With the MLB trade deadline deals of Mike Elias behind us and the labor war ahead, Allen McCallum and Nestor recap the departure of Adley Rutschman and have a tough discussion about the Orioles here-and-now with fans and how this next eight weeks leads to a lot of uncertainty in Baltimore and all around the industry of baseball.
Nestor Aparicio and Allen McCallum discussed the Orioles’ recent trades, particularly the deal involving Adley Rutschman, and the impact of the pending labor war on MLB. They highlighted the Orioles’ struggles, including the failure to develop top talent and the decision to trade Rutschman to save $30 million. Allen noted the team’s need to focus on the present and improve communication with fans. They also touched on the financial aspects of owning season tickets and the challenges of attending games due to ticket availability and communication issues with the team. The conversation emphasized the need for better management and strategic planning for the Orioles’ future.
Orioles Fan Experience and Media Relations
- Nestor Aparicio welcomes listeners to WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore, and mentions the station’s 28th anniversary.
- Nestor and Allen McCallum discuss their long-standing friendship and the challenges of covering the Orioles.
- Nestor expresses frustration with the Orioles’ management and the lack of diversity in the organization.
- Allen shares his experience of owning season tickets and the financial commitment involved.
Adley Rutschman Trade and Fan Reactions
- Nestor and Allen discuss the trade of Adley Rutschman and its impact on fans.
- Allen explains the financial aspects of owning season tickets and the decision to stop renewing them.
- Nestor criticizes the Orioles’ management for disrespecting fans and the media.
- Allen defends the trade, stating that Rutschman was not the generational player he was touted to be.
Orioles’ Development and Player Performance
- Allen McCallum analyzes the Orioles’ development of young talent like Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson.
- Nestor and Allen discuss the challenges of player development and the need for better coaching and strategy.
- Allen highlights the importance of identifying and retaining top talent early.
- Nestor expresses frustration with the Orioles’ failure to communicate effectively with fans.
Impact of Upcoming Labor War on MLB
- Nestor and Allen discuss the potential impact of the upcoming labor war on MLB teams, including the Orioles.
- Allen explains the financial implications of the labor war for teams like the Orioles.
- Nestor emphasizes the need for the Orioles to manage their assets wisely in preparation for the labor war.
- Allen suggests that the Orioles should focus on developing a strong farm system and acquiring top-tier talent.
Future of Mike Elias and Orioles’ Management
- Nestor and Allen debate the future of Mike Elias as the Orioles’ general manager.
- Allen argues that Elias’ focus on the future has led to a lack of attention to the present.
- Nestor suggests that the Orioles need a new general manager who can balance long-term planning with immediate results.
- Allen acknowledges the need for better communication and engagement with fans.
Orioles’ Ticket Sales and Fan Engagement
- Nestor and Allen discuss the challenges of selling tickets and engaging with fans.
- Allen shares his experience of buying tickets and the difficulties of dealing with the Orioles’ ticket office.
- Nestor criticizes the Orioles’ management for not addressing fan concerns and improving customer service.
- Allen suggests that the Orioles should make it easier for fans to purchase tickets and communicate more effectively.
Orioles’ Business Model and Financial Strategy
- Nestor and Allen analyze the Orioles’ business model and financial strategy.
- Allen explains the financial benefits of trading Adley Rutschman and focusing on the future.
- Nestor criticizes the Orioles’ management for not being transparent with fans about their financial decisions.
- Allen suggests that the Orioles should focus on cost-saving measures and improving their business model.
Orioles’ Media Coverage and Public Perception
- Nestor and Allen discuss the media coverage of the Orioles and its impact on public perception.
- Allen highlights the importance of having credible and knowledgeable media personalities covering the team.
- Nestor criticizes the Orioles’ management for not engaging with the media and providing accurate information.
- Allen suggests that the Orioles should improve their media relations and communication strategies.
Orioles’ Future and Fan Loyalty
- Nestor and Allen discuss the future of the Orioles and the loyalty of their fans.
- Allen emphasizes the need for the Orioles to focus on winning and improving their on-field performance.
- Nestor suggests that the Orioles should prioritize fan engagement and communication to rebuild trust.
- Allen acknowledges the challenges but remains hopeful for the future of the team.
Orioles’ Ownership and Leadership
- Nestor and Allen discuss the role of ownership and leadership in the Orioles’ future.
- Allen suggests that the Orioles need new leadership that can bring fresh ideas and strategies.
- Nestor criticizes the current ownership for not being proactive in addressing fan concerns and improving the team.
- Allen emphasizes the importance of having a strong and visionary leadership to guide the team forward.
Nestor Aparicio 0:01
Welcome home. We are WNST AM 1570 Towson, Baltimore. We are Baltimore positive, positively into our 28th year. I’m going to get rid of the 27th candles. I have 28th row houses, so the internet voted over the weekend and on social media, where I hope you follow us. Luke is at Oriole Park. Luke is at Ravens. I will be at Oriole Park, but not in our WNST media seat that this guy frequented for many, many years. It’s now the truest club. Alan McCallum returns because he couldn’t join us at Fishmonger on the 19th. He can’t join us on the 26th at Koco’s, and he hit me on the back end of the Adley Ruchman thing. And dude, I’ve known you, you know, 31 years. Like, God, dang, it’s crazy. Longer than this has been here. You’ve never like written to me and said, “I gotta come on. I’ve got something on my mind. And I’m like, I remember sometimes I call you and say, “Man, I don’t even want you on. Let’s just go hang out, eat something that’s not cheese related because the Orioles were so it wasn’t any fun to even we went years like not doing radio together because like it brought us down. It was more fun to like go get breakfast or something, you know, you and me. Well,
Allen McCallum 1:14
this is the second time, Nestor. The first time was last year, probably a little after they fired Hyde. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 1:22
you’re always welcome here, so you don’t have to ask your way on. You just need to demand the time. That’s all we need to do with you.
Allen McCallum 1:28
I appreciate that. Certainly not something I take advantage of. But yeah, I mean, there there are some moments when I feel like there’s things to say, and
Nestor Aparicio 1:36
well, I want to hear what you have to say, so I immediately answered your call. You know, at this point in my life, I don’t have enough astute people to talk baseball with. And my wife would tell you that last week, every day I was buoyed at the end of the day because I went in to see her, and I’m like, man, I just talked to Janet Marie Smith for 45 minutes. I just talked to Evan Drellick for half an hour. I just did 34 minutes with Buster Olney. I just did 40 minutes with Tim Kirchin. I like talking baseball at this tender time at this tender time in the game with labor, dude. I dragged you and Luke out, you know, against the trade deadline, knowing that piece was going to be weirdly dated, and I still have run it the last couple days because I still think we covered lots of relevant ground in that. This is a really important time for whatever this thing behind me is going to be in this city in regard to what we’ve paid for, and I’m getting really is.
Allen McCallum 2:26
It’s it’s a moment where, and I think the the reporters that were on the Zoom with Michael II were inching towards that. You know, what is we? What are we now? What are we going to be? And why should we believe that you are the right man to shepherd this into a promised land? And he had some interesting things to say. I don’t. I certainly don’t think he answered the question fully. He never does. But he he certainly had some interesting things to say. They were. I think they’re worth discussing and analyzing for sure.
Nestor Aparicio 3:00
Let’s go.
Allen McCallum 3:01
Well, let’s just start. Where
Nestor Aparicio 3:04
are you? Are you mad? You had. Yeah. You. You. You. Do you own? You don’t still own season tickets, right? Like I’m really speaking to the people that financially support this, of which I famously don’t and won’t and shouldn’t. Quite frankly, nobody who knows me, including Leonard Raskin, says I should give them my money. Like, well, you know what I mean. The way they treated me and my family, and and you and me, you should have a press credential too. By the way, while I should have a press, they don’t have enough people that look like us that that have a little pigmentation in our skin in their lily white ballpark, and they’re mostly lily white organization. Although they’ll dispute that because they have the token this or that anywhere along the line, but I mean, this is a Hispanic guy talking to a black guy here who loved baseball all of our lives, and we can’t go ask questions. And I did notice that the people sitting next Elias in the dugout, Melanie Newman on one side, Rock Cabaco on the other, because that’s credibility. I mean, it’s insane. Because they’re not even-we’re so far from accountability for them. Sure. Just in a general lane of the things you and I talk about as fans and what fans are willing to pay for, and that’s where the rubber meets the road as this labor thing comes. Because you’ve been down this three or four times with me with labor, I’ve been down it five or six times. Because I I covered the big one before you came along. You know the the nuclear explosion happened a year before I met you in ’94. That I’m well versed in all, so well versed that Evan Drellic on the other end said, “Well, you know, hey, I don’t talk to a lot of dudes in Baltimore or anywhere else about labor that have read Lords of the Realm and have talked about it every day of my life here because this thing’s been such a shit show forever, forever. Well, still don’t have an all-star game. I
Allen McCallum 4:52
I don’t have season tickets anymore. It is less to do with the way they’re they’ve played and more that as life has pushed me forward. I spend a lot more time in D.C. at work, so it’s just hard. They change the times predominantly from 7o five to 635, except on the weekends. How much money
Nestor Aparicio 5:09
did you give them at your zenith when you got rid of your tickets? How much a year were you given them?
Allen McCallum 5:16
I mean, just in tickets, probably 1500 to $2,000.
Nestor Aparicio 5:21
Okay, fair. That’s that’s real. That’s a real number. That’s real 100. And the next time you go back, it’ll be more than that.
Allen McCallum 5:28
And that was split three ways between my, you know, at first it was my dad paying for it, and then my dad, my sister, and myself. And when that
Nestor Aparicio 5:35
envelope arrived, did you ever have any trepidation? Was it a hardship financially at some points, or I need the money for that, or we didn’t use the tickets because that’s what everyone who’s ever invested in the team-that’s the emotion that they had. Certainly, the emotion I had when I gave the Ravens three times that every year. Right, I was giving the Ravens four or five grand a year every year, in addition to all of the you know the millions of dollars that funneled through this organization in support of the Baltimore Ravens, 10s of millions really, to support that that franchise. That when their executive vice president is standing over me, towering over me, threatening my livelihood and my work, I didn’t feel real compelled to write them five grand this year or any other year.
Allen McCallum 6:18
It’s a great question. No, I don’t feel like that was ever the case because I I learned from my parents to live not to live beyond my means. So there was almost everything I do is done with the idea like can I afford this? Where can I bend a little? And you know I always we so always sort of plan for the Orioles tickets right, and we never like we didn’t we were in section 352 great seats you know just high enough up in the upper deck that you’re under the the overhang. I know
Nestor Aparicio 6:49
you loved your experience. You went with your sister, and it’s a big big part of your of why people go to Orioles games to experience life together. It’s beautiful. Absolutely, it’s why I it’s why I’m trying to fix them always, 30 years later, so they understand you and your sister, African Americans from West Baltimore that have invested in this in their their lives and their money and 162 nights a year, and then the other 162 night winter waiting for them to get better. That’s who you and I are, and Katie Griggs doesn’t respect that, and they they need the Buster only sees it from the outside. That was his big thing. Is they’ve disrespected everybody forever. Everybody, not just media people, not just black, white, brown. They’ve disrespect every female, everybody, and that’s it’s got to stop. That’s what I said with Free the birds 20 years ago. By the way, I remember I was
Speaker 1 7:44
there.
Allen McCallum 7:44
The the only trepidation that I had when we had Sunday tickets and they lost almost every Sunday because they always played the B team day games after night games on Sunday. I was like, this is ridiculous. But when it got to the point that I we almost we we missed all but a third of the games because we couldn’t get there. It just that didn’t make any sense. So buying tickets as you go to get in just ultimately made a lot more. I there were for a lot of times I would have been easy. It would have been easier for me to get to Nationals game than Orioles games, and I couldn’t do that anymore. So, yeah. Look, there. There are. Am I angry? I’m disappointed. They’re certainly, certainly disappointed in this club. The trading of Adley Rutschman. You know, I, I hear a lot of people talking about him as if he was the generational player that he was promised to be, and he he wasn’t. For all the people that name their kids and such after Adley, you know, much like the people that name their their daughters after the character on Game of Thrones who turned out to be a bad guy, you know, maybe you should wait. Maybe you should wait a little further towards the end of the story, both for the Orioles and other things to name your kids before until you you know not at the begin the drop of a hat. We name him Roberto
Nestor Aparicio 9:12
or something so they he’s dead and he can’t do any wrong at this point. You know Brooks, Brooks. There you go. There you go, perfect.
Allen McCallum 9:21
Ripken, whatever.
Nestor Aparicio 9:23
Look,
Allen McCallum 9:24
we talked about this at the beginning of the Elias airing, and whether they would have been successful or not, and to this point, save for an incredible two-year run, which Adley had a lot to do with, they haven’t been successful. But at the beginning of that tenure, I told you, no matter how much money they have, they were never going to be New York. They were never going to be Los Angeles. They weren’t even going to be the Texas Rangers, who, while probably mishandling their market, have a spectacular market to work with. Right? That’s what they were trying to build with Alex Rodriguez 25 years ago. But this is a team that, if they wanted to be successful, had to be more like the Tampa Bay Rays or the Milwaukee Brewers, and people don’t want to hear that. But I think that’s realistic. Can you play above that? Probably, but probably not much. And that means you have to identify the players that you want to keep early. And if they don’t sign, then you have to let them go. And you look at what happens to the Raising Boers. They they let guys go, and usually in trade all the time, guys that they rely on and they get the next pieces and they develop them and they draft well. And people in Baltimore think it’s 1966, think it’s 1979, and that you’re going to keep all of your players for their entire careers. And that not only does that not happen anymore, it’s not responsible to do that anymore because not everybody works out. And it’s been
Nestor Aparicio 10:55
this way since Tony Gwynn and Ripken. It’s been this way 25. All of this century, it’s been this way. Forced
Allen McCallum 11:00
to cast, but people still think about people think of
Nestor Aparicio 11:02
Bryce Harper as a Philly. God, my God, he was a national, right? Like, right.
Allen McCallum 11:06
Jim Matano has now played more games for the San Diego Padres than he did for the Baltimore Orioles. Sure. Okay. And it feel
Nestor Aparicio 11:13
like he played a lot of baseball here. In the middle of it, it felt like great, great, great, and then boom, he’s gone. And that same thing with Adley, great, great, boom, gone. You know, like so. At least they got something for him, right? Yes. So
Allen McCallum 11:24
let’s begin with the premise that it wasn’t it. It probably wasn’t reasonable to expect Adley Rutschman to be here for his entire career. Secondly, as I mentioned the last time we were together, catchers’ careers, by definition, in terms of them, even if they are top players, don’t stay at the top for an extended period of time. It’s just not the nature of the of the position. For whatever you want to say about Adley Rutschman, I will give him this credit. The minute he got here, for the next two years, they won, and it was you cannot mistake that he was the piece that showed up that made a difference because it was like flipping a light switch. They were below average, and then he got here, and then they didn’t lose a series for what two years. They won. They won 101 games, and even in the middle of a season where the light switch got flipped off, they won 91 and went to the postseason in 24. I give Adley all the credit for that. He was, I’m not sure what the what all the ingredients to that were, but it that’s a real thing and it can be quantified that way. So I I give Adley recommend credit for that. That said, he was not the generational player that that he was touted to be, he was for the most part an average to occasionally above average offensive player, and I wouldn’t have called him a great defensive player until this season, when when it was clear that he seemed to mature behind the behind the plate. So all those things are true, and all those things are in the mix. But the bottom line is this: he’s a year and two months away from free agency, and he wouldn’t sign a contract. And at that point, you you’ve got whether you’re winning or you’re losing. If you’re winning and you’re in the division, you’re leading the division, or you’re you know a few games out, and you have a real chance to win the World Series, then you keep that guy because whatever the ingredients are, he’s a piece of something that’s that’s going well. But when you’re a year and a half into, we have we’re we’re failing and we don’t completely understand why. And he doesn’t really
Nestor Aparicio 13:35
want to be here. He doesn’t want to be a part of fixing it.
Allen McCallum 13:37
And and all and and while you want to be a part of
Nestor Aparicio 13:40
answering three questions for me four weeks ago at the All Star game, when I asked him nice things,
Allen McCallum 13:48
right? He was
Nestor Aparicio 13:50
a dick to me. I have, and I don’t know why or how, but like I’ll say that out loud. I’m a grown ass man. I’m 57 years old out in the heat chasing a freaking ball player with a Baltimore badge on after doing this for four decades, I didn’t even call it out for what it was three weeks ago, but it was embarrassing. He is the face of the org. Cal Ripken wouldn’t have behaved that way. No, he certainly
Allen McCallum 14:17
wouldn’t. He certainly would. Look, and I should have turned to
Nestor Aparicio 14:20
Ryan Ripken when he’s fist bumping him and saying, “I’ve got your back, Ryan Ripken. I’ve got your back on Mike. And I’m thinking, “What are you doing with the press pass, dude? Like, I like Ryan, but like, what are we doing here? What are we doing here? Your father wouldn’t have behaved this way. I’ve just wondered.
Allen McCallum 14:38
I’ve never had a conversation with Ali Ruchman, but all indications from everywhere I’ve heard was that he didn’t want to be here, and if that’s the case, you absolutely have to have to trade him. So I have no problems with that. I have no problems with Taylor Ward being traded. I understand the Dean Kramer trade. It makes sense, and they got something for him. So God bless. Hey, I’m just glad I didn’t
Nestor Aparicio 15:01
have to do four hours over at the Fantic and phone calls you and me with the lip reading of Dean Kramer and Pete Alonso, right? The
Allen McCallum 15:08
Tyler Wells thing hurt a little bit. I didn’t see that coming. So he’s
Nestor Aparicio 15:15
pitching well, right? So they like right sell high, right?
Allen McCallum 15:18
I have no problems with the trades that happened, what you should have if an issue with is how we got to the point where that that was the right course of action, and we’ve talked about this. And this organization has failed over two years. And for as much as we can we can filet Michaelias for a lot of things, he’s actually done a good job putting a pitching staff together, which is the inverse of what people have said, including the
Nestor Aparicio 15:45
pipeline, including what they have prospect-wise now, right?
Allen McCallum 15:48
And I applaud him for that. the The clear and definite failure is the development of an offensive and positional talent that they do not that they raced through the minor leagues and excelled at every level until it’s it’s Shaquille O’Neal saying I’ve won at every level except college and the pros. Right? They they excelled in every level except when they’ve gotten to the big leagues. They have stalled some more than others. I mean, Adley Rutschman was isn’t an adequate to above average adequate catcher. Gunnar Henderson has had MVP hasn’t had an MVP like season and won Rookie of the Year, but has been by all estimations at best par for the last year and a half.
Nestor Aparicio 16:37
Well, all this has been built on potential and their best day, what their what would be what you see as their as their as their ceiling being way higher than anybody else’s.
Allen McCallum 16:50
So that’s a huge question, and clearly there is a developmental issue because much like you look at a crop of a tier talent and say not all of them are going to succeed. It’s hard to look at that same crop of A tier talent and say it’s reasonable that all of them would underachieve. So there’s something inside the pipeline that is not working for the Orioles, and they have yet to identify that. Oh,
Nestor Aparicio 17:20
identifying talent and coaching it, and then motivating it, and then having a strategy that supports it. Welcome to very different things. That’s the real world. Alan McCallum is here. We’re talking real world. Let’s get real world on the the one thing that in the original segment I did with Luke, and in the instant aftermath. First off, I was in New York City and Rush. It was it was my cat’s birthday, my mother’s birthday, our anniversary of the company. I was a little bit of like down and out, and Luke and I did the piece. I was shocked based on you and I spent two and a half hours together with Luke on Thursday, and we did not put a lot of oxygen into what are we going to say the day after they deal Adley Rutschman, and what are they going to get for him, and why would they do it, and like all of that, right? And why would they throw the towel in with two games back? I mean, the headline of Baltimore Positive right now with Tim Kirch is, you don’t burn the season down when you’re two games out. You just don’t do it. Like you, you need to stay in because of commitment to all that we’ve talked about with fans, money, which is where you and I started, but as this thing has gotten peeled back, and the Red Sox media, who’s going to filet Adley Rutschman if he’s anything less than Carlton Fisk, right, or Jason Veritek, which is the pipeline a one-one needs to be when you give up five prospects, including first-round draft picks and pitchers on their way, and like all the things that Elias can go back to money bags and arrogetti and say I’m really smart. See, see how smart I am. Here’s how smart they are. the The deal with the labor, and it’s something I tried to goad you and Luke into because you’re as close to being astute at at it as anybody can be, other than Evan Drellick or people to cover it professionally, Mari Brown. I’ve had Eric Fisher on people that really are up on the labor and have been up on it for 30 years, and that’s sort of a buster. People that were really in on it. I told everybody this trading deadline. Don’t think like a baseball nerd. Don’t think like we’re gonna get this play over that play over. This is about money, years, and where I need my franchise to be from a risk. And I talked to Leonard Raskin at length about this because, like, risk management’s what he does with money. They paired 30 million off their books. That’s old school John Angelos. That that’s anyone who owns a business. That’s they would think about doing that if there’s going to be a labor war that you can’t control. They’re they’re not driving the bus on this at all. They’re just trying to get this salary cap ram. Now I I went through this with Luke. I’m going to go through it with you a little bit too, just to make sure you’re clear and I’m clear that we’re talking the same language here and that you have the information that I have because the last couple of. Since these trades happen Monday, the fallout is I’m getting way smarter about the war, the work stoppage, which I went to the All Star game a couple of weeks ago and spent. I mean, Eric Fisher and I did an hour meatball sandwich just off the air talking about this after doing 45 minutes on the air. So I’m getting there, right? Because it’s going to be all we talk about here, other than Zay Flowers and Lamar Jackson, the only baseball conversation we’re going to have here for months is about this. Right. So it’s important. The notion that you’re going to manage next year in three or four ways, if you’re Rubenstein and Arigati, right? You’re going to talk to Cal Ripken about this because he’s involved. Yeah, but can’t say anything. You’re going to talk to Elias about this because he’s still wink, wink my general manager. A, you’re not going to fire him because like he’s under contract and you’re paying him anyway, so you’re letting him run.
Nestor Aparicio 20:51
And so I’m getting this more clarity on my fire, Mike Elias in May, which I knew was ridiculous because they had a draft to run. Like I said all of that in my fire, but I would fire him anyway because I don’t believe in him anymore. And if I don’t believe in him anymore, it’s when you get rid of your girlfriend. It’s when you get rid of your friend. It’s when you quit your job. When you don’t believe anymore, is that’s your Tony Robbins, your moment of decision, right? You once you’ve made the decision, let’s go. Otherwise, you’re just you’re effing around if you’ve already decided, so Mike Elias might be their dead man walking general manager, but they have to play this out. And they gave him a contract extension when they gave him the title. They’re into him for three more years. They can’t get another one. They had to run the draft the way they did. They had to handle the deadline the way they did, and all of this when Cal Ripken’s in the room and it’s not Mike Elias, when ownership is together, they’re like, “Look, let him run it. Let’s get as much assets as we can. Let’s dump money. Let’s dump money. Let’s get assets. And then a guy like Ripken comes in and says, “Hey, Mike, Dave, little thing here with the players’ association that I understand because you know I was like a rookie when I came into this shit, 9182, You know, when the first war happened, I was 19, and Dad was telling me about it, and I was in with Belanger, who was telling me about it, and Marvin Miller. I actually met Marvin Miller from Cal Ripken, so Cal would be wealth of resource to these cats about how these wars works from the players’ side, sure. And UMFers are never getting a salary cap from my boys because, like, and the owners are all about salary cap because when I had Kurt Bodenhausen on, I’ll continue to promote my own show, which is pretty good idea. Kurt Bodenhausen has done franchise valuations for Forbes for 30 years. He’s been at Sportico for a number of years now, 567, something like that, and he came on last week and did 40 minutes with me on franchise valuations. The problem with baseball is they’re lagging unbelievably behind. Steve Bashati’s franchise is worth 9 million now. David Rubenstein’s franchise is worth two. They’re in the same parking lot. The reason baseball has lagged is they have no salary cap and they have no cost certainty. And when they got to go sign Pete Alonso, they got to figure out. They got to tell Katie Griggs and Don Rovac go find some more sponsors out in the city. Go find some more investors. Go find some more season ticket holders because we got to pay for this stuff. Where they’re also
Allen McCallum 23:19
trying to figure out television and streaming. Oh my God, that has has really hindered the the institutions of baseball as well.
Nestor Aparicio 23:26
So the Rutschman deal, for me, got explained by the Boston media in the best way. They’re like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let’s say there’s no season next year, or there’s only two months next year. We’re only getting Ruchman for whatever part of next year there is, he’s gonna be a free. They’re never gonna negotiate adding a year back if they can’t. If the season gets canceled next year, there’s no way they’re rolling over on year five free agents. the The union would never have it. Ruchman would never have. Ruchman’s gonna become a free agent in Christmas time of next year. Whether he touches a bat next year or they go to spring training, and we get to keep all these young prospects. I mean, 25 years of control for these five players for keeping Adley Rutschman around for eight weeks and $30 million, dude. This is such an easy sell to the owners because the kids are going
Allen McCallum 24:17
to play. The kids that you got back are going to play
Nestor Aparicio 24:19
all next year. Yeah, you’re going to send them to Salisbury or wherever you’re going to send them, and they’re going to play.
Allen McCallum 24:24
So, so some of them will actually be ready. Not all of them, but some of them will be either ready or closer to ready. By this is how you say this is
Nestor Aparicio 24:33
a steal of a deal. And if you actually explain this to your fans and you send your president and Ripken out to explain all of this. It it really does mitigate the damage, but they’re incapable of communicating because they have a woman named Jennifer, whatever her name is, running whatever they do that allows Luke to stand on the outside half the time and thinking that they’re going to massage the reality of their assets. Why don’t you? Just like get authentic and get real, and tell us what we’re paying and what your role in it is. And they can’t do it. They’re in. They’re so far down the Schmigadune land of Never Never Land that they can’t get back into. Alan used to give them two effing grand a year and doesn’t give it anymore. And they don’t care about your two grand. They care about somebody else’s 200 grand, but they should care about everybody, and they don’t. They don’t care. They don’t care enough to even be honest in the way they communicate because they have absolutely, absolutely no sense of their brand and their marketplace and their customers, and they continue to piss in my eye every minute of every day by banning me. I’m going to the ballpark Thursday with Robbie Leonard, my favorite Democrat. He’s the DNC dude for Maryland, so nonetheless, I mean, God bless all of us. But he invited me to the game Thursday to go down and see the Carnage, I think, as he put it, and and march around. And my press box seat’s going to be empty because Luke’s out in Ravens, and the seat’s empty. And if I put your name on it, would they ban you? You’re not qualified. You only covered the team for 15 years, right? Like I’m unsure. Yeah, well, I’m unsure too, and we shouldn’t be unsure. We shouldn’t be.
Allen McCallum 26:11
Look,
Nestor Aparicio 26:12
it’s gross, dude. It’s gross, and the stadium’s empty. It’s gross. We’ve given them $600 million to build a television set that if I went and the play went the wrong way. They wouldn’t put it on the scoreboard, like it. Like stop, stop. Act professionally. That’s all. That’s all. So I’m giving a little background on this Rutchman thing. That’s protect. That’s I’m protecting them because they’re protecting their assets. And two years from now, when Ruchman hits 272 the rest of the year, and the Red Sox go to the ALCS this year, and next year there’s a work stoppage, and he only plays four months and gets 400 at bats, and it’s the door, and whatever. The Orioles are still going to have a cupboard, but I don’t think Michael Ayers will be their GM. Maybe, maybe he’ll convince these these guys don’t know what they’re doing. Maybe I don’t know where Ripken is in this, and he’ll never sit with me either. So like, I don’t know what’s really going on down there, and that’s not where they should have their media, the fans, the citizens, the taxpayers, the mass and subscribers, the Birdland insiders. They should just be a better version of themselves than inheriting the Peter Angelos disaster and further enhancing it. Because right now it’s ugly for the fans. That’s sure.
Allen McCallum 27:23
So they sent Michaelias out to explain both before the deal and after the trade deadline and after. I don’t. I would not call him a successful communicator to people, but at least he went out there. Was it insufficient
Nestor Aparicio 27:42
in your mind?
Allen McCallum 27:44
Ah, I mean, he answered. He did his best to answer the questions that were out there. Everything I’ve ever seen about Mike Goliath and everything he how he responds to questions about these choices, particularly over the last two years. What I would tell you is what I’ve always told you. He is a great farm system guy, and he loves to be able to say we have a top tier farm system. Also, along with what you’re saying, all of those, all of the things that are true in the by the time they play games again after the end of this year, the all of the pipeline will be closer to being ready to help. The thing that the Orioles did to try to appease the fans was keep Trevor Rogers. He could somewhat credibly say out loud, “We’re still in this thing, and the number one thing you say is we still have a positive to top tier rotation rate. Right away,
Nestor Aparicio 28:38
it tells me they didn’t get offered enough for him.
Allen McCallum 28:41
Ah, sure. Here’s what I’ll say: keeping Trevor from a baseball standpoint, you either need. I I guess the answer to the question is why haven’t they signed Trevor Rogers yet? Is because with the lockout coming, they figure it makes more sense to just send him to market than to burn a year of whatever you you sign him for in at this moment with a contract. But if they don’t, if they do end up losing him, and they’re obviously not getting into the postseason at this point, and I know they’re a game and a half out, they’re not going to the postseason. I feel confident in saying that. Then it will be it will be a lost opportunity to keep a guy who who apparently wants to stay in Baltimore. So they’re taking a gamble. Sports are about gambles. I’m fine with that. But but the it I think a significant part part of why he didn’t he didn’t get traded is because they need to be able to say the fans for the next two months. Hey, we’re in this and or hey, we kept Rogers and we we decided we wanted to take a shot while at while building up for a future which seemed more statistically likely to be possible to to win at that time.
Nestor Aparicio 29:54
Alan McCallum is our guest. He’s been a recurring character here for 31 years, even though the station’s only been here for 28 years. Um, you came in and I’m at the Towson Sheridan.
Allen McCallum 30:04
Yes.
Nestor Aparicio 30:04
All right, Towson Sheridan. Okay, I’m just first
Allen McCallum 30:07
I bet you was Sue Monday.
Nestor Aparicio 30:08
All right, there you go. 95, right? 95. It
Allen McCallum 30:11
was a Thursday night, right before
Nestor Aparicio 30:13
the Ripken Street game, right?
Allen McCallum 30:15
I was about a month.
Nestor Aparicio 30:17
Okay, so August 95.
Allen McCallum 30:19
You were, I guess, you were on at five, but I I was you’d already been on the air for an hour or so when I when I came in. You
Nestor Aparicio 30:25
know what the craziest thing of my Mary Lou Henner is, I can go get my calendar. Leslie Shreve would appreciate this. She does uh she does this sort of work for CEOs. I can go get every day of my life and organize it. I’ll figure out whether it was August. You know what day it was, who they were playing. Who were they playing that night? The the the Orioles. You remember?
Allen McCallum 30:43
Bad, I don’t remember.
Nestor Aparicio 30:44
All right. Because we’re coming up on our 31st anniversary here, you and I, and and doing all of this. How many years did you have season tickets? I hate to keep going back to this, but I want to treat you like a fan, like the fan you are at this point. You’re not a you’re not a real media member. Neither am I.
Allen McCallum 31:01
I’ve known you for 31 years, 26, 25, 26.
Nestor Aparicio 31:05
Wow, something like that. All right, all right, all right. So you got rid of your tickets. Your sister, whom I saw at your mom’s funeral, much my heart to you. I haven’t even said that in the segment, but I’ve said it on the air 100 times about your mom and her connections to even people like Paul Evans, who are legends, who were at her funeral out in Randallstown, and I run into a guy I’ve known 31 years whose name got dropped by Tim Kirkchin.
Allen McCallum 31:29
I I heard I saw that I watched the interview. That’s that was crazy.
Nestor Aparicio 31:33
And he wrote about my cousin and about Fielding and about Cal Ripken and about the greatest shortstops of all time and like all that. So, nonetheless, your mother kept good company. You’ve kept good company, except for me. You know, in all of this, what gets you back to giving them 1000 bucks or whatever that number is to getting their Birdland Gold Club, Silver Club? I don’t even. I don’t. I ain’t buying it, and they and they haven’t even had the dignity to come on my air and try to sell it to you. You know this is where when I invite Don Rovax and Katie Griggs and these these out of towners who’ve come in here and I shake their hand like a good guy, like welcoming them to Pleasantville here and say sit on my show and tell me about your season ticket plans. I’d be happy to do that free of charge, and more people would listen to it than Brett Hollander doing it or having it shoved down your throat. Explain it to me like a human being with some authenticity. I don’t know what their tears are. I know they’ve eliminated the 13-game plan because I got a lot of pissed off people about that. I got a guy that was giving him 10 grand a year and just rugged it. Just literally, they told him you can’t have a 13-game plan anymore. He pulled back 10 grand on him, and he can afford it, and he loves baseball, like loves it. He’s pissed off at the new people. I’m like, oh my god, the old people didn’t piss you off bad enough to chase you out the way they did when they rugged me on a $30,000 deal 21 years ago and assaulted me with the Oriole Bird and then told me I wasn’t a real media member. Like, this is the stuff that really happened with these people, and they’re not even acknowledging any of it. You’re gone for the reasons you’re gone: aged out, your sister, health, your parents, DC work, real life, moved to Ocean City, putting the kids through college, whatever it is, whatever your thing is. Sure, they need to get you back.
Allen McCallum 33:17
Well, let’s be clear. You
Nestor Aparicio 33:18
don’t have kids that are going to go, and I have a kid that doesn’t want to go, and so like at the like at what point do you give him a grand or two? Like my friend did in Essex two years ago, gave it to him one time, didn’t use any of the money, and now he’s gone. He’s burned. You’ll never give them a Birdland deal again, and they’re gonna try to wrap it up in your cable package, right? They’re gonna try to like incent you to buy a package
Allen McCallum 33:41
because I don’t have cable. Let’s. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 33:43
I’m just wondering. Like, do you ever expect to be a customer again of theirs?
Allen McCallum 33:47
So let’s be clear. I’m not a subscriber, but I certainly still give them $1,000, or probably closer to 1500 every year, because I still buy tickets.
Nestor Aparicio 33:55
Fair enough. You guys still buy
Allen McCallum 33:57
jerseys, and you know, I. It seems that I’m collecting hacks, although that was not something I planned to do at any point. And I give them $100. I gave them $100 this year for the mass and streaming after finding other ways to watch the games prior to this. But I still give them money. Let’s not let’s not mistake that they they don’t have me as a subscriber. When they went to the playoffs in 23, I gave I you had to buy an advance package. I so it was probably seven or $800 for the future for the upcoming season. I gave them that money to get postseason tickets, but I didn’t end up using most of the most of the money for those. I think I gave some away, and I and ended up and using some of it. But my point is, every year I’m still giving them easily 12 to $1,500, probably a little less than I than I gave as a subscriber, as a season ticket holder. But it’s not it’s not staying away. It’s just trying to make smarter use. We started out as 13 game package holders. We moved to 29. So I guess we were probably 13 game for five years. But the bulk of that 2526, years, we were season ticket holders. We we had 29 game plans, and that just wasn’t viable anymore. With the when they choose the dates, and you you have to make make it so. As apparently, it’s
Nestor Aparicio 35:29
incredibly flexible now, right? There would be a reason they they’ve understood why that wasn’t a good play for you, right? Well,
Allen McCallum 35:36
here’s what I’ll say: you can almost never get anybody on the phone in the box office, it’s very hard, and they don’t open in regular hours, so you can just walk down and like you say, oh, you know what? I’m gonna have time on Thursday or Friday. Let me try and get somebody on the phone, or let me go to walk down downtown. So if you don’t have a smartphone, and here’s a here’s a note: a lot of people, particularly older people, don’t. And baseball relies on older clientele in more cases than, say, the NBA or the NFL.
Nestor Aparicio 36:12
You got to meet your customers where they are, right?
Allen McCallum 36:14
Right. So they make it very difficult for people who would probably want to go see games in a lot of instances to go see them, you’re walking. You’re walking downtown. You have a business meeting. You’re like, oh, I have a game. You know what? I’m either going to be here tonight or tomorrow. Let me walk down to the to the ticket office and see what they have. And a lot of times they’re not open. They don’t open until a couple hours before the game. And then trying to get someone on the phone is is next to impossible. So if you’re not constantly on your phone, and you know, and once you do that, you have to sign into the MLB app, and you have to do like they’re just all these hoops and steps you have to go through. Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 36:48
repeat Alonzo’s making $30 million, and they can’t even man their own business. I mean,
Allen McCallum 36:53
I would have some. I’d have at least one window open at the box office at all times. Well, and I say that as a fan and as a person who works for a a venue that would have employees that treat
Nestor Aparicio 37:03
the media and the fans better than they’ve than they’ve been for years. So,
Allen McCallum 37:07
so yeah, there are definitely issues in the business model. I that they don’t
Nestor Aparicio 37:12
acknowledge though. They they don’t acknowledge that. Yeah.
Allen McCallum 37:14
Look, I mean, I guess they would say it’s cost saving, but I think it ultimately hurts. They should be on the phone with you,
Nestor Aparicio 37:19
asking you what they can do to get you back the way I’m doing it right now, and trying to get off the phone with some thought that I’m going to get your credit card at some point this winter when the labor thing happens. Because the thought of getting it right now, if you work for the Orioles and you have to go out and sell this this bag of manure and the off season and all the manure that’s going to come with the labor strife that is going to happen. I mean, it’s just going to happen, and it’s like a root canal. Like they’ve scheduled it. You know what I mean? Like it’s. I was
Allen McCallum 37:48
on with I was on with you. You were on the air with Don Moller, and I was coming in when it was announced that the lockout had been lifted the last time this happened, and we did probably the first 15 or 20 minutes on the fact that the lockout had finally been lifted. We talked about this last week. I have no doubt that games will be missed next year. I still find it hard to believe that an entire season is going to be lost because, particularly for the players, not so much for the owners, but particularly for the players, there is a lot of money at the top level to be lost. We know you know this. We know this. As a rookie or a second-year player, it’s in your best interest to probably hold out for a payday down the road. But you have less power than a person who’s been in for 10 years. And if you’ve been in for 10 years, you’ve either got a decent amount of money, or you’re you’re in the midst of a big old contract that is going to hurt you at the at the bottom line if you’re not playing. I’m
Nestor Aparicio 38:54
telling you, owners got to get a salary cap because it’s about their franchise valuations. It’s about them keeping pace. That Steve Bashati invested $575 million and has a $9 billion entity, and these guys have invested 1,000,000,008 and might have a hard time getting 2 billion back out of it. We have to find the right set of billionaires that would want to fund this at this point because they haven’t done a job with
Allen McCallum 39:19
it. The union is never going to agree with salary. Anything called a salary cap, you know that, and I know that. So that, and that’s where the games will be lost. So they have to, they have to come to an agreement on what that’s going to, whatever they agree to is going to look like. I think the qualifying offer is going to go away. I think that there will be some type of floor that is enacted, and something that is not called a salary cap that has flex in it going forward will probably be what ends up happening. But it’s not going to be a full. This is all you can make going forward because the the players will never agree to that, and the shame of it. And this happens in every negotiation, in every every feeling. Well, you
Nestor Aparicio 40:12
can’t get half pregnant on this topic, right? They’ve done this revenue sharing dance. They’re going to try these dishonorable billionaires forever.
Allen McCallum 40:22
They’re going to try to get hacked. Ask the
Nestor Aparicio 40:24
Pirates fans how that. Ask anybody who’s an Oriole fan how that went when Angelos was just siphoning money out of Masson.
Allen McCallum 40:30
But the but the real the real shame of it is it’s the case in every negotiation field. Nobody really starts truly negotiating until
Nestor Aparicio 40:41
it hurts,
Allen McCallum 40:42
until it hurts, and you know who it
Nestor Aparicio 40:44
doesn’t-they don’t care about Sarasota, Scottsdale, sure, the era, Florida. You know, that’s what I was going to say. Spring training’s gone.
Allen McCallum 40:52
That’s what I was saying. And not only have I given money to the Orioles, but if you go downstairs, go downtown, and you don’t, you don’t have a friend who lets you park for free. You’re spending 40 to $50 now, if not more, to park somewhere. You know all the bars or restaurants that are going to benefit that benefit from people being down there. All the the the vendors that are down there trying to make some extra money to put put their kids through school. Well, you talk about the
Nestor Aparicio 41:18
ticket sales guys just lay them a furlough, all them because there’s no there’s no work to be done on the business. They can’t be out selling sponsorships to Royal Farms when they don’t have anything. They don’t have a product, and so they’re about to enter that. So all of this Rutchman stuff gets swept up in. That’s all part of. You’ve just said you don’t think they’re starting the season on time. That’s a problem. That’s the real problem because their business model depends on spring training, opening day, certainty, certainty, certainty, and there is none right now for the owners, for the media partners, for the fans, for the players, for the if there’s no certainty about any of this, the only this is a Tommy Conwell song. They ain’t no tomorrow. It is just right now, which is why dealing Ruchman is so pissy to astute fans. But the other side of that is, if you’re really an astute fan, you understand this is a billionaire’s game. This has been going on 40 years, and you’re incidental. Whether you give them 1000 bucks or 10,000 bucks, you’re incidental. You don’t matter. You’re a fan. You don’t matter.
Allen McCallum 42:14
There will be no spring training next year. If if they will ramp up in games for probably three weeks when they finally get to playing.
Nestor Aparicio 42:28
I was down in Sarasota ’95 the last time they did this with Kevin Brown and you know bringing in. I remember all that. I do.
Allen McCallum 42:37
It’s not going to be pretty. There’s no off
Nestor Aparicio 42:40
season to negotiate with free agents, they get screwed.
Allen McCallum 42:43
Right. Well, I can’t remember what what it was called, but they had that camp for free agents to go to in the homestead.
Nestor Aparicio 42:50
The homestead homestead
Allen McCallum 42:52
homestead. So that yeah, that came run
Nestor Aparicio 42:54
through. Yeah,
Allen McCallum 42:55
I’m sure something like that will happen again. The
Nestor Aparicio 42:57
one that came from Alabama via Georgia.
Allen McCallum 42:59
But but in terms of the just in terms of the Baltimore Orioles, I will say that both from a fiscally and from a the perspective of the long term benefit of the franchise, what Michaelias did on Monday made sense. What he did made sense. It it doesn’t it doesn’t feel good because, again, we’re we’re at a place where the trading of Adley Rutschman is. It was a clear statement that the rebuild has failed. Period. To to trade him at that moment before free agency was the right thing to do, but it was a statement that the rebuild of this franchise has failed. Now, does that mean that they have to start over again? They can’t, and there’s really no reason to because there are enough pieces to rise from the ashes and try to figure it out. But dude, there’s a
Nestor Aparicio 43:57
case to be made right now. If you gave me enough odds on them being a playoff team, I would put $10 on it if I got the right odds because they’re they’re not out of it. I mean, as much as I felt that way when all the texts were coming out Monday, and I’m in New York, and Luke and I did radio late at night on Monday night, and I was just processing it a couple of days later, and has nothing to do with Grayson Rodriguez on Tuesday night or the Angels or me going to the game Thursday. It’s just baseball, and they still have enough talent. There’s still enough in me to think that Holiday had his best month in July, and that Henderson’s light would go on, and the pitching’s been good enough, and somewhere along the line, a Kobe Mayo or a Tyler O’Neill could be okay for a couple of weeks, or a Christian Franklin and Christian
Allen McCallum 44:41
Encarnacio strand.
Nestor Aparicio 44:43
Yeah, and and beavers and you know these were all guys who were part of this. Look, if Ruchman had turned an ankle and broke his ankle and been gone the rest of the year, you would just say we’re going to have Basayo catch and we’re going to go get him. That’s what you would do. That’s what you would do.
Allen McCallum 44:56
That that’s probably something that’s going to happen anyway. I mean. It’s not like Adley Bretman’s been the healthiest guy on the field for the last two seasons. So, if you if you told me I had to sign my life away to say they were there was no chance serving to the playoffs, I wouldn’t do it. Sure, I mean if they played the the Angels every day every day for the rest of the season, they’d be in for sure. But the ops the the obstacles are Orioles
Nestor Aparicio 45:24
playoff odds are plus 425 19 to 21% a chance following the sell off. The
Allen McCallum 45:32
obstacles are high and high and wide, but ultimately, even if they get in the playoffs, what’s the chance that they’re gonna they’re gonna win anything? That that’s just not it’s just not gonna happen, Nestor. So there, I would have done what Michaelias did. I would have done it, but ultimately put 100
Nestor Aparicio 45:54
bucks on it. They make the playoffs. It buys your playoff tickets, Alan. I’m just saying.
Allen McCallum 45:58
Fair enough. That’s all. I would like to see this team. That seems a better
Nestor Aparicio 46:05
bet than giving them two grand at the beginning of the year and thinking they’re going to make the playoffs. Yeah, 100 bucks, dude. Just take take a game off. You know what I mean. Couple $30 tickets. Put just. I’m not encouraging you to bet. Call one 800 gambler if you have a problem, but but I’m just saying at those odds, I you know I you know I sure I don’t think they’re that far off of making the play. I don’t think, and you know why I think that I see the teams in front of them.
Allen McCallum 46:34
Michaelias is great when talking about the future, and from where they were at that moment on Monday, it made sense to to think about the future. But the next general manager, and I believe there should be a next general manager, or president of baseball operations, what have you, needs to talk about the now. And Michaelias loves the future, loves to build talent. He’s a he’s a tinkerer. He’s a he’s a a project manager for for building franchises. Great, but for an organization that hasn’t won the World Series in 43 years, who the fans stayed with you to some degree while you tore it down for what a second or third time, and it’s become
Nestor Aparicio 47:24
worse at communicating with the customers as the face of the franchise.
Allen McCallum 47:28
All those things, nobody who’s an Orioles fan at this moment gives a crap about the future. It’s time to start talking about the now. You know, whoever this person is needs to have an eye on maintaining a pipeline because the Orioles do need to be closer to the Rays and the Brewers than they do the Dodgers or the Yankees. But they also need to start figuring if Mike Elias, if if everything happens perfectly and we we play a full 2027 season, Michaelias needs to use some of the assets that he’s he’s acquired over the last two sell offs in 25 and 26 to go get legitimate major league talent, and he’s and David Rubenstein has to sign off on a huge contract for a top tier pitcher to get into this to get into this organization. None of that’s going to happen. None of that’s going to happen in terms of the season starting on time. But it’s it’s time to focus on the now because nobody cares about the future at this point.
Nestor Aparicio 48:38
Well, they’re asking you to buy tickets now, right? Yes. So I have a ticket that was purchased for me on Thursday. I’ll be at the ballpark at Oriole Park. We will be doing the Maryland Crab Cake Tour, brought to you by the Maryland Lottery. I have my favorite Kiss Face, the Kiss Face Bird, is back on the Ravens ticket this year. I’ll have these on the 19th. The Fishmonger’s Daughter in Catonsville, lovely Fadley’s Crab Cake. I’m gonna have me Fadley’s Crab Cake before the game on Thursday downtown as well. 26th, we’re going to be at Koco’s Pub in beautiful Laraville. Marcella and her crew on vacay this week. I just lost my lottery. I hope they’re not paying attention to me this week because they’re on vacay, but they’re back on the 26th. We’ll be there as well. It’s also brought to you by friends at GBMC and our partners at Farnin and Dermer. They are available for you for HVAC and plumbing needs. If you have any issues this summer, before you have an issue, call and make sure with these fires going on everywhere, you got your filters. You’re changing that out. So some good advice for everyone. It is our 28th anniversary. I think this is the last segment with the 27 candles. We’re going to go to the 28 row homes as voted on by you, the people, the customers, the listeners. People say I don’t listen to my listeners. Come on, man! Have you read the comments? It’s where I work on my comedy. I am Nestor. He is Allen. We are WNSTAM 1570 Towson, Baltimore. My comedy’s working. I made you laugh. We’re Baltimore
Allen McCallum 49:55
all day, all day long.
Nestor Aparicio 49:57
Yeah, yeah. For 31 years, stay with us.
