Angelos had been battling sickness for the previous couple of years and had left the general public eye, and his son John took over because the Orioles’ chairman and management individual in regard to official league enterprise in 2020.
A Baltimore native, Angelos constructed his fortune by means of a famend authorized profession, most notably a landmark consolidated motion case in 1992 representing hundreds of staff in varied fields who had been uncovered to asbestos over the course of their jobs. Angelos led a bunch of traders who bought the Orioles in 1993 for $173M, and he rapidly established himself as one thing of a maverick inside baseball’s possession circles in the course of the 1994-95 gamers’ strike. Though the strike was settled earlier than substitute gamers took the sphere for the 1995 season, Angelos’ refusal to make use of such gamers (who he considered as scabs) drew some animosity from his fellow homeowners and respect from the MLBPA.
On the sphere, the Orioles went by means of loads of ups and downs throughout Angelos’ tenure as proprietor. There was little doubt about Angelos’ need to win, as he instantly elevated the workforce’s payroll and introduced a number of big-name free brokers into the fold, serving to Baltimore attain the ALCS in each 1996 and 1997. After that final ALCS look, nevertheless, the Orioles didn’t have one other successful season till 2012, as Angelos was usually accused of taking a heavy hand in baseball operations. This manifested itself in a revolving door of managers and common managers, till issues started to stabilize underneath Buck Showalter and government VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette. The Orioles had 5 seasons of .500 or higher ball from 2012-16, together with three postseason appearances and one other journey to the ALCS in 2014.
The Orioles’ payrolls tended to fluctuate based mostly on the workforce’s aggressive stage, and Baltimore ranked throughout the high 10 of league spending as just lately because the 2017 season. Angelos had specific considerations about sure forms of baseball-related investments, maybe most notably a wariness about any sort of long-term assure to pitchers (particularly pitchers with any type of harm historical past). Angelos was additionally famously vital of baseball’s worldwide signing system, which resulted within the Orioles primarily sitting out for the worldwide novice marketplace for a number of years.
John Angelos’ stewardship of the workforce led to some modifications to the Orioles’ enterprise, as GM Mike Elias was given broad leeway to modernize and revamp the baseball operations division as a part of a near-total rebuild. The O’s posted shedding data from 2017-21 (the latter three underneath Elias) earlier than successful 83 video games in 2022, after which bursting out to win 101 video games and the AL East crown final season. With an unbelievable core of younger expertise in place, the Orioles now seem like World Sequence contenders each this season and maybe for a few years to return.
This new period of Orioles baseball will happen considerably exterior of the Angelos household, because it was introduced in February that the workforce had been bought for $1.725 billion to a brand new possession group led by David Rubenstein. (John Angelos continues to be an investor within the Orioles.) The information of the sale adopted years of hypothesis and drama about the way forward for the franchise, as authorized and private points throughout the Angelos household and the Orioles’ expiring lease at Camden Yards in 2023 led to some considerations that the O’s might be bought or moved to a different metropolis. Because it turned out, the Orioles organized a brand new lease to stay at Camden Yards for a minimum of the subsequent 15 years, and Rubenstein’s full buy of the group is predicted to be authorised by the league inside just a few weeks’ time. Rubenstein was initially slated to take over 40 % of the workforce, however now will take full possession of the membership on account of the elder Angelos’ passing.
We at MLB Commerce Rumors ship our condolences to Angelos’ household, mates and family members.
