MLB.com article with Angelos quotes

[sbauer]

He should sell the team and move on if he thinks the situation is unfair. His quotes are awfully depressing.

[Satyr3206]

I'm sorry but it seems to be one excuse after another.

First MASN was the answer:

And now:

The excuses have to stop sometime.

You have MacPhail saying the goal is to build a year in year out competitor, and then you have Angelos saying they can't because we can't generate enough revenue.

Sounds like Andy's been selling false hope to me.

Are you ever going to get it?

[foxfield]

I wish people would quit saying this. Look, he deserves all the blame you can muster for not fixing it until now. But the franchise was in the ground when he got it. Except for 1 fluke year, it had been for years and years...

Hate that this is true, but it is....

"must spread rep...."

[JTrea81]

Are you ever going to get it?

Did you not read what the man said?

"Once in a while there is an exception to that rule, but it cannot be sustained year-to-year."

Who do you think he's talking about?

He's saying the Orioles cannot compete year to year until the revenue imbalance is fixed.

In otherwords he doesn't believe Andy can build a sustained competitor if he believes what he just said.

He's basically saying the Orioles will basically be a one and done if they get to that point. And frankly he's right if the Orioles keep their payroll where it is now and the Red Sox and Yankees continue to spend to keep their teams competitive.

He's admitting Andy's plan will not work.

[RShack]

Nonsense. We had a competitive team with a young starters in Mussina and McDonald. We had an 89 win team in 1992 and an 85 win team in 1993. In 1994 he took over when Camden Yards was sold out everynight. Hemond built a solid team by the time he took over. We weren't great but to say that the team was ran into the ground isn't accurate.

Oh, stop. They drafted 2 SP's and had a new stadium. So what? The franchise had not produced an everyday player who stuck since Cal more than a decade earlier. The farm system was crap, it had been left to rot for more than a decade before PA got it. The fact that the state gave the O's a new stadium doesn't change that. Just because they had the occasional non-losing season amid a ton of losing doesn't change the fact that the tradition of the Baltimore Orioles being a solid franchise was in the past years before PA showed up.

Look, I'm not defending PA. I said he deserves all the blame you can muster for not having fixed it until now. But there's no reason to make up BS stories that aren't true. The 2 owners before him ran the franchise into the ground. PA came in, spent a bunch of money the wrong way on a quick fix, and then presided over an unconscionable tailspin. The facts are what they are, there's no need to make any up false stories about it. BTW, had he not bought the team at auction in NY, what city do you think would have the team now?

[wickedwitch]

The Orioles were one of the most profitable franchise a decade ago. That they're not any more is largely his fault. His complaints are worthless.

I wish people would quit saying this. Look, he deserves all the blame you can muster for not fixing it until now. But the franchise was in the ground when he got it. Except for 1 fluke year, it had been for years and years...

The franchise wasn't in great shape when he bought the team, but he made things even worse. That qualifies as "running it into the ground."

[napbow]

The Orioles were one of the most profitable franchise a decade ago. That they're not any more is largely his fault. His complaints are worthless.

The franchise wasn't in great shape when he bought the team, but he made things even worse. That qualifies as "running it into the ground."

I would have to think the success of the Ravens has not helped attendance.

[Frobby]

Did you not read what the man said?

Who do you think he's talking about?

He's saying the Orioles cannot compete year to year until the revenue imbalance is fixed.

In otherwords he doesn't believe Andy can build a sustained competitor if he believes what he just said.

He's basically saying the Orioles will basically be a one and done if they get to that point. And frankly he's right if the Orioles keep their payroll where it is now and the Red Sox and Yankees continue to spend to keep their teams competitive.

He's admitting Andy's plan will not work.

You are conveniently ignoring the fact that we can't spend as much as NY and Boston. He's saying there is NO PLAN that will allow us to consistently win in a division where large economic disparities exist. So the issue is what plan will get us to the best possible outcome, which is that we OCCASIONALLY will be able to compete with NY and Boston.

I don't know anyone who thinks the O's will keep payroll where it is now if they are in a postion to compete by spending some additional money. BUT WE AREN'T GOING TO SPEND $150 - 200 MM ON PAYROLL SO JUST STOP HARPING ALREADY!

You sure know how to beat a dead horse/\.

[Frobby]

Did you not read what the man said?

Who do you think he's talking about?

He's saying the Orioles cannot compete year to year until the revenue imbalance is fixed.

In otherwords he doesn't believe Andy can build a sustained competitor if he believes what he just said.

He's basically saying the Orioles will basically be a one and done if they get to that point. And frankly he's right if the Orioles keep their payroll where it is now and the Red Sox and Yankees continue to spend to keep their teams competitive.

He's admitting Andy's plan will not work.

You are conveniently ignoring the fact that we can't spend as much as NY and Boston. He's saying there is NO PLAN that will allow us to consistently win in a division where large economic disparities exist. So the issue is what plan will get us to the best possible outcome, which is that we OCCASIONALLY will be able to compete with NY and Boston.

I don't know anyone who thinks the O's will keep payroll where it is now if they are in a postion to compete by spending some additional money. BUT WE AREN'T GOING TO SPEND $150 - 200 MM ON PAYROLL SO JUST STOP HARPING ALREADY!

You sure know how to beat a dead horse.

[Moose Milligan]

Man, you know it's bad when Frobby cracks.

[JTrea81]

You are conveniently ignoring the fact that we can't spend as much as NY and Boston. He's saying there is NO PLAN that will allow us to consistently win in a division where large economic disparities exist. So the issue is what plan will get us to the best possible outcome, which is that we OCCASIONALLY will be able to compete with NY and Boston.

I don't know anyone who thinks the O's will keep payroll where it is now if they are in a postion to compete by spending some additional money. BUT WE AREN'T GOING TO SPEND $150 - 200 MM ON PAYROLL SO JUST STOP HARPING ALREADY!

You sure know how to beat a dead horse/\.

But we aren't being sold the "occassionally compete" bill of goods are we?

And really should that be good enough? Should we really settle for a "one and done" type of team?

And I don't think we have to spend $150-200 million, but I don't think we are even going to go above $100 million, and we might just have to do that.

[TonySoprano]

Oh, stop. They drafted 2 SP's and had a new stadium. So what?

Did you not read what he said? Specifically,

http://baltimore.orioles.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100201&content_id=8007408&vkey=news_bal&fext=.jsp&c_id=bal

I started reading the article then saw the quotes from Angelos, you very rarely hear anything from him. I agree with him that life isn't fair in the AL East but the idea that economics killed the Orioles is wrong. He ran the franchise into the ground when attendance was still very strong.

What part of that is disputable? Just take a look at the attendance figures I posted above.

Just because they had the occasional non-losing season amid a ton of losing doesn't change the fact that the tradition of the Baltimore Orioles being a solid franchise was in the past years before PA showed up.

They had a winning record three out of five years before he arrived. If I include the strike shortened year of 1994, the Orioles have only had three winning teams in sixteen years of his leadership. You put the emphasis on the farm system time and again, deflecting focus away from the overall record.

Here is the overall record 1175-1347 (.466). Name an owner of the Orioles who has a worse record than Angelos.

94-09A	W	L	PCTBOS	95	151	0.386CHW	58	76	0.433CLE	50	84	0.373DET	78	57	0.578KCR	84	49	0.632LAA	82	82	0.500MIL-A	28	17	0.622MIN	72	58	0.554NYY	90	161	0.359OAK	65	87	0.428SEA	82	79	0.509TBD	104	100	0.510TEX	75	77	0.493TOR	111	141	0.44094-09A	1074	1219	0.46894-09N	W	L	PCTARI	3	9	0.250ATL	13	17	0.433CHC	3	3	0.500CIN	1	2	0.333COL	4	5	0.444FLA	5	16	0.238HOU	6	3	0.667LAD	1	5	0.167MIL	3	3	0.500NYM	9	13	0.409PHI	24	21	0.533PIT	3	3	0.500SDP	4	2	0.667SFG	3	3	0.500STL	1	2	0.333WAS	18	21	0.46294-09N	101	128	0.441

[Frobby]

But we aren't being sold the "occassionally compete" bill of goods are we?

And really should that be good enough? Should we really settle for a one and done type of team?

First, I think "one and done" is an overstatement. Tampa won in 2008, they were in the wild card race last year until Pena broke his hand, they are projected to contend this year, and their farm system remains stacked. They should be a good team for a long time.

That said, they probably are going to lose to NY and Boston more often than not. In case you hadn't noticed, even Boston, as well run and well financed as they are, have only managed to win the division once in the last 14 years. You simply can't average 96 wins a year, as the Yankees have the last decade, unless you can outspend every other team by a wide margin. And guess what - the Orioles can't.

[tvz1997]

First, I think "one and done" is an overstatement. Tampa won in 2008, they were in the wild card race last year until Pena broke his hand, they are projected to contend this year, and their farm system remains stacked. They should be a good team for a long time.

That said, they probably are going to lose to NY and Boston more often than not. In case you hadn't noticed, even Boston, as well run and well financed as they are, have only managed to win the division once in the last 14 years. You simply can't average 96 wins a year, as the Yankees have the last decade, unless you can outspend every other team by a wide margin. And guess what - the Orioles can't.

He's been on one of his solipsistic revelries lately. Please God let actual games start soon.

[Miller192]

You are conveniently ignoring the fact that we can't spend as much as NY and Boston. He's saying there is NO PLAN that will allow us to consistently win in a division where large economic disparities exist. So the issue is what plan will get us to the best possible outcome, which is that we OCCASIONALLY will be able to compete with NY and Boston.

I don't know anyone who thinks the O's will keep payroll where it is now if they are in a postion to compete by spending some additional money. BUT WE AREN'T GOING TO SPEND $150 - 200 MM ON PAYROLL SO JUST STOP HARPING ALREADY!

You sure know how to beat a dead horse.

Well, Angelos said "once in a while" not occasionally, but I fully understand that could be semantics.

To be fair, I left out the more optimistic statements that MacPhail made. While I may not be in total aggreement with those statements, I trust AM's judgement moreso than Angelos'.