2014 Baltimore Orioles

thaynes

thaynes

Active Member
Minus Johnson, feldman, McLouth. Added nobody so far. If the orioles indeed do a replay of last year's off season and regress to under 80 wins Peter Angelos will have cemented his legacy as the second most hated man in Baltimore sports. At least in my eyes
 
Gateway Man

Gateway Man

Addicted to Softballfans
Like Mclouth a lot. At least he stayed in the region where we can still watch him every game with the Nats.
 
isthisshaved19

isthisshaved19

Addicted to Softballfans
me neither, I'd figure Angelos would have surpassed him anyways. Cheap bastard needs to open the wallet up to get them over the hump. Otherwise, you may have seen them peak already. Anyways, baseball takes a back seat to football so there's that
 
thaynes

thaynes

Active Member
Maybe, he's my number one but I figure probably not in Baltimore. They made some head way with fans the last 2 years but if they let this off season go by without trying to improve, which so far they've regressed, than they will have lost everything they gained. I will be pretty upset and disappointed if they don't go and make some moves. I don't mean Cano like moves.....I think any contract like that is retarded but make an attempt
 
thaynes

thaynes

Active Member
Did I see the kuroda signed this morning? They grow the arms and "buy" the bats. Sound logic if youre a couple years away but we ant wait for bundy and gausman to be ready to go with tillman and gonzo and chen. We need at least a 2 year stop gap.
 
isthisshaved19

isthisshaved19

Addicted to Softballfans
thaynes said:
Did I see the kuroda signed this morning? They grow the arms and "buy" the bats. Sound logic if youre a couple years away but we ant wait for bundy and gausman to be ready to go with tillman and gonzo and chen. We need at least a 2 year stop gap.
Click to expand...

Yeah but how old will the core offensive players be when Bundy and Gausman are truly making an impact is what I'm saying. Just can't have the bats decline while waiting. At least they didn't give Hughes the contract he got from the Twins lol
 
3XC

3XC

Big Truss
You don't buy rings. You draft the framework and bring in free agents to complete the roster. This organization needs way more than just a pricey pitcher on the downslope of his career. Build on what's there. They aren't as close as people think they are. 2012 was nice but 29-9 was an aberration.
 
thaynes

thaynes

Active Member
The arent as bad as they were last year either. They could make the playoffs with a couple added pieces. All you have to do is get in and eventually it will be your year
 
SUITSS06

SUITSS06

Addicted to Softballfans
We gotta get some pitching to go more than 5 1/3 every night without a doubt. Like three said we gotta get someone who isnt in the home stretch of their career.
 
thaynes

thaynes

Active Member
Kuroda for a year or 2 would've been fine. I'm not really bugging that they didn't sign him in particular but it would've been a good sign
 
3XC

3XC

Big Truss
Peter Angelos owns the MASN TV rights to the Nationals, but the Nationals outspend the Orioles and have a better roster overall and better farm system.

Awesome. But for the incredible luck of poaching Davis and Jones from teams that gave up on them way too soon, this is the worst team in baseball, in by far the best division in baseball.

Sign no pitchers, who needs those? We can rely on these scrap heap guys including people who left the Orioles years ago for being too old to play, if they sign Bruce Chen or Kevin Millwood this offseason don't act shocked. Angelos wants to use their AARP cards to get 10% discounts at Old Country Buffet.
 
I am #23

I am #23

yakub
i feel like a tea party member when it comes to the orioles. i need a "love my country, hate my government" bumper sticker with an oriole bird on it.
 
thaynes

thaynes

Active Member
You guys going to fan fest? Got vouchers to get jones and bundy autographs. Wayne kirby to but idk to many people who actually care about a 1st base coach besides me lol
 
John1007

John1007

Addicted to Softballfans
goin to fanfest too but didnt get any vouchers. some peeps selling them online for hundreds of dollars now haha
 
Gateway Man

Gateway Man

Addicted to Softballfans
Now that Balfour is a Ray, pretty sure he will have a vendetta everytime he pitches against the O's for the failed contract.
 
thaynes

thaynes

Active Member
Good article on grantland.com outlining man revenues and orioles unwillingness to spend money.
 
3XC

3XC

Big Truss
Whats new? The owner is a miser and once again is undermining the organization and alienating fans.
 
I am #23

I am #23

yakub
i read a tweet about that article but didnt read the article. 180 characters is all i need to know whats up
 
3XC

3XC

Big Truss
In 2005, MLB and Angelos worked out a deal allowing the Nationals to operate in D.C. in exchange for a new local TV deal that overwhelmingly favored the Orioles. In July 2006, the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network launched a full-time sports programming slate headlined by O’s and Nats games. The terms dictated that each franchise would receive the same amount in rights fees, but that Baltimore would control a 90 percent share of MASN and any MASN-owned spinoff networks at the start; the Nationals would pick up an additional 1 percent stake each year after an initial two-year wait, until eventually reaching a 33 percent cap. Angelos got his lopsided deal, while the Nationals, who play in the nation’s seventh-biggest market,4 got screwed.

While the Orioles are bringing in quite a bit more than the Nationals, neither team is profiting from MASN as much as it could be. According to SNL Kagan, a group that analyzes cable and broadcast network deals as well as regional sports networks (RSNs), MASN properties generated $167.8 million in total revenue in 2012.5 The bulk of that money came from advertising and subscriber fees, with 5.4 million consumers paying $2.14 a month. That’s well below the $2.47 industry average for 2012 and $2.69 projection for 2013,6 and several of the media experts and sports deal makers interviewed for this story said MASN should be getting much more. Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, which primarily airs Washington Capitals and Wizards regular-season games, got $4.02 per month in 2012, indicating the market would likely support a higher rate for MASN. It’s hard to know whether to blame the network’s low subscriber fee on inept management, the timing of the deal,7 or other factors, but whatever the reason, it’s clear MASN will be leaving tens of millions on the table until it renegotiates with local cable providers.

When that renegotiation might happen is a mystery. Nishant Tella of Inner Circle Sports, a New York–based investment bank that advises on the acquisition and sale of sports franchises, said that cable companies have a vested interest in keeping these negotiations — and their revenue figures — as quiet as possible to avoid angering customers over rising bills. The same goes for the RSNs, and it goes double for teams like the Orioles that have controlling interests in their networks: If the public fully understood how much money RSNs can generate, outrage over the team’s low payroll would likely ensue.

Rights fees are another variable. In 2012, the Orioles and Nationals each got $29 million in rights fees from MASN and its spinoff network, MASN2.8 As part of MLB’s revenue-sharing program, every team must share 34 percent of RSN rights-fees revenue with other clubs. When a team signs a deal with an existing RSN, the network agrees to pay the team a certain amount per year in rights fees, from which that 34 percent stems. If a team owns its RSN, however, it gets to keep a bigger chunk of subscription and advertising revenue. The team must pay itself some amount in rights fees, and while there’s no hard-and-fast rule for what that amount is, MLB tries to ensure that the figure is roughly commensurate with industry averages, adjusted as necessary for market size. Thirty-four percent of that figure then gets thrown into the revenue-sharing pot. After that, the RSN-owning team gets to keep all remaining profit, since MLB considers RSN ownership a separate business venture that’s not subject to the usual revenue-sharing rules.

Baltimore is one of the few teams that owns a majority share in its RSN,9 fostering a strong interest in keeping rights fees as low as possible. Controlling the lion’s share of MASN allows the Orioles to reap most of the network’s profits.

When the Lerner family bought the Nationals in 2006, it was saddled with this lemon of a deal, in which neither it nor the team’s first president, Stan Kasten, had any say. The terms stipulated that the deal could be renegotiated after five full seasons, and the Nats took their first opportunity to challenge the terms after the 2011 season. When that challenge dragged into 2012, those terms looked even more unfair. After spending years rebuilding a franchise that had been decimated by penny-pinching and mismanagement in Montreal, the Nats finally made the playoffs for the first time, winning 98 games and the NL East title. That same year, the Orioles made the postseason for the first time in 15 seasons. MASN viewership skyrocketed, enhancing the network’s already rising economic profile, but the Nats saw just a fraction of the returns.

Since the Nationals couldn’t contest the equity element of the deal, they tried for higher rights fees, asking for $100 million a year. The Orioles countered with a 20 percent raise, to about $35 million. There’s no hope in hell of an easy compromise when the two sides are that far apart, and the Orioles have good reason to dig in their heels. Remember that while RSN rights fees are subject to revenue sharing, the money left after those rights fees have been paid out is not. Remember, too, that the O’s and Nats must make the same amount in rights fees every year. So if Washington succeeded in getting $100 million a year in rights fees, Baltimore would have to pay itself $100 million a year, too. That would force the Orioles to pay the 34 percent revenue-sharing tax on $100 million instead of on the current $29 million. It would also leave MASN broke.

One potential resolution would be for the Nationals to acquire a big enough chunk of MASN from the Orioles to make the teams 50-50 partners. A 2013 Bloomberg report pegged MASN’s market value at $492 million, so the Nats would need to pay the Orioles slightly more than $167 million to acquire the 34 percent needed to get to 50-50. Other rumors have circulated. A committee of representatives from the Rays, Mets, and Pirates is brainstorming ways to resolve the MASN dispute, and if MLB eventually forces the Orioles to pay out considerably more in rights fees without receiving any financial consideration in return, it would significantly affect the team’s finances. While Angelos and his representatives on Baltimore’s business side declined to comment for this story, that would be the most logical defense to offer critics who say the team is raking in MASN cash but refusing to increase payroll.
Click to expand...

This .
 
thaynes

thaynes

Active Member
I kinda see the tentitiveness with the potential masn switch up, but still he got 30 mil from that, 25 mil from revenue sharing and we somehow cut payroll. I don't even care if we sign Burnett, santana, and morales at this point....Angelos is locked in on my number one hated person in sports. On a side note.....sloppy joe Saunders return to the yards? Dlmk. Get that ish done with morales and santana dd. Buck needs players
 
3XC

3XC

Big Truss
The lopsided TV deal was negotiated in good faith as a concession to the Orioles, who were losing 50% of their geographic market and millions of well heeled baseball fans when the Nationals arrived. What would be "fair" would not to add a team to the Orioles market and then expect them to kick out half of everything to support a team owned by MLB. That is grossly unfair. Baltimore got ****ed. As compensation, a reach-around if you will, the MASN deal was structured to benefit the team that was wronged. Now the Nationals want to retroactively alter the deal they agreed to less than a decade ago and **** the Orioles some more.
 
thaynes

thaynes

Active Member
Yea and like that guy said on the radio the learners bought the nationals knowing that deal was in place. I do agree that if the nationals do succeed it's going to screw over Angelos pretty good. The deal should stay the way it is and they just get capped off at 33% in like 25 years. They signed the deal and it's not like a "I out played my contract" type of deal either so there's no reason the o's should renegotiate it at all.
 
3XC

3XC

Big Truss
The Orioles have to keep cash in reserve to pay out a potential massive judgment to another MLB club in gross contravention of the terms of the original contract. Why don't the Orioles have Tanaka? Maybe because the cash posting fee is tied up in court thanks to the Nationals.

Since Orioles fans seem to hate Boston and NY more than Washington, perhaps they should educate themselves on the situation. Should we be angry at the Yankees for spending their own money? Or angry at the Nationals for sabotaging Baltimore through very shady dealings?

**** the Nationals. **** their sorry fans.
 
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