to anything. It's like... okay, and? Should fans applaud this fact? We're fans of the team not the business enterprise. We couldn't care less about how easy it was or wasn't for you to operate this enterprise during the pandemic. If he followed it up with how it might affect the team or spending going forward, then that's another story. But he didn't do that. 

Edited February 21, 2023 by interloper

[RZNJ]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

Right, exactly. No one cares that your job was easier during the pandemic than other people's jobs. We already knew that, for one, because you're rich as hell and own a baseball team. To the degree that other billionaires had a harder time than you, another billionaire, is neither something fans sympathize about nor is it really pertinent to anything. It's like... okay, and? Should fans applaud this fact? We're fans of the team not the business enterprise. We couldn't care less about how easy it was or wasn't for you to operate this enterprise during the pandemic. 

He was just stating a fact.   Do you think he was looking for sympathy?  Do you think he was looking for applause?   Neither.   The guy was simply stating a fact.   If you want to tear apart each sentence that comes out of the guys' mouth, go ahead.    This is making a mountain out of nothing.

 

[interloper]

8 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

He was just stating a fact.   Do you think he was looking for sympathy?  Do you think he was looking for applause?   Neither.   The guy was simply stating a fact.   If you want to tear apart each sentence that comes out of the guys' mouth, go ahead.    This is making a mountain out of nothing.

 

Alright, I mean that's fine. I'm not saying he was looking for sympathy or applause necessarily, but he didn't offer any context as to what the point was, so one could read it that way. What did it mean, you know? I just remember reading the quotes on twitter and immediately feeling like, "what is he even saying this for". It came off as bizarre to me and other folks, some of the reporters too. 

I give him some credit for coming back out and holding court with reporters after his embarrassing outburst on MLK day. I honestly do. But the more he says, the more you wish for the days when we never heard from him. His second promise to "open the books" was also pretty hollow. It's clear it will be some spin with basically no actual financial details. Not that he really owes it to anybody! But he's backed himself into a corner saying he'd open the books, and now when he does, reporters will just blast him because it won't technically be opening the books. It's silly. 

In short: bring on the games already!

Edited February 21, 2023 by interloper

[Frobby]

11 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

He was just stating a fact.   Do you think he was looking for sympathy?  Do you think he was looking for applause?   Neither.   The guy was simply stating a fact.   If you want to tear apart each sentence that comes out of the guys' mouth, go ahead.    This is making a mountain out of nothing.

 

I forget what he was talking about immediately before this remark.  But it’s not like he just brought this up out of nowhere, though he did ramble a lot in his answers to questions.  

[LTO's]

4 minutes ago, RZNJ said:

He was just stating a fact.   Do you think he was looking for sympathy?  Do you think he was looking for applause?   Neither.   The guy was simply stating a fact.   If you want to tear apart each sentence that comes out of the guys' mouth, go ahead.    This is making a mountain out of nothing.

 

Well when the guy never speaks, and is only speaking now because of a colossal screw up the last time he did, I think it's fair to pay close attention to each sentence. The fans want some level of reassurance that his family will invest and lead the team to better times. Instead we got, "I saved so much money during the pandemic and going forward we are going to operate like the Rays and Brewers." He's telling everyone that this team will be consistently in the bottom 5-10 teams in terms of payroll for the foreseeable future. Knowing this, why should any fan give a damn about how he made out better than other owners during the pandemic? Some "facts" are better left unsaid. 

[Pickles]

3 minutes ago, Frobby said:

I forget what he was talking about immediately before this remark.  But it’s not like he just brought this up out of nowhere, though he did ramble a lot in his answers to questions.  

You sound like an Angelos guy.

[interloper]

4 minutes ago, LTO's said:

Well when the guy never speaks, and is only speaking now because of a colossal screw up the last time he did, I think it's fair to pay close attention to each sentence. The fans want some level of reassurance that his family will invest and lead the team to better times. Instead we got, "I saved so much money during the pandemic and going forward we are going to operate like the Rays and Brewers." He's telling everyone that this team will be consistently in the bottom 5-10 teams in terms of payroll for the foreseeable future. Knowing this, why should any fan give a damn about how he made out better than other owners during the pandemic? Some "facts" are better left unsaid. 

Right! It's the fact that he coupled "we saved money" with "we're probably not going to spend money". And then he basically punted by saying Elias would tell HIM what the payroll should be, and that his job as owner is about community relationships more than payroll. Huh?? 

Edited February 21, 2023 by interloper

[Frobby]

5 minutes ago, LTO's said:

Well when the guy never speaks, and is only speaking now because of a colossal screw up the last time he did, I think it's fair to pay close attention to each sentence. The fans want some level of reassurance that his family will invest and lead the team to better times. Instead we got, "I saved so much money during the pandemic and going forward we are going to operate like the Rays and Brewers." He's telling everyone that this team will be consistently in the bottom 5-10 teams in terms of payroll for the foreseeable future. Knowing this, why should any fan give a damn about how he made out better than other owners during the pandemic? Some "facts" are better left unsaid. 

Did you watch the interview?  I did.  He definitively did not say or imply that our payroll was going to be in the bottom 5-10 for the foreseeable future.  He used the Rays, Brewers and Guardians as examples of smaller market teams who had been successful. He did not say, “we will run a payroll equal to theirs.”   He made it clear that’s not what he was saying.  

Now, do I think our payroll will remain in the bottom 5-10 in 2024-25?  Probably.  But for me, the foreseeable future is a longer period of time than that.  
 

[Moose Milligan]

I still maintain that if he had a last name that wasn't Angelos this would be much ado about nothing.  I don't think JA is perfect but he's at the helm of a franchise that has been getting things right more than wrong lately, especially when letting Elias do what he was brought in to do.

He's damned if he does and he's damned if he doesn't talk to the media.  

[Frobby]

13 minutes ago, Pickles said:

You sound like an Angelos guy.

Well, I’m not.   Nor am I against him.  Time will tell over the next 2-3 years.