It’s late December 2013. It’s announced that the Orioles are
close to signing Grant Balfour to a 2 year/$15M contract to replace departed
closer Jim Johnson. O’s fans get giddy with excitement, anticipating another
piece of the puzzle falling into place. But then…
Rumours begin to trickle out that Balfour has failed his
physical. The rumours turn out to be true and several days later Orioles GM Dan
Duquette announces a deal will not be happening. A large group of Orioles fans
rage and media personnel start firing their shots, first blaming Duquette,
then, deciding Dan is just a puppet, they move on to Satan himself – owner Peter
Angelos. I heard it all that week.
“THE ORIOLES DON’T CARE ABOUT WINNING!”
“THE ORIOLES WILL NEVER WIN AS LONG AS ANGELOS OWNS THE
TEAM!”
“ANGELOS IS CHEAP! HE WILL NEVER SPEND WHAT IT TAKES FOR
THIS TEAM TO CONTEND!”
Those are some of the more tame quotes, but you get the
idea.
Fast forward ten months. The Orioles are on the cusp of
their first World Series berth in 31 years. As they prepare to face the Kansas
City Royals in the ALCS, a surprising announcement comes through that the
Orioles have extended short stop J.J. Hardy – 3 years/$40M, with a vesting
option for a fourth year.
 |
| Owner of the Orioles for 21 years, Peter Angelos has taken a lot of flack from fans and media. With the team's recent turn around, it's time to finally give him the credit he deserves. |
Truth be told, I have no idea where the “Angelos is cheap!”
rumours started. Maybe it was his refusal to pay Mike Mussina back in 2001 (definitely a black mark against him).
Maybe it was all the years of losing. But if you look back, you will see that
Peter Angelos has always spent money when it made sense to do so.
I understand that people wanted players like Vlad Guerrero
(the first time), Mark Teixeira or AJ Burnett (also the first time), but they
didn’t make sense at the time. As fans, it’s easy to spend money that is not ours, but
spending $50M+ to go from a 68-win team to a 72-win team just isn't logical.
The Orioles were among the highest payrolls in baseball in
the late 90s. They were second to the Yankees from 1995-97, first in 1998 and
fifth in 1999. They made back to back ALCS appearances in ’96 and ’97 and
likely would have returned to the playoffs in 1998 were it not for a slew of
injuries. Then the wheels fell off. For
years it didn’t make sense to spend big money, but even then, Angelos decided to take a shot when
he felt the O’s were close enough, committing over $125M to Miguel Tejada (a
season removed from an MVP award), Javy Lopez, Sidney Ponson and Rafael Palmeiro before the 2004 season.
He signed Nick Markakis, Brian Roberts and Adam Jones to
long, wealthy extensions during the lean years.
This offseason, he gave the okay on a $52M deal for Ubaldo
Jimenez (which admittedly hasn’t worked out so far) and $8M for Nelson Cruz –
the biggest bargain in all of major league baseball this season.
That’s a lot of money spent over the years by a “cheap”
owner. And dare we get into the deals that weren’t made?
Over the years, Angelos and the organization have drawn
criticism for not signing the likes of Teixeira (how’s that working out for the
Yanks the last couple season?), Carlos Delgado, Ivan Rodriguez, Prince Fielder, Burnett, Jayson Werth, Zack Greinke and this past offseason
alone, Jacoby Ellsbury, Carlos Beltran, Bronson Arroyo, Burnett again, Jim
Johnson and, of course, Grant Balfour.
Some of those players performed well on short deals, but most were either way too expensive or did not even come close to living up to their deals. Looking at the deals players from this past off-season received and how they
performed, I’d say ol’ Pete is coming up roses. Ellsbury is the only guy who
might eventually come close to being worth what he was given. None of the
remaining players even finished the season, either due to injury or
ineffectiveness.
I understand the emotions that come with being a fan, but
restraint is needed. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed when the Balfour
deal fell through, but the World Series is not won in November. As fans we need
to be willing to let the process play out and see what the outcome is. As it
turns out, Grant Balfour will have a comfy seat in front of his TV to
potentially watch the Orioles play in the World Series.
I will say again, I am not a Peter Angelos apologist. I
think he has some serious shortcomings as an owner, most notably the way he
interacts (or doesn’t interact) with the fan base to create a more positive
image for himself and more trust between his organization and the city that
supports it. But there are far more brutal owners across baseball (and all pro
sports) – owners who truly don’t care about winning, who pinch pennies because
all their care about is squeezing every last bit of profit out of their teams,
and who totally disregard their fans.
No matter how you feel about Angelos, he doesn’t fall into
any of those three categories.
Over the last few years, I’ve heard so many people get
credit for the winning seasons here in Baltimore – the players, Andy MacPhail,
Buck Showalter, Dan Duquette, and so on, all very much deserved. But there’s one person missing from
that list and after all the abuse and hatred he’s endured over the years, it’s
high time he finally gets credit where it’s due.
As Orioles fans, it’s time we collectively tipped our cap to
the man at the top - Peter Angelos.
--Christopher Mills, @cjmills82
--Christopher Mills, @cjmills82
