Angelos Speaks, Everyone Comments

Peter Angelos attended a Spring Training game on Sunday, a rarity for him, then granted answered questions for reporters, another rarity. An everyone has something to say about him.

Thomas Boswell ripped him, especially for the voided Brian Roberts/Hayden Penn for Marcus Giles/Adam LaRoche deal. Says Boswell, "Angelos doesn't have to sell his club. But he has to take his hands off its throat because, as we see again, he's still strangling to death the team he loves." Ouch.

Peter Schmuck was a bit more accepting of Angelos (calls him "relaxed, funny, engaging") and gives him credit for trying to reach out to the press and the fans but also states, "Yes, he has a law firm to run. But he also has a baseball team to save."

Mike Boehm over at Oriole Magic fights his instincts and tries to write an objective article about Angelos (picture of Angelos dressed as Emperor Palpatine notwithstanding). The whole article is good so I won't quote him. Go read it.

Over at Oriole Post, Anthony makes the truest statement on Angleos' recent meddling in a potential Brian Roberts trade:

"I figured in this instance, time will only tell if Peter Angelos is right.
However, you hire people to do one job, and you have to them do it, so in this
case, he steeped over the boundaries of the front office and that has been a
main complaint of fans and the media alike."

I couldn't have said it better myself, whether you agreed with the trade or not.

Which I did. As much as I like Brian Roberts, it would've appreciably improved the team this year. Brian Roberts and Marcus Giles will both be 29 this year and even with a down year in 2006, Giles would have been a good bet to deliver similar production. Adam Laroche would have given you a legitimate power-hitting, slick-fielding first baseman who would only be 27 this year. I like Hayden Penn a lot but he probably won't make the team out of Spring Training and is still an unproven commodity on the major league level.

So basically, Angelos screws the club again.

Flannagan and Duquette have done a decent job since they've taken over. Why not let them do their jobs?

The only hope we have is that Angelos has been a bit more hands off in recent years and we can only pray that continues.