Fantastic article on minority owner Michael Arougheti

[Frobby]

I subscribe to the Banner, but somehow missed this June 28 article about minority owner Michael Arougheti, who is the heir apparent to David Rubinstein when he ages out of the ownership control person role.  It’s a really long article, but here’s a few quotes:

He’s loved baseball since childhood, and he played it in high school. You can pin the ownership dream to 1998, when he founded a fantasy baseball league with [co-owners Michael] Smith, [Mitchell] Goldstein and a few other friends.

The group consisted of young finance guys living in New York, starting with seven teams. The first draft was held in the offices of a French bank where one of the participants worked, pizza and beers spread on a conference table. On that Saturday before the MLB season started, the draft began at 8 or 9 a.m. and continued for 12 hours.

“If you ask anybody in the league,” Goldstein said, “the best day of the year was draft day.”

* * *

As a former fantasy baseball owner himself when he was in high school and at Yale, Elias understands the dedication it takes for baseball nuts to maintain a keeper league for nearly three decades. “It’s honestly not that different sometimes from some of the back and forth you have [in the MLB]. … People bounce ideas. Some of them are crazy, and some of them aren’t.”

That doesn’t mean Arougheti and his cohorts are about to get too involved in baseball affairs — far from it. They have a deep respect for what Baltimore’s front office has achieved. Every owner who spoke to The Banner said Elias is the leader of baseball operations, plain and simple.

“David and I are both very aligned on this. We believe in empowering great leaders,” Arougheti said. “For us, it’s about letting Mike Elias and his team make baseball decisions. When we’re getting access to the operation, it’s about getting to a place of understanding and to be supportive. We’re not the kind of leaders who override decisions.”

Added Goldstein: “We told Mike over and over again: Just because we played fantasy baseball doesn’t mean we think we’re qualified to run a real team.”

Elias had questions of his own for his new owners. For example, is it true the Charm City Sports Partners had been Yankees fans?

“I grilled them about that right away,” Elias said. “They said as soon as they knew they were getting the Orioles, they dropped it like a bad habit and immediately switched gears. … It’s kind of a joke, but when I give people my tickets to my box or something, you can’t be wearing out-of-town colors. I just wanted to make it clear that they can’t be bringing Yankee riffraff with them into Camden Yards.”

Added Elias: “Apparently, they didn’t need the warning.”

* * *

The passion is also in these owners. They’re not playing a major role in baseball decisions but trying to figure out how to support the front office. They’re also having a boatload of fun. One day this month, Arougheti dressed up as Ketchup in a hot dog race with his sons, 19-year-old Eli and 15-year-old Noah. Dressed as Relish, Eli won, with

Smith waving the flag at the finish line.

- - -

It’s great to know that even beyond Rubinstein we have a group of owners who truly love baseball.

 

 

[Say O!]

#noYankeeriffraff

[Too Tall]

Who says there is no Santa Claus?????

[Fiver6565]

Boy that stuff in the middle about not meddling with Elias, and the respect they have for him, is certainly a breath of fresh air.  If the deep pockets are in play, and those statements ring true (and they seem to), we are in for a hell of a ride.

[CaptainRedbeard]

10 minutes ago, Fiver6565 said:

Boy that stuff in the middle about not meddling with Elias, and the respect they have for him, is certainly a breath of fresh air.  If the deep pockets are in play, and those statements ring true (and they seem to), we are in for a hell of a ride.

Absolutely - we’ll see what happens in practice, but they certainly know what the fans want to hear. 

If this is true and they’re also willing to increase payroll, it’s super encouraging they have a younger “heir apparent” to Rubenstein given his age. 

[drjohnnyfever1]

Thanks for posting this, Frobby.  You can sense the love of baseball and the fun the new ownership has with their new toy.  Good for them.  And it's also nice to know that they trust the General Manager and his team to run things.  If the last ownership group had been so trusting, maybe Brady Anderson would have remained a parking lot attendant...

[Emory Eagle]

I, for one, love to be emotionally tied to a product owned by a NYC finance bro (eventually).  Only great things ahead.

Edited August 2 by Emory Eagle