wrongfullyaccuzd

Full story from ESPN

So, as of tomorrow, it's official. Baseball offered Angelos a TV revenue sharing deal he couldn't pass up and we have baseball again in DC. According to a story from the Washington Post, the team will likely be renamed by its new owners. They will play in a renovated RFK for the first 3 years, then move into a new home somewhere along the Anacostia River, which I think will be an awesome sight.

I think this is awesome! Finally I'll be able to metro to a baseball game instead of fighting 495 traffic to get to Baltimore. And I won't even feel bad having a surrogate hometown team, because the Expos are in the NL.



I hope the new stadium is modeled similarly to Camden Yards, the most beautiful stadium in the country. I hope they don't go ultra-modern like Arizona's park.

mosha

I think this is a good thing for the game. It still has to go through all the voting but I can see this happening without problems even though Baltimore is against it.

Glory's Sun

it's going to pass and it's going to be good for the game..who cares if it's only 40 miles from baltimore.. that will create an instant rivalry. I mean baseball is America's Past-time, doesn't it seem only right to have a team in the nation's captial?

present_future

I think that this is a good deal both for the Expos and the city of Washington D.C. I suppose that since they've moved from that hell-hole of Montreal, the team won't be playing any more games in Puerto Rico. That's too bad, as most of the games there outdrew the crowds in the Expos' home stadium.

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DDDDave

So what's the name going to be???
I've heard Senators, Nationals, Grays

Let's hear it --

I'll start - the Insiders

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dmt767s

The Rangers still own the rights to the Senators name. Grays has been suggested, in honor of the Negro League team. They should keep Expos and that green furry thing they call a mascot.

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djtestudo

The Rangers have also said they would give up the name rights (so I've heard).

My opinion:

As a baseball fan - Great move. DC has a tradition of baseball. The Orioles gain a rivalry for interleague games. If the stadium deal goes through like planned, a great setting.

As an Oriole fan - Terrible move. The Orioles could lose anything from 15-30+% of their revenue, depending on who you believe. Peter Angelos is doing everything he can to make it so that the Orioles are hurt as little as possible by this, and I applaud him for it.

As you can see, I'm slightly torn on the issue

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goddfather40

Montreal is another victim of incompetent, disloyal, and greedy ownership. They are in the same boat as the former LA Rams, the former Houston Oilers, and any number of former NHL cities. Montreal was never last in attendance until the mid 90's when the fire sales began and nothing was done to fix the stadium.

In the end, though the MLB probably could have supported Montreal more, they had to do what they had to do. The damage was already done from the owners the MLB bought the team from.

Out of the possible relocation sites for the Expos, Washington was the best choice and the baseball fans in DC, Virginia, and Maryland should be happy to have an NL club in their area. Now you'll be able to see Barry next year on his quest for 756.

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djtestudo

It's one of those viscious cycles. The fans started to decline, so the team couldn't afford to keep players, which caused more fans to leave, etc.

The Rams and the Oilers left because of better stadium deals. Montreal is different.

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dylanmarsh

Why don't we just call it even-steven on the O's losing money with the Redskins losing money to the ex-Browns moving in down the interstate.

Sorry, but I can't and don't feel sorry for assholes like Peter Angelos losing money. I do feel bad for the few fans in Montreal screwed over by this debacle. Did MLB really think that Olympic Stadium could support a successful team in this day and age?

gibingus

get in line for tickets here: http://www.baseballindc.com

you can also submit your vote for the name of the team.

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djtestudo

No one in Baltimore ever went to Redskins games anyway.

It's not about HIM losing money, but about the ORIOLES losing money.

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"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
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MikeyChalupa

Hey, if you want to hate the Yankees because of Steinbrenner and his money, then let us hate the Orioles for Angelos and his tightwad whining. To me, that's just as distasteful as Steinbrenner "buying championships" is to you. Angelos has happily fielded a mediocre team for the better part of a decade, just like Toronto and Tampa. Hey, he improved the team from 4th place to 3rd place this year! Congratulations! You're still 22.5 games out. All three teams know that from opening day, the AL East is a two-team race. Instead of publicily complaining about losing fans to a NL team, he should be doing what the Yankees do and the Sox have recently learned to do: whatever it takes to put a team on the field that people want to watch because they win more games than they lose. If you do that you won't have to worry about losing fans to a nearby team. Do you think the Yankees worry about losing fans to the Mets? Or the Lakers to the Clippers? If it was the Orioles who had won their division the last 6 (now 7, as of last night) years running, you wouldn't have heard a peep out of him when baseball considered Washington for the Expos relocation. Angelos made a good start this year by adding a few quality players (Palmiero, Tejada, Lopez). Build on that! And then, you know, hope a meteor strikes the stadium during a Yankees-Sox game or something.

What Angelos SHOULD have done, as I've heard suggested before, is petition MLB to switch Baltimore from the AL East to the NL East, and have the new Washington team play in the AL East. The Orioles would be a much more competitive team in the NL East without having to play the Yankees and Red Sox a total of 38 times, and pretty much only have to worry about Altanta. They'd still get to have the interleague rivalry. Plus, he'd get the last laugh of "You want baseball, Washington? Welcome to some REAL competition. We'll be over here in the NL pounding the Mets in the ass."

-Mikey

djtestudo

We aren't pussies in Baltimore. We have beaten the Yankees before and will do so again, so there is no way a move like that will take place.

As for your comparisons, you seem to be forgetting that the New York and LA metro areas are each about twice as big as the Baltimore-DC area. The better comparison is the San Francisco-Oakland area, where one team is overshadowed by another, and the Giants won't let the A's move to San Jose using the same excuse as Baltimore is with DC-terratory.

Also, I believe that the Orioles are 8-7 agaisnt the Sawks this year, so that's a pretty good start, wouldn't you say?

And you named the exact plan of action; build on this year's success by signing another bat or two and some bullpen help.

Finally, Angelos has spent a LOT of money over the past seven years. Can you say Albert Belle, Scott Erickson and David Segui? There is also another thing that connects those guys: they all spen the majority of their contracts injured. The difference is, Angelos can't afford a $200 million payroll full of Rondell Whites and Jose Contrarases.

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dylanmarsh

That's a fair comparison, however both Bay-Area teams are suceeding and have been since the beginning of time. The difference between the Bay-Area folks and Peter Angelos, is that the Giants and A's care about winning and actually take steps to win, where Petey just gets a few big free agents hoping to lure fans back and never tries to build a solid all around team. Couldn't the Ponson or Palmeiro money be better spent? If he doesn't have a no-trade clause, why not move Palmeiro at the trading deadline for younger guys, if you aren't going to play him?

Small market and low payroll teams have proven you can win without having to invest a lot so long as you're smart about it. Angelos has run the O's into the ground, much the way Harrington did in Boston.

The problem is ownership and management, not the recycled Expos.

Halx

I like this. If there ever was a team that I would totally forget when trying to name all the MLB organizations to myself, it was the Expos. This gives the team more recognition. Their name should change because that was part of the problem. I sorta like the idea of "Nationals" - it's got an oldschool feel to it.

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crewsor

All things considered, I think this is a good thing. Good for D.C. fans who deserve a team if they will support it, and I believe they will. Good for Oriole fans, (read me), because it may force Angelos to put a competitive product on the field.
There is a reason monopolies are discouraged. For too long the Orioles have had a huge market to themselves, providing no incentive to field a decent team.Witness eight consecutive losing seasons from a once dominant team.
When you are the only game in town people have no choice. Now it becomes a battle for the intermediate market, and the only way to win that battle is to have the more desirable product. I think there is plenty of consumer money in the Md., Vir., markets to support two teams. So I say bring on the Senators. If nothing else it will give me another D.C. team to root against besides the Deadskins.

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canuckguy

well its about time its over, but I still feel its a not a real solution to the issue. Most time when a team is moved or an expansion franchise is added, the host city is very excited and goes all out to get a franchise. i just don't feel it with washington. although it beats the hell out of keeping the team in montreal. but what about all the other sad sack teams like tampa?

pan6467

That's not true. Angelos has spent the money (Albert Belle as a great example) however the signings his management team have made with that money is the joke. Seems if anything he needs to find a better judge of talent.

I understand some owners thinking about throwing money out and getting high priced bums, after awhile they see it as a loss and stop, when in reality they need to fire the people signing the bums and get better judges of talent.

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pan6467

get owners that either spend the money for F/A or a GM that can draft well and put $$ into the farm system and then when ready get a couple good F/A or signing your players to long term and compete .... like the Twins did and the Indians are trying to do

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

crewsor

Whats not true? I never said he wouldn't spend money, although with the market the Orioles have commanded the payrole should be higher. I believe the problem lies more with Angelos and his Sons exerting way too much influence in the day to day running of the team and making lousy decisions as far as hiring competent management. He needs to hire good baseball people and let them run the team properly.

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djtestudo

You're two years behind; he's already done that.

Peter succeded in 1996 and 1997 in building an all-around team. The problem was making Syd Thrift the GM. Now that he's gone the Orioles have made good signings in Tejada and Lopez to be the base of a winning team next year. You can't rebuild a team in a year.

As for Palmeiro and Ponson, Raffy makes about 3 million and Ponson 7 million. Raffy has hit righthanders fine this year, and would be ok coming back in that role in 2005. Ponson started poorly, but is 8-3 with an under 4 ERA since the break. That is a great deal for 7 million if he can keep it up.

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pan6467

True DJ. Tejada and Lopez were great signings. It would be nice to see the O's compete again, however, you also have to look at the divison they are in. With NY and Boston having open wallets, Baltimore just can't compete in that division.

Raffy, (and it's said every year and sometime it will come true) is on his last legs and I don't see him being much of a force next year, but for the price he isn't bad.

Ponson is just scary, he's too streaky and considering the O's need pitching badly, too expensive for the role he has. The O's could find a better and perhaps younger pitcher for $7 Mill. I think Ponson's got at most a $5 mill. long relief/spot starter arm, at best maybe a 3rd -5th starter, but that's just my take on the guy. I know he had some injuries and is making a comeback so we'll see. At one time he was dangerous.

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I just love people who use the excuse "I use/do this because I LOVE the feeling/joy/happiness it brings me" and expect you to be ok with that as you watch them destroy their life blindly following. My response is, "I like to put forks in an eletrical socket, just LOVE that feeling, can't ever get enough of it, so will you let me put this copper fork in that electric socket?"

djtestudo

I just really like Ponson. I think he gets a bad rap because of his perceived weight (as though there aren't a hundred other pitchers that weigh more then him and it doesn't affect them), and because of his start this year. I believe that he will be fine, especially since there are very few guys with his talent and results available for that price. Considering his terrible streach in May and June, his stats really aren't that bad. For a #2-3 guy that he is, he's a pretty good value.

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"Final thought: I just rented Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine. Frankly, it was the worst sports movie I've ever seen."
--Peter Schmuck, The (Baltimore) Sun