A Baltimore native, Angelos built his fortune through a renowned legal career, most notably a landmark consolidated action case in 1992 representing thousands of workers in various fields who had been exposed to asbestos over the course of their jobs.  Angelos led a group of investors that purchased the Orioles in 1993 for $173MM, and quickly established himself as something of a maverick within baseball’s ownership circles during the 1994-95 players’ strike.  Though the strike was settled before replacement players took the field for the 1995 season, Angelos’ refusal to use such players (who he viewed as scabs) drew some animosity from his fellow owners and respect from the MLBPA.

On the field, the Orioles went through plenty of ups and downs during Angelos’ tenure as owner.  There was little doubt about Angelos’ desire to win, as he immediately increased the team’s payroll and brought several big-name free agents into the fold, helping Baltimore reach the ALCS in both 1996 and 1997.  After that last ALCS appearance, however, the Orioles didn’t have another winning season until 2012, as Angelos was often accused of taking a heavy hand in baseball operations.  This manifested itself in a revolving door of managers and general managers, until things began to stabilize under Buck Showalter and executive VP of baseball operations Dan Duquette.  The Orioles had five seasons of .500 or better ball from 2012-16, including three postseason appearances and another trip to the ALCS in 2014.

The Orioles’ payrolls tended to fluctuate based on the team’s competitive level, and Baltimore ranked within the top ten of league spending as recently as the 2017 season.  Angelos had particular concerns about certain types of baseball-related investments, perhaps most notably a wariness about any kind of long-term guarantee to pitchers (especially pitchers with any sort of injury history).  Angelos was also famously critical of baseball’s international signing system, which resulted in the Orioles essentially sitting out for the international amateur market for several years.

John Angelos’ stewardship of the team brought about some changes to the Orioles’ business, as GM Mike Elias was given broad leeway to modernize and revamp the baseball operations department as part of a near-total rebuild.  The O’s posted losing records from 2017-21 (the latter three under Elias) before winning 83 games in 2022, and then bursting out to win 101 games and the AL East crown last season.  With an incredible core of young talent in place, the Orioles now look like World Series contenders both this season and perhaps for many years to come.

This new era of Orioles baseball will take place somewhat outside of the Angelos family, as it was announced in February that the team had been sold for $1.725 billion to a new ownership group led by David Rubenstein.  (John Angelos is still an investor in the Orioles.). The news of the sale followed years of speculation and drama about the future of the franchise, as legal and personal issues within the Angelos family and the Orioles’ expiring lease at Camden Yards in 2023 led to some concerns that the O’s could be sold or moved to another city.  As it turned out, the Orioles arranged a new lease to remain at Camden Yards for at least the next 15 years, and Rubenstein’s full purchase of the organization is expected to be approved by the league within a few weeks’ time.  Rubenstein was initially slated to take over 40 percent of the team, but now will take full ownership of the club as a result of the elder Angelos’ passing.

We at MLB Trade Rumors send our condolences to Angelos’ family, friends, and loved ones.

Neither the Orioles nor MLB have yet commented on the news. The deal cannot be made official without league approval. Longtime O’s beat reporter Dan Connolly tweets that the owners will discuss the sale agreement at a previously scheduled owners meeting next week.

It was reported back in December that Rubenstein, a Baltimore native, was in talks to purchase the club. Rubenstein will eventually become the franchise’s “control person” assuming the deal is approved. Ourand reports the sale price will be $1.725 billion, about 10 times the $173MM for which the Angelos family purchased it in 1993.

The franchise will not be sold in its entirety right away. According to Ourand, the Rubenstein group will initially acquire roughly 40% of the ownership stake. The remainder of the Angelos’ family share will be transferred once longtime owner Peter Angelos, now 94, passes away. Previous reports have indicated the family would incur significant capital gains taxes if they sell the franchise in its entirety before Peter Angelos’ death.

It could be a franchise-altering piece of news for the Orioles and their fans. The Angelos family has owned the club since 1993. It was at that time that Peter Angelos was the principal investor of a group that bought the O’s. He collapsed in 2017 due to the failure of his aortic valve, leading his wife Georgia and sons John and Lou to take on more sizeable roles.

Reports emerged in June of 2022, highlighting infighting between the family members about control of the franchise. The league evidently approved John Angelos as the club’s “control person” in 2020, but multiple lawsuits between the family members were filed. The reporting surrounding those legal disputes revealed that Georgia hired Goldman Sachs to explore a possible sale. The various family lawsuits were dropped about a year ago as part of a reported settlement. “I would say that there’s not a plan to change the principal ownership or the managing partnership and there would be no reason to,” John said in February of last year.

As that drama has been playing out behind the scenes, there has also been a lot of public uncertainty surrounding the organization. Their lease agreement with the State of Maryland for Camden Yards was set to expire at the end of 2023. John Angelos was reportedly attempting to leverage the negotiations for a new lease to acquire public land. The idea seemed to be to transform the area based on the example set by the Braves with The Battery and Truist Park, allowing the O’s to develop a mixed-use area including various retail and commercial spaces.

A new lease agreement was eventually approved in mid-December, just before the previous deal was set to expire. As part of that deal, the O’s are committed to Camden Yards for the next 15 years, which can be expanded to 30 years if a new development plan is approved in the next four years. The discussions between Rubenstein and the Angelos family briefly held up government approval of the new lease. At the time, John Angelos reportedly assured Maryland governor Wes Moore there were no plans to sell a majority share of the franchise. That now seems set to change.

On top of the stadium situation, the Orioles and Nationals have an ongoing dispute concerning the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network. The two clubs share ownership of the network but with the O’s in the majority, presently around 76% and dropping to 67% by 2032. Those details were part of the agreement between the O’s and MLB to facilitate the relocation of the Expos from Montreal to Washington and therefore into the Orioles’ territorial range. The two clubs have been battling each other over the rights free related to MASN for many years.

Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun reports that Rubenstein will also acquire the O’s share in MASN. It’s not yet clear if there’ll be any change in the relationship between the Orioles and the Nationals.

Then there’s the on-field product, which could perhaps be related to the ownership situation. The club has been rebuilding for much of the period after Peter Angelos’ health issues, but they quite clearly emerged from that rebuild in recent seasons. They posted terrible results from 2018 to 2021 but stockpiled young talent in the process. As their young players started graduating to the majors, they managed to go 83-79 in 2022. They followed that up with a 101-win campaign last year, winning the American League East.

Despite those better results of late, the club has made almost no moves that commit long-term money or give up their young talent in order to bolster the current roster. Their stacked farm system has led to plenty of speculation about a blockbuster deal involving someone like Dylan Cease, but nothing has materialized. Meanwhile, their free agent spending this winter has been limited to a one-year deal for reliever Craig Kimbrel.

Taken all together, there are plenty of questions to be answered about how the franchise will proceed. While many O’s fans will be happy to see the Angelos family depart, it’s unknown how different the new regime will be. If the deal is completed, a picture of the future for the franchise will gradually come into focus. As it does, it could have ramifications for the team and others such as the Nats, as well as the city of Baltimore and the State of Maryland.

Rubenstein, 74, is the co-founder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group, a private equity company. He was born in Baltimore and Forbes estimates his net worth as $3.7 billion.

It’s unclear at this point what stage the talks are at or if any kind of deal is close at this time. It also doesn’t seem like Rubenstein is the only person pursuing the club, as the report states that he is “among suitors pursuing a transaction.” Whether the Angelos family has pursued this or have merely been approached by prospective buyers isn’t clear, but there has been plenty of uncertainty in recent years about the future of the franchise.

Peter Angelos, now 94, was the principal investor of a group that purchased the franchise in 1993. After he collapsed in 2017 due to the failure of his aortic valve, larger roles were taken up by his wife Georgia and sons John and Lou. In June of 2022, reports emerged of infighting between the family about control of the club, with MLB approving John as the club’s “control person” in 2020. Multiple lawsuits were filed and the reporting of the legal battle revealed that Georgia had hired Goldman Sachs to look into a possible sale of the club. In February of this year, it was reported that the family members had reached an agreement to drop their lawsuits against each other. “I would say that there’s not a plan to change the principal ownership or the managing partnership and there would be no reason to,” John said on the matter in February.

Amid all of the drama over the ownership situation, there has also been an ongoing situation regarding Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The club’s lease on the facility runs through 2023. They had an opportunity to extend that for five years but chose in February not to do so. The hope was that they could work out a longer deal that would allow them to take advantage of a new Maryland law and borrow $600MM for stadium upgrades. Both John and Maryland Governor Wes Moore have made public statements expressing optimism about getting a new deal done.

In August it was reported that John was trying to leverage the stadium negotiations into acquiring public land. He reportedly envisioned developing a mixed-use area with commercial and retail spaces, emulating to The Battery and Truist Park where the Braves play in Georgia.

In September, John and Gov. Moore announced a new 30-year lease between the club and the state, though this was actually misleading. Reporting from the next day revealed that they had merely signed a memorandum of understanding, which was legally non-binding. The lease is still set to expire on December 31 and recent reporting has suggested the two sides may have to sign a short-term extension of a year or perhaps even go month-to-month, per Hayes Gardner of The Baltimore Sun, while working out a longer deal.

In addition to all of that, the club has made almost no long-term investments in any players. The O’s haven’t signed a free agent to a multi-year deal since March of 2018, with was Alex Cobb’s four-year deal. Since then, the only contracts longer than one year the club has given out have been two-year extensions to John Means and Félix Bautista, both players that were already under club control and rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. For much of that time, the club was in rebuilding mode. But even as they have returned to contention in the last two years, including winning the AL East with 101 wins in 2023, they have yet to make any kind of commitment to anything down the road.

Rubenstein, 74, is the co-founder and co-chairman of the Carlyle Group, a private equity company. He was born in Baltimore and Bloomberg estimates his net worth as $4.6 billion, though Forbes comes in below that at $3.6 billion. Forbes also currently values the Orioles franchise at $1.713 billion, about 10 times more than the $173MM price point when it was purchased in 1993.

To this point, it’s unclear if Rubenstein actually has a chance of acquiring the club or if he would approach any of the aforementioned issues differently. But if he were able to seal the deal and change the way the club operates, that would obviously be a franchise-altering development. It could also have ripple effects outside the O’s since they have an ongoing dispute with the Nationals over MASN and rights fees dating back to the Nats moving from Montreal to Washington in 2005. The Lerner family has been trying to sell the Nats in recent years but that MASN dispute has reportedly been a significant obstacle in doing so.

Louis Angelos, son of Peter and Georgia, recently initiated litigation against his mother and brother in an attempt to force a sale of the franchise. Louis alleges a sale is the desired outcome for both his parents and argues in his complaint that “John has been misleading his mother into believing that he has been working to achieve her goal of a sale of the Orioles.” John Angelos then released a statement reiterating his family’s ties to the franchise and firmly rejecting the possibility of the organization relocating from Baltimore. Georgia Angelos, meanwhile, has previously expressed her faith in John’s leadership and filed a countersuit against Louis Angelos last month.

Against that backdrop, Daniel Kaplan of the Athletic now writes the franchise hired financial firm Goldman Sachs a few months ago to look into the possibility of a sale. That isn’t a new development; Jeff Barker of the Baltimore Sun reported last month Georgia Angelos confirmed in court filings she “had retained Goldman Sachs and Jones Day to provide investment banking and legal services in connection with the sale of the Orioles.” Nevertheless, Kaplan hears that John and Georgia Angelos continue to explore their options for the franchise, even if there’s no guarantee they’ll eventually put the organization up for sale. Barker, meanwhile, wrote last month that John Angelos was interested in selling a minority share of the franchise while retaining the family’s overall control and keeping the team in Baltimore.

Both Barker and Kaplan suggest that any sale of the franchise, if it were to arise, could wait until after Peter Angelos passes away. While Georgia Angelos stands to inherit the franchise tax free upon her husband’s death, Louis Angelos’ court filings suggest a sale while Peter Angelos is still alive would have “a sizable tax hit.”

The nearby Nationals, with which the Orioles are still embroiled in a years-long suit over television rights fees, are currently going through a sales process themselves. The Lerner family announced in April they’d begun to explore a sale of the Washington franchise, and Kaplan hears from a source they’re seeking $2.5 billion in that deal. That same source suggests the Orioles could wait until after the Nationals’ sale is completed to begin any sales process of their own, given the likely market overlap. Angels owner Arte Moreno is also looking into a franchise sale, although that’s obviously in a much different geographical area.

There’ll certainly be more to come as the Angelos’ various litigations develop, likely over multiple months. The Orioles lease at Camden Yards runs through the end of next season. The team has the right to trigger a five-year option, extending the lease through the 2028 campaign, by February 1 of next year.

“…My mother was born and raised in northeast Baltimore, attended city public schools at Eastern High School, and has worked with my father their entire lives to help the city, including by restoring the club to local ownership and preventing its relocation. For them, as for me, the Orioles will forever play at Oriole Park, and at no time ever have we contemplated anything different.

Since I was appointed Chairman and CEO according to my parents’ expressed wishes, and voted as the control person for the team by the 30 Major League Clubs, I have taken significant steps to ensure that our beloved franchise’s future remains in Charm City. Just two months ago we celebrated the Maryland General Assembly passing a bill promising to put $1.2 billion into reinvesting and reimagining the Camden Yards Sports Complex, which includes Oriole Park, ensuring the team will continue to play right here in downtown Baltimore for generations to come. Maryland is committed to keeping our team in this great state, and I am equally committed to keeping the Orioles at the heart of our state. …

I want to assure our Orioles players and coaches, our dedicated front office Senior Leadership Team and staff, and our devoted fans, trusted partners, elected, civic, and non-profit leaders, and our entire community, that the Orioles will never leave.”

June 12: The hands at the levers of the Baltimore Orioles are fighting each other, according to a report from Tim Prudente and Justin Fenton of The Baltimore Banner. The piece provides details of a lawsuit wherein Louis Angelos is suing his brother John Angelos. Both men are the sons of 92-year-old Peter Angelos, who was the principal investor of a group that purchased the franchise in 1993. The lawsuit from Louis alleges that Peter intended for his two sons and Georgia, wife of Peter and mother of John and Louis, to share control of the team, but that John has since taken steps to seize control of the club against his father’s wishes.

According to the lawsuit, Peter collapsed in 2017 due to the failure of his aortic valve. It seems that, in the subsequent years, plans for succession were developed, with Peter establishing a trust with his wife and two sons as co-trustees to manage the family’s assets. Lou Angelos alleges that John has since tried to take over the reins against his brother’s wishes. “John intends to maintain absolute control over the Orioles — to manage, to sell, or, if he chooses, to move to Tennessee (where he has a home and where his wife’s career is headquartered) — without having to answer to anyone,” the complaint states.

Among Lou Angelos’ allegations is that Georgia’s priority is to sell the team, with an advisor trying to put together a sale in 2020. According to the suit, John stepped in and nixed this deal. Lou also accuses John of firing, or demanding that others fire, key front office employees, including Brady Anderson. After his playing days, Anderson served in the Baltimore front office, eventually working his way up to vice president of baseball operations. However, he departed the organization in 2019.

By November 2020, Major League Baseball’s other owners had approved John Angelos to take over as the O’s “control person,” in light of Peter’s declining health. As noted at the end of the piece, this franchise is worth an estimated $1.375 billion, according to Forbes. Prudente and Fenton also point out that, earlier this year, the Maryland State legislature passed an initiative committing $1.2 billion for upgrades to Oriole Park as well as the Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium, hoping to prevent both franchises from leaving the state. The club’s lease at Camden Yards runs through 2023, and the team has an option to extend the lease by an additional five seasons next February.

Of course, none of Lou Angelos’ allegations have been substantiated in court. It’s possible the litigation winds up being settled or dismissed before ever getting in front of a jury. Nevertheless, it is still noteworthy that one of baseball’s 30 franchises seems to be mired in turmoil at the top level, and there figures to be plenty to follow over the coming months.

The Orioles have not commented on the matter. The piece contains many details not covered here, and interested readers are encouraged to give it a thorough read in order to get the full story.

In the interim, there is a small group of executives left over from Dan Duquette’s regime who are currently responsible for overseeing the roster moves in Baltimore this offseason. Brian Graham, the director of player development, is said to be handling the day-to-day operations as the interim GM. VP of baseball ops Brady Anderson and amateur scouting director Gary Rajsich are also present to weigh in on the offseason’s earliest action.

To this point, the Baltimore organization hasn’t settled on a job title for whomever becomes the organization’s top baseball decisionmaker. In and of itself this doesn’t mean much, but as the Athletic’s Dan Connolly pointed out in early October, there is a perplexing lack of clarity regarding division of labor moving forward. Brady Anderson, for one, has had significant negotiating responsibilities in the past, so his continued involvement is certainly notable, despite ownership’s claim that the new hire will have “final determination on all baseball matters”.

Here are the latest on the Orioles search:

Latest Updates – 11/10/18

• UPDATE: The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal now tweets that Tigers AGM David Chadd is no longer under consideration for the position in Baltimore. This coming on the heels of Chadd supposedly being a finalist for the position as of two days ago. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale had named Chadd as a finalist for the top spot in Baltimore (via Twitter), but that appears to no longer be the case.
• The Orioles are keeping most of the details regarding their GM search close to the vest, but Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reminds us (via Twitter) that their first priority is identifying the executive to head their baseball ops – that hire will have the prerogative to name their top assistant. The original plan was for the top hire to be given the title of President, but the exact nomenclature (more than the responsibilities) remains TBD. Presumably, this will depend upon who they bring aboard and what kind of title bump that individual requires.
• Regardless, there will be two eventual new hires to head up the O’s front office, and some names are starting to emerge. The oft-mentioned AGM of the Houston Astros Mike Elias remains in consideration, per the Athletic’s Dan Connolly, but two new names have entered the field as well: Phillies assistant GM Ned Rice and MLB Diversity Pipeline Director Tyrone Brooks. Before moving to the Phils front office in 2016, Ned Rice was an official with the Orioles for 11 years. Tyrone Brooks, for his part, took on the responsibility of driving diversity hires throughout MLB’s administrative levels in 2016 after Commissioner Rob Manfred created the role. He does has front office experience as well: he was a scout in the Indians organization before serving as an assistant GM with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2009-2016.
• Also of note, vice president Brady Anderson did not represent the Orioles at last week’s GM meetings, despite his home being only an hour away. Connolly wonders if this might have been a signal from ownership that the runway is, in fact, clear for the next hire to run things without demonstrative input from incumbent front office holdovers like Anderson.

Click to review the potential names under consideration and prior updates to the process:

Read more

Despite the Orioles’ success in Duquette’s tenure, there has long been speculation surrounding his future in Baltimore, particularly after the Blue Jays made a strong push to lure Duquette away in the 2014-15 offseason.  Duquette “is frustrated by his loss of power,” Rosenthal writes, as Lou Angelos, Showalter, and VP of baseball ops Brady Anderson also have significant voices within the team’s front office.  Anderson, in fact, “was the point man” in Baltimore’s signings of Alex Cobb, Andrew Cashner, and Chris Tillman this offseason.

It isn’t clear what direction the Orioles will take if Duquette did leave after the season.  Anderson may prefer to remain in his somewhat undefined role (which hasn’t always pleased some past players and coaches) rather than become an official general manager, while it’s also possible Showalter could move into a front office role rather than continue in the dugout.  Sources within the organization aren’t sure if Showalter would prefer to keep managing or shift to a baseball operations position, though he could conceivably do both in some capacity — a GM would be hired to handle day-to-day business while Showalter acted as the de facto front office head while still managing the team.

Of course, much could also depend on the direction of the Orioles’ season, as the team could look to trade one or more of its prominent free agents (i.e. Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Zach Britton, Brad Brach) if it falls out of contention.  A total rebuild seems unlikely, as Cobb just signed for four seasons and the O’s would still have a core group that includes Jonathan Schoop, Dylan Bundy, Kevin Gausman, Trey Mancini, and older veterans like Chris Davis.

Though John and Lou Angelos have been involved in a wide variety of the Orioles’ operations, “concerns exist in the industry about their ability to run a franchise” since Peter Angelos carried such a dominant role in the team’s business, Rosenthal writes. There are some indications, however, that the Angelos brothers’ influence is helping the franchise act in a more efficient way.  For instance, since the owner’s approval is no longer constantly required, some of the decision-making process has gone from “painstakingly slow” to “more streamlined.”  Some in the front office feel that the new direction will lead to the Orioles spending more on young talent pipelines such as the international signing process, which the O’s have (somewhat notoriously) almost entirely avoided in recent years — sources tell Rosenthal that “Peter Angelos never found anyone he trusted to run the international department.”

• The re-signing of Davis is a huge boost to the O’s lineup, writes Richard Justice of MLB.com. It’s about more than his ability to bash 40 to 50 home runs. Davis is among the leaders in hard hit rate as measured by FanGraphs. That was also true in his highly effective 2013 campaign. Hard hit rate not only improves a hitter’s chance to hit a home run, it also help other balls in play to fall. Justice would like the club to find another bat – perhaps Yoenis Cespedes – to support the middle of the lineup. The Orioles were also tied to the Rockies glut of left-handed outfielders. Either Charlie Blackmon or Corey Dickerson would represent a monetarily affordable alternative to add lineup depth.
• Re-signing Davis was about continuity too, writes Eduardo A Encina of the Baltimore Sun. The O’s have built a good clubhouse culture under manager Buck Showalter. He said, “I think the other thing that [this signing] represents is the continuity we’ve established with our coaching staff and players.” The front office did grow frustrated in their negotiations and nearly walked away as recently as last Thursday. Angelos made one final offer on Friday night, and talks quickly gained momentum. Encina goes on to say Baltimore’s pursuit of Cespedes is over now unless he’s willing to take a two-year deal.
• Give owner Peter Angelos credit, writes Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun. As has long been reported, he was the driving force in keeping negotiations with Davis alive. While the lineup looks better with Davis, the club still has work to do before finalizing the roster. In particular, Dan Duquette may need to chase pitching on the trade market. Few teams are marketing starters at the moment, with the Rays as the most vocal sellers.
• Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs wonders if Angelos was willing to accept a higher team budget if Davis re-signed. We often assume teams have relatively fixed budgets, but the reality of the matter is that they can be player dependent. In Angelos’ mind, a team with Davis on the roster might be worth a larger investment than a team with another slugger. It’s tempting to say that the Orioles could have signed X, Y, and Z with that $161MM, but maybe the alternative only involved $90MM to spend.

Here’s more from the column:

• Orioles owner Peter Angelos is making a push to re-sign first baseman Chris Davis. The slugger is entering his age 30 season after posting 13 WAR and 126 home runs over the last three seasons. Davis hit .262/.361/.562 last year with 47 home runs. However, he’s sandwiched two superstar campaigns around a replacement level 2014, making him a high risk, high reward target in free agency. Heyman does not expect Davis to sign before talking with other clubs.
• The Royals are unlikely to re-sign Ben Zobrist. The club acquired him to fill in for the injured Alex Gordon, then used him to replace injured Omar Infante. The club’s former second baseman will be back and presumably healthy next season. Zobrist’s defensive profile at second base also leaves something to be desired.
• Marlins manager Don Mattingly hopes to bring pitching coach Rick Honeycutt and coach Tim Wallach with him from the Dodgers. However, L.A. hopes to keep both coaches. Honeycutt is a long standing member of the Dodgers’ coaching staff, but Wallach may search for a new job if he’s passed over for the open manager job.
• Scouts are worried that Mike Zunino may have to overcome a psychological hurdle. He was widely viewed as unready for a promotion to the majors in 2013, and the Mariners have allowed him to scuffle through the last three campaigns. His biggest issue is a 32 percent strikeout rate which has led to a .193/.252/.353 triple-slash.

“We had a lot of conversations with [the Phillies]. I just didn’t want to give up our core and we couldn’t find another way to get it done,” Cherington said of the ace, who ultimately went to the Rangers.

Here’s more from today’s column..

• There’s tension over Orioles owner Peter Angelos not allowing GM Dan Duquette to pursue a higher-profile and higher-paying job with the Blue Jays, major league sources tell Cafardo.  Sources also tell The Boston Globe scribe that Angelos has not compensated Duquette for the lost opportunity.  All in all, it’s a slight that baseball execs Duquette to be “bush league,” Cafardo writes.
• There’s also been talk of friction between Duquette and manager Buck Showalter, Cafardo writes, although both men are signed through 2018.  Meanwhile, there’s fear that the Orioles will not spend the money necessary to retain free agents like Chris Davis, Matt Wieters, and Wei-Yin Chen.
• The Twins want Torii Hunter back for at least one more season, according to a team official who spoke with Cafardo.  For his part, the veteran says that he’s going year to year. In 516 plate appearances this season, Hunter has posted a batting line of .245/.298/.414 which isn’t really in line with his career offering of .277/.332/.462.  However, he has played well in right field and the Twins like his veteran leadership.
• The Phillies had a scout watching the Orioles last week in the event that the O’s lose Davis in free agency and gain interest in Ryan Howard.  Howard is not be expected to replicate Davis’ production, of course, but Cafardo notes that he still has power and would be better suited as a DH.
• There’s “continued interest” in Red Sox utilityman Brock Holt, Cafardo writes.  Holt’s opportunities in the Red Sox’s outfield may be limited and new team president Dave Dombrowski should get a fair amount of offers this winter for him.

• Rob Bradford of WEEI.com explains that the future of out-of-options right-hander Michael Bowden may be closely linked to his Spring Training performance. For MLBTR's complete list of out of options players on the Red Sox and around the league click here.
• An Orioles official tells Childs Walker of the Baltimore Sun that there's "absolutely no truth" to rumors owner Peter Angelos is considering selling the team.
• The Orioles would have to offer Adam Jones an extension of at least five years for him to sign long-term, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports. Rosenthal explores the timeline for a possible Jones trade, pointing out that the Braves were among the teams that inquired on the center fielder this offseason. Jones avoided arbitration with the Orioles last night, agreeing to a $6.15MM contract for 2012. He’s under team control through 2013.

Now, several people have written in to let us now that Bruce Levine of ESPN 1000 is reporting that Peter Angelos has given Andy MacPhail the green light to trade Roberts. It has long been rumored that Angelos might have been holding up the trade to the Cubs because of his personal affection for Roberts. With Angelos’ blessing, this deal may finally happen in the next few days.

Of course, if this deal doesn’t get done soon, Tim is going to have to change the name of this site to BrianRobertsTradeRumors.com.

By Cork Gaines

Jon Heyman is hearing that the haul for Roberts might not be enough for Angelos’s liking. The reported package includes pitcher Sean Gallagher, outfielder Matt Murton, and infielder Ronny Cedeno. This isn’t the first deal for Roberts that Angelos has reportedly killed.

Heyman has an interesting bit on Angelos:

There is also a sense that Angelos has an unreasonable attachment to Roberts, who may well remind the owner of himself: a little guy who’s scrapped his way to the top of his profession (no, not baseball; Angelos is at the top of the legal profession, at least in terms of dollars earned).

Of course, there is no way to verify that this is the case. But if Angelos is holding back a possible Roberts deal, he might be doing a disservice to his team. They stand to benefit more in the future from the young talent they’d receive than they would from Roberts, who is 30 this year.

– Joe

The Angelos mindset is center stage at the moment, as the health of Cubs starter Mark Prior is far from spotless.  As I mentioned earlier, here’s what Buster Olney had to say on the issue:

"Executives with other teams are assuming, by the way, that Baltimore owner Peter Angelos would likely kill any proposal once club doctors review Prior’s recent medical history."

I dug around a bit and got a little more from a source close to the Orioles.  He told me that he knows of at least three free agents that the Orioles backed away from this winter after reviewing their medical records.  He wouldn’t name names, but I have to think Kevin Millwood was one.

However, the source told me Prior’s medical records would only pose a slight dilemma for the Orioles. He thinks the true obstacle is simply the Cubs meeting the Orioles’ asking price.  If that happens, the deal will get done quickly.