Dear Michael (or can I call you Mike?):
If you’re truly the next generation voice and true Dear Leader of Baltimore Orioles ownership, it’s time to start walking – and talking – like it.
I met you two years ago this week, on Opening Day 2024 about two hours after Baltimore “met you” climbing on a bar at Pickles with a very staged and purchased social media attempt (grabbing a couple of beers like Kash Patel in a hockey locker room) and you did the most Baltimore-schooled “hello” imaginable:
“We’re buying everybody a beer!”
Some of us who weren’t at the bar that day are still thirsty for more than the optics of a free beer from a New York billionaire who is here to rent while he owns.
As the only legitimate local journalist here who will ever ask you hard questions with any clarity, vision and a lifetime of studying the success and many failures of the Baltimore Orioles – on and off the field and all over our community – I can assure you and my audience that there are no free beers in Major League Baseball.
I reached to shake your hand 24 months ago and you evaporated quicker than when you handed my card to Priscilla and ran into your now Truist suite behind home plate on the club level to get better adjusted to being a New Yorker wearing a hometown jersey that we’ve all been wearing all of our lives around here. I sure hope that Pete Alonso continues to come forward in that true City Connect way more than you have in regard to “leadership” of a franchise that was far beyond woebegone when you and David Rubenstein ponied up the billions to feel important and famous beyond your obscene wealth.
8
Well, you did show up again two summers ago in the sixth-inning theater of our manufactured baseball summer drama – the condiment chaos – running the hot dog race with your boys like you were born on Eutaw Street and called your shot more like a Babe Ruth home run. And it strangely seems that all of you think that memes about the silly leftfield “Splash Zone” somehow make you one with the peasants here in Bal’mer?
And then, for most Orioles fans not into the corporate stage show for rich people and the richly business alligned, you’ve disappeared once again into the same fog where every modern sports owner lives: behind the curtain, behind the LLCs, behind the “we’re excited” quotes once a year when Opening Day comes and the franchise scalps its own tickets to its most eager fans.
You can hide behind your Priscilla but I’m out here every day “promoting” your baseball franchise whether you like it or not. And I don’t like what I see and my gut instinct has been my success as a journalist here over four decades because I don’t have the capacity or the reputation to lie on your behalf for a press credential.
By the way, “Priscilla” never got back to me so you’re already 0-for-1 lying to me beyond continuing to abscond press credentials from legitimate media, which doesn’t seem like the work of a well-disguised Democratic operative.
(Yo, Mike, I’m on your team, Patriot, but just don’t tell anyone in Harford County or Middle River or over on the Eastern Shore that you’re anti-Trump. Your boy Rubenstein actually calls Shitler a “friend” and evades all knowledge of those realities when we all sorta know better but it certainly benefits your rarified tax bracket.)
But here’s the real and obvious problem, Mike: you’re not just some uber-rich guy in the ownership photo wearing that “Arougheti” jersey. You’re not a ceremonial co-owner or Number Two. You’re being positioned – publicly (and very much privately) – as the next guy.
Everyone who leaks me credible information from inside the walls of The Warehouse tells me it’s “your show” – not Rubenstein’s but we can all see that his bobblehead ego is so clearly massive that I’m wondering where your oxygen is going to come from and how and when. My moles tell me you’re just biding your time as a younger man while quietly moving every chess piece on the board because it’s clear you’re gonna be the one holding the bag at the end of the real race for the Orioles franks.
8The now-very-famous but I’m not sure why David Rubenstein himself has already called you the “logical” successor someday as the Orioles’ controlling owner.
That’s not “minority partner.”
That’s heir apparent.
You might even get a bobblehead, yourself, Mike!
We all lived through three decades of the chaos and utter dogshit that Peter G. Angelos served our community on the baseball field but even more so in a community where lacrosse has become the spring sport and purple has become the preferred seasonal color. Ask anyone: the lying Angelos frauds and the cowards surrounding them bled more “yellow” than anything resembling orange professionalism and certainly not “local” concerns beyond taking the Annapolis money for premium stadium improvements that still haven’t turned a nickel in a community without Fortune 500 companies and any semblance of a winning baseball heritage.
And, for the life of me, I can’t understand how or why Catie Griggs would tolerate any of that baggage around The Warehouse but the “job for life” status of some of your worst people seems to be in tact as a license to attempt to tarnish my well-earned reputation as the only “truth teller.”
Here, today and every day, I will offer you a lifetime of vast Baltimore baseball knowledge – in the Truist sense of the word, of course.
8So, let’s get real, Mike: if you’re going to be the future voice of Orioles ownership, Baltimore needs to know who you are now – while the honeymoon is still warm and the public money is already on the table and the Jim Henneman Press Box has been disassembled and the video board is so big that every fan will better see you wave on Opening Day from the field and your ownership perch.
Because we didn’t just hand you and Rubenstein a baseball team that the previous regime mangled into an unrecognizable doormat – on and off the field.
We handed you a civic trust and a publicly supported stadium deal that unlocks up to $600 million for Camden Yards upgrades.
That isn’t Monopoly money. That’s Maryland money. That’s Baltimore money. That’s the “I pay taxes and don’t come to the ballpark and pay for it anyway” money.
So, who are you?
And what do you want from – and for – the franchise, the city, and the fans?
Your resume says you’re a hard charger and a difference maker in making the beans count and then counting them.
8Here’s who the internet says you are:
You’re the co-founder and CEO of Ares Management – the kind of alternative investment firm that talks in billions the way Orioles fans talk in innings. In a 2024 S&P Global Ratings podcast transcript, you described Ares as managing “a little over $450 billion” in assets.
That’s not a flex; it’s context. It tells me you understand scale, leverage, long-term bets, and how money gets made when other people don’t fully understand the spreadsheet.
You’ve got the pedigree (Yale, by the bio).
You’ve got the sports-owner, rich fan boy résumé (Charm City Sports Partners says you’re also an owner of LAFC).
And you’ve got the Orioles stake through an ownership collective that literally brands itself as “responsible ownership and community engagement.”
That’s the brochure.
I’m the community engagement part that you continue to insult with the Priscillas and Jennifer Grondahls and Mark Fines and Catie Griggs. And the ghosts of Greg Bader and John Angelos and his good-looking brother.
8Are you so arrogant as to fear legitimate questions and grown-up conversations about your billion-dollar investment? Or are you so far removed that having any front-facing responsibilities just shows how big-league your New York britches are without having to be a decent human and even pretend to have local interests, if not roots beyond writing a check you can already afford and write off?
Baltimore has been living in the back page of the MLB brochure – usually right near the bottom, if the standings, revenue and interest are truthful – for decades now. We locals can smell that I-95 Manhattan Acela breathe from the Eastern Shore to Deep Creek Lake.
Here’s what you’ve said but I’m not sure what it means?
When MLB approved the sale, you (or perhaps Priscilla?) put out the standard owner statement: historic franchise, incredible stadium, “best” fans, passion for winning, best-in-class experiences, community, blah, blah, blah.
Fine. That’s the script.
Now translate it into English for people who watched 14 consecutive losing seasons and still showed up because Camden Yards is our downtown cathedral and was erected by our citizens (and our parents, really) to be a centerpiece of downtown and our summer nights to drive commerce and local passion into our community.
What is “passion for winning” in dollars and decisions?
8What is “best-in-class experiences” in ticket pricing, payroll strategy, transparency, and respect?
Because owners around here love saying “best-in-class” like it’s crab seasoning. Baltimore doesn’t need more seasoning. We’ve already got Old Bay and J.O.
We need substance; we eat the mustard around here, Mike! (You can ask around about that one…and the “devil,” too!)
You lost 500,000 fans and a bunch of baseball games here last summer. The Angelos boys and Greg Bader would make Kevin Brown call it “fifth place” on the Mister Angelos and Sons Network but at WNST Baltimore Positive where we live in reality and not behind a gilded cage, we call it last place (or lacrosse or Ravens season for most of the white people that MLB serves in modern local fandom.)
Irrelevant is helluva place to be after you’ve made a bobblehead of the new “owner” who isn’t even really the guy running the show or the hot dog race but loves to be at the press conferences seated next to the athlete celebrities.
Last summer, the fans who might’ve come back or in some cases gave you a credit card for a Birdland summer spend, lost interest even more. And then Catie Griggs and her bean counters (very much led by you, according to all of my sources) decided to further reduce “value” to the Birdland Membership in a first act of dissonance and clear defiance of the actual local market and your very short leash on whatever little earned trust might be built in the early stages of your ownership.
Ah, those free beers…
8Here’s what you’ve done that matters (and I’ll always give you credit when it’s deserved): you’ve done the one thing owners usually avoid – at least you’ve been “seen” if not really heard or understood.
But, dude, wow does your act feel contrived so far – both of you.
You feel like out of town frauds so far and if Charley Eckman and John Steadman were alive, they would wholeheartedly concur.
I shook Rubenstein’s hand at Beth Tfiloh 17 months ago and before I could say “Aparicio” – allegedly my cousin Luis was his favorite Baltimore Orioles player from 1966 according to him on the MASN broadcast – he turned away from me quicker than The Whistler lied or Priscilla limp-wristed me with that I’m-in-Manhattan-but-off-to-The Hamptons chill.
By the way, the whole of Major League Baseball could really use a serious game plan and messaging beyond “we’re shutting the sport down next winter until we can break the MLBPA union,” which has been going on all of my lifetime without a glimmer of hope or success.
You’re gonna be on the hook for that squeeze – and the juice – whether you realized it or not when you were running around in the condiment suit. Your predecessor took the side of the players; you’re much too rich and smart for that but we’re about to find out about what’s in your belly about busting the most successful “union” in the history of professional sports – or any other industry for that matter.
Here’s the part where I would highly encourage you to read Lords Of The Realm by John Helyar, just so you know what war you’re about to become another King in, at least in the Truist terms of the baseball game of money and players and who gets their cut first.
8The Pickles beer move wasn’t just cute; it was smart. It was a signal: “I’m not afraid of the people.”
The hot dog race with your kids was also smart: “I’m here as a dad, not just a checkbook.”
But then comes the part where Baltimore starts squinting:
Are you truly ever present…or are you just shuttling in and performing?
I shook your hand – and I’ve never had a limper wrist or more disingenuous “don’t call us, we’ll call you” than that of Priscilla – and I must say that I was wholly unimpressed 24 months ago when I saw the back of your head and even less so now since the front of the whole of the business operation has basically evaporated this winter after finishing in last place.
No one around there dares to bullshit me with the “sales are way up” nonsense and the ballpark will reflect that every night until it doesn’t. And you’re the only one who can make it change and you’ve certainly spent a little bit of very un-Angelos money since October trying to make the baseball team better.
I wholeheartedly applaud that and I have written and spoken of the 2026 Baltimore Orioles as a playoff contender. Beyond the rookie manager, suspect bullpen and probably hideous defense, I think your baseball team can win and I’m encouraged to be discussing it daily again with some semblance of relevance beyond Preakness weekend. I have been on the radio in Baltimore for 35 seasons of Orioles baseball. Less than 10 have produced any conversation in April that could even be taken seriously. You’re a baseball fan; you should know this to be deadly accurate and factual.
8Beyond all of this line of hard questioning is this: this city deserves much better than what we’ve gotten at Camden Yards for our civic investment. My historical anger is well-placed, and well documented. Google: Free The Birds.
But, you are “open for business” and spending money and we should all be grateful for that much, even if most of the fan base will never be given the “Cold Priscilla” or seen the back of your head instantly after shaking your hand and saying hello.
In reading the MASN reports on the Orioles signing Pete Alonso, never a trusted source in the Truist sense of the word, what jumps off the page isn’t just the money – it’s Rubenstein saying, flat out, that you and he led the effort to complete the purchase of the Orioles, and then thanking “Mike” for working on the Alonso deal.
He didn’t mean Elias.
And, coming from a New Yorker signing a New York Mets baseball player for $150 million, that’s not ceremonial around here. That’s real involvement without the words or the story behind the story, which implies your will and perhaps your fantasy baseball acumen. Pardon all of us, but some of us remember the Angelos boys getting deeply rotisserie involved in Sid Fernandez and Bobby Bonilla a generation ago.
So, perhaps I’m asking you to step out of the condiment costume moment and off the bar at Pickles and into your owner-chair moment.
Here are some questions Baltimore deserves you to answer:
8Not in a press release. Not in a staged Q&A. Not in a “we’re thrilled” clip in front of a room of airy executives for pay that you and Catie Griggs to come and try to sell them into the club level in the Truist sense of the word with a business tax write off expense.
C’mon, Mike? You danced on the bar at Pickles two years ago! Get on the record with the important shit. Like an adult. Like an owner who understands that public trust is the “Truist” part of the purchase price.
I’ll remind you: there’s a been a LOT of baseball and civic trauma around the Angelos era. Be better.
What exactly is your role in this partnership?
Are you an investor who shows up for photo ops and occasional fun – or are you in the room for real decisions, real budgets, real priorities? (I happen to know you’re that guy!)
Oh, and real accountability?
Are you, in fact, being groomed to be the next controlling owner?
8If Rubenstein thinks you’re the “logical” successor, what does that mean in timeline and structure?
Baltimore doesn’t need secrecy because the Angelos family played that shell game most of my adulthood and really handed you a jalopy of a broken-down franchise in almost every conceivable way beyond being so shitty that they got to brag about ‘1-1’ MLB draft picks as though last place was the real trophy. We need clarity because we’re ultimately gonna pay the bill to further enrich you in this hobby sport and “civic trust” with our ATM cards and hearts and summer time.
My favorite is when Rubenstein calls your ownership “philanthropic.” That cracks me up even though someone who voted for Trump will actually believe it!
What does “empowering leadership” mean when the bill comes due or the questions are asked about intentions, strategy and accountability?
Plenty of owners say they’ll let baseball people run baseball. Great.
But when Mike Elias says, “We need to keep this window open,” are you the guy who says “yes” – or the guy who asks for a five-year ROI slide deck on the impact of all of that money you just gave Pete Alonso?
Will you commit to a competitive payroll as a matter of philosophy, not mood or ticket sales and media revenue? (I hailed the Chris Bassitt Valentine’s Day signing as the antithesis of anything the family of Peter G. Angelos would’ve ever been associated with and I’ll remember that every fifth day when you have a better chance to win because of that $18.5 million you ponied up late in free agency. We ain’t never seen nothing like that around here, I assure you! And now Shane Baz got a haul two days into the season!)
8I’m not asking for reckless. I’m asking for credible. I am asking for honesty and transparency, which has been hardly ever heard at The Warehouse since it was erected back when my radio career began.
The Orioles tribe can’t really be “best fans in baseball” while ownership treats payroll like an optional upgrade package in the world of Catie Griggs and Don Rovak.
How will you define success besides profit?
Give me your owner scoreboard.
Is it ALCS appearances? World Series trips? Player retention? Fan experience? Community impact beyond the incessantly embarrassing, fan-boy social media cheerleading?
Or is it the Rob Manfred refrain of “the franchise can throw off a lot more money in Baltimore” (and we all pretend that isn’t the real sentence)?
What is your personal relationship to Baltimore?
8Not the brand. Not the press release. You.
Where do you spend time here? Who do you listen to here? What neighborhoods have you walked when no camera is on?
What do you believe the Orioles owe Maryland taxpayers for the stadium deal?
The lease framework unlocks up to $600 million for Camden Yards upgrades.
What guardrails do you support for transparency and accountability?
And when the upgrades happen, will the benefit be felt by the average fan – or just the premium customer, in the Truist sense of the word?
What’s the plan for the land and development around Camden Yards? (This is the big one and you know it! That’s when you really get to milk the cow in this deal.)
8Everyone loves “revitalization” until it becomes “we privatized the public space, charged the fans the premium (that most of us are unwilling to pay and you’ll see that soon enough) and called it progress.”
Will you make yourself available to local media – especially critical local media? (If I held my breathe on this one, I’d have been dead five minutes after Priscilla abruptly turned her back and followed you into the suite.)
Not once a year. Not only when the vibes are good.
Regularly. Like a civic leader. Because that’s what you bought – a civic trust.
Are you a baseball fan…or a baseball owner?
Those are different species.
Being a fan is a feeling. Being an owner is responsibility. And one that’s been abdicated by your predecessors around here for a generation and everyone knows it.
8Now, let’s talk Pete Alonso, because it’s a tell – and a very good one on the field.
Rubenstein publicly thanked “Mike” for working on it and referenced you as co-leading the big ticket purchase effort.
How involved were you in that recruitment?
What did you pitch? The city? The clubhouse? The money? The future?
And if you were a driver there, are we going to see that same urgency to keep the core together and keep adding every offseason or at the trading deadline?
When things go bad – and they will, because baseball is cruel (see last April) – who are you going to be?
The guy on the bar buying beers? Or the guy who shows up after a rough October and answers the hard questions anyway?
8Mike, I don’t need you to win the hot dog race.
We, as a community in perpetual repair, need you to win the trust race.
The Angelos era trained Baltimore to expect silence, paranoia, and weirdness – and I’m being polite using those words. Rubenstein has the statesman vibe. The public face. The big-picture charm. The bobblehead and the Magna Carta! But, he clearly knows nothing about baseball, which makes him more than a bit of a fraud from the outset like his charmed Whistler, who duped me with words in the first hour until his complete lack of integrity was clearly exposed.
I wanted to trust the out-of-town guys but I know better. I’ve met Bob Irsay, Jim Irsay, Art Modell, David Modell and Steve Bisciotti.
My audience knows that I know who is full of shit and who isn’t.
But you, Michael Arougheti, are the one being quietly framed as the operator – the younger, more engaged, more “next” piece of this thing.
So, if that’s true, why not act like it?
8All I know is Priscilla and whatever those faux doe-eyes of Catie Griggs said so insincerely to me eight weeks ago about my media pass and her ability to field real questions about the intentions of ownership on behalf of Baltimore Orioles fans.
Let the fans know what kind of ownership this is going to be before the next time you need public goodwill or want to buy a round of beers for your social media threads.
Let the city know what kind of partner you’re going to be before the next time you ask for anything. (We’ve already given you $600 million and you’ve erected a glorified airport lounge behind home plate at $500 a night that none of us will ever think about sitting in during an Orioles game.)
And let the fans of the franchise know what kind of standard you’re setting before the window starts to close on this “youth movement” and everyone acts surprised that time is real and Gunnar and Adley and Jackson are all up for deals and Scott Boras and his ilk are all ready to walk them all off to New York or Los Angeles.
You can keep the beers. You can keep the photo ops. You can keep the condiment costume memories with your kids.
But give Baltimore something we can’t get from a press release:
Your voice.
Your plan.
Your accountability.
8Something real, for crissakes...
Because in this town, “new owner” isn’t a finish line.
It’s a down payment on hope – and we’ve all been burned for most of our lifetimes by a noveau-riche, wealthy egomaniac prick in your chair.
And he wasn’t even from New York…
In the Truist sense of the word, why should we trust you?
