Mike Rosenfeld and Nestor engage in a frank debate about the Orioles lease situation and the future of the Angelos family in Baltimore at Camden Yards.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
baltimore, lease, john, baseball, team, steve, angelo, people, money, orioles, chicago, business, atlanta, mike, stadium, years, city, run, week, winning
SPEAKERS
Nestor Aparicio, Mike Rosenfeld
Nestor Aparicio 00:01
What about W en s t Towson, Baltimore, Baltimore positive or positively into the crabcakes. These were gonna be spirits West next week kicking off a summer long. I don’t recall it gluttony but it’s the next best thing. I mean I’ve had shrimp salad and a crab cake and families last week, but we are off all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery I’ll be giving these away we had a bunch of winners at the local a false that a couple of weeks ago I’m looking for more winners as well. Here’s winning hat my window nation had 866 90 nation, you call them you buy two you get two free two years. 0% financing. That is our deal for the month of June. It’s Father’s Day week. Haven’t had this guy on in a little while. ships passing in the night. The last time we got together. I think gunner Henderson might have been hit to a one. He is Mike Rosenfeld. He is our chief digital officer, and the outsource Chief Digital Officer for many businesses here locally, and other places at web connection. Been on while dude, how are you man? I’ve seen concerts, ball games. Stanley Cup NBA, like all of this has happened. Preakness since last time we got together. How are you? How’s the Chief Digital Officer ring office ring? Oh, it’s doing wonderful. You know, it’s summertime. So we’re all out and about doing our thing.
Mike Rosenfeld 01:14
But yeah, well, it’s always always good. Always good mixing in baseball. Are we a little bit? Well, on next week I’m visiting my son in Chicago. Just so happens actually. It doesn’t just so happen. It’s Father’s Day weekend. And the Baltimore Orioles are playing. We’re gonna be North siding on Father’s Day. I will have there’s not much better than that. Right. Have you been Wrigley before? I have. It’s been a while. But I’ve been originally I was at the old cummiskey. But yeah, I’m looking forward to it. And hopefully the weather will be nice. And we’re gonna make a nice afternoon out of it. For sure. My brother lives in Chicago as well. So we’ll have him a cousin. So we’re gonna get everyone together. Have a beer three and enjoy the ballgame. Well,
Nestor Aparicio 02:02
I must say I did 30 ballparks in 30 days in 2015. I’m on my 17th year now being eliminated. year to now the Ravens June 30. It became one full year since Chad Steele looked me in the eye and told me I’m no longer a real media member, which I find to be just fascinating. But so all these years outside of baseball, I did the baseball tour and 15 and I did the 30 ballparks since then they’ve opened Atlanta. So I haven’t been to that ballpark. They’ve opened the new one in Dallas. I was there when the week they opened the old one back in 94. I was there for that. The baseball travel thing was something that was a big big part of my youth right like you mentioned the old cummiskey I mean, the old old cummiskey I went in the summer 89 with my buddy Russ lettra We drove out to the Midwest first sports trip I ever was on. We drove through Pittsburgh, Cleveland out to Chicago we saw the bears play the dolphins in a preseason game at the old soldier. We went to Wrigley we went to cummiskey. We saw a night game at Wrigley which was like the first year of night games but like he was pitching for the Cubs. Then he left me tickets. So like the sports travel thing and the football thing. I’ve been all over that for a quarter of a century. But baseball and getting away and now that the baseball team played in San Francisco two weeks ago. They’re playing more exotic games. There’ll be playing the Dodgers in LA every other year. You know that the baseball team gets good. Should I go into the let’s go to Wrigley Field together weekend for baseball. I mean, one thing they don’t do is they don’t move baseball games from Sunday to Thursday. They don’t do that.
Mike Rosenfeld 03:36
No, they do not. For sure. I mean, look, it’s all how you approach life but I’m all about experiences. And just enjoying so how Yeah, I mean, oh, my. My son told me something I didn’t confirm this is true, but he’s, I call him my youngest son the breaker of news. He said that there are 12 only 12 baseball stadiums currently older than Camden Yards. 1212 which means which mean was at 20 with a 32. Teams 3030. Yes. Okay, so, so approximately 20 stadiums. 18 stadiums are newer than Oracle Park, Texas is built
Nestor Aparicio 04:17
to since we built one hasn’t Atlanta. Atlanta has built two since we well, I mean, Turner Field was sort of a little bit of a leftover thing from the Olympics. Yes, but correct. Atlanta is built to grow.
Mike Rosenfeld 04:30
I look. Believe me. I just want them to sign the lease. By the way. This is how my brain works. I from topics.
Nestor Aparicio 04:37
I’m not allowed to bring that up. If I bring up the lease. I’m just being a jackass. And what if I brought it up? Well, you did. But I’m just being mean when I bring it up. It’s all you at Angela’s Digital’s family’s been running for me like yellow cowards for 17 years. I don’t have a gun. I have questions. I have questions that I that I’m hoping to honorably with integrity. hold you accountable for being honest, truthful things at the Angelus family have never been, like the opening of the books. Like you’ll never live that down. He’s a frickin liar. Right? So if he tells you the team’s here till the rockets red glare, he told journalists, he was going to open his books four months ago, and nobody will ever ask a question again. And now that they’re winning, there is no you’re not allowed to talk about bad things anymore. Like the fact that they don’t have a lease.
Mike Rosenfeld 05:24
I’m familiar with the press conference you’re talking about? Because, look, because there’s only been one since then. And at the same press conference, he chastised I don’t recall who it was and Connolly, okay. And my understanding is that, that June or July is a pretty significant date. I could be wrong. So that’s why I was asking, but look, if you don’t want to talk about a totally, totally cool with me, but
Nestor Aparicio 05:52
I love talking about it because it’s important and really important when when money starts to talk. The PGA rolls over, even though the money soaked in blood, it’s the modern mafia of the world and Saudi Arabia where people don’t have rights journalists get murdered conveniently, here in Baltimore, they don’t murder the journalist they just lock them out and and disparage them and just say that they’re not real journalist. That’s all they do hear that. That’s the way the billionaire’s play the game in Baltimore, in my personal experience, and the experience of all of you listen and watch, because you’ve watched it happen. So money talks, and it on the baseball side, soda contracts. And when you don’t have a lease, and everything’s nebulous, and the new governor is trying to be the new governor and trying to keep the peace and keep the baseball team here. You do wonder you do wonder what’s going on in Nashville, you’re seeing this Oakland thing, where the guy is just picking up the team in the middle of the night moving into Vegas, and nobody’s saying anything or doing anything? I look, man, these franchises move, and it’s when you have a lease, you don’t have a lease. So it is a and certainly, John Angelos is a liar. He is a liar until proven and a guy who intimidates me on a daily basis. You know, this week, I have a reporter Luke Jones, he he’s covering the Orioles and the Ravens because they won’t let me in. So he’s doing double shifts all week, because they will let the Hispanic guy with the long hair in because they don’t like my questions. So I how far it goes. When money starts to talk with billionaires. We saw the PGA and live last week, you know, told there’s a deal. There’s not a deal. So everybody should be concerned about the baseball lease, I speak to you and just the thing, I didn’t bring it up, you brought it up. This isn’t scripted. Like, we should talk about it more. And somebody’s putting pressure on about like, hey, what’s the update? The honest update? Don’t bullshit me. You know, like, that’s what journalists do when they get taken out. There are no questions about this. And it’s just La la la la la. We’re hitting a lot of homeruns.
Mike Rosenfeld 07:55
Yeah. So let’s Why don’t we do that? Let me tell you what my understanding is, maybe you can fill in the gaps if, you know, know, the gaps, but but the governor and and Angelo’s went to Atlanta to see what they did around every trip. Correct? Right. Which which leads you to believe well, let me take a half step back for those people who are listening that are younger, don’t know the pain as you and I did when we were in high school, maybe middle school and it
Nestor Aparicio 08:23
was not moving to god damn team. He told the media that how many times when he was drunk, right? Attention to move in as Arona.
Mike Rosenfeld 08:30
So can anyone blame people of our age? Who went through that to feel concerned until there’s a least if not cynical? Yeah. So so cynical,
Nestor Aparicio 08:42
because he got up in front of everybody and chastise a report about not knowing anything, and dance, forgotten more about it. And then four months later, they’re winning. So it’s buy tickets and squirt off and go to Chicago and see the game. But there’s no certainty that the franchise is here. And the only certainty is, Angela is going to bend over Westmore and the state to get every single thing he could get, or that he could threaten to get in Tennessee or elsewhere. If this Oakland thing goes through, and believe me, they’re watching that. And if you think John Angelos didn’t have lawyers asked his brother,
Mike Rosenfeld 09:15
well, look, I do as a business person, I do not begrudge someone trying to leverage their situation to get the best deal they can within reason. And the fact that they’re extending this over a period of time to try to get the best that they can, well, they’re getting
Nestor Aparicio 09:34
money from the citizens, right? I mean, it’s just where the money’s coming from. It’s coming from you and me. So a little bit of transparency here could go a long way.
Mike Rosenfeld 09:43
But I seem to believe and if you know the answer, please help enlighten me and everyone who’s listening, that that the lease has expired, they’re there. They’re guaranteed to play through the end of this season. There’s no guarantee after that and my understanding was that the summertime was a big whether it was June or July was a date that we were supposed to mark in the calendar for some action to happen some finality, some signing. And here we are. It’s the 12th of June. I haven’t heard anything about that. And I’m wondering, Am I miss remembering what the timeline was or what and, you know, we haven’t heard anything. recently. I haven’t heard anything from the governor’s office or anything that that whole momentum that happened, it came in when but do you? Am I wrong? Or do you happen to know anything about? Well, it’s
Nestor Aparicio 10:38
been quiet, it’s been eerily quiet in it. I haven’t asked I ran in the West moral preguntas de, obviously, I have no access to ask the Angelo’s family anything, and quite frankly, and this isn’t just me being a prick, my whatever they would say, I wouldn’t believe in any way. Right? I mean, they, they told me they were opening their books 12 weeks ago. And you know, so like, You’re a liar until you’re not a liar anymore. And that’s on the record that and shielding yourself with Martin Luther King’s birthday. Just, it was gross. You know, John Angelou says, performance has been gross, the performance on the field, right. I’ll hear that all day. But that has nothing to do with the certainty of the business and the team staying here. And at what cost to the citizens. I would say to you that I would expect these things to be quiet until they’re not right. I mean, had you like pachadi going down to Annapolis and picking up the $600 million check. He said Sashi Brown and Chad’s deal down there. And they said no questions and walked away, took the 600 million bucks, went back to the castle, lock me out. And they don’t want to hear anything more about it. And you’ll never know they got the $600 million. Unless you go down there and pay 150 bucks and see the new scoreboards that are going to come up or whatever party deck they’re gonna build on the roof and whatever they’re going to do with the seats that remind that they can’t sell that they’re trying to sell every week, you know, out on social media. So, you know, have I become cynical? Well, this I’ve dedicated my life to this. I’ve basically because we lost the football team in the beginning, the every part of my youth, my youth was getting this building built at the taxpayers expense, and then luring the other football team at the taxpayers expense. And as I look up, and I checked the postcard, I’m saying, huh, John Angelo’s born on third thought he had a triple went to Gilman came out, dad bought team for 145 million. Team now worth 2 billion. John has eaten caviar every year since 1993, lives the life of a billionaire’s kid, and the team has Oh, it’s only gone up at 10 times in value in 30 years. So I do the quick math on that. And I’m thinking, huh, starts to sound like, you know, 60 to $80 million a year. Just every single year the thing has gotten has doubled in price essentially, going up for 30 years. Now. Let’s go to the football side. Oh, Steve bought the team lives in Baltimore. Baltimore guy, Steve doesn’t live in Baltimore. Stephen lived in Baltimore. So Steve visits Baltimore, Steve Leers into Baltimore and leaves Baltimore city to live in Baltimore. So all of this local nonsense and taking the money and bringing in outsiders to throw people like me out while they run the team. The football side is what it is they’ve won, and they get the past the baseball team Oh, my God, like, who knows who’s running it what’s going on when the least will be but it’s important and it’s the most important thing that’s going to happen this summer. Aside from how many home runs Gunnar Henderson it’s or whether we get Grayson Rodriguez back or Mike and I spend all day talking about all that. But But at its heart, this is going to be a hijacking. This is going to be Angelo’s trying to get whatever he can get do with daddy did threaten sit it out. He learned all of these skills. He wasn’t gonna be the first guy to sign up. And I don’t even know what he wants down there. What is that going to leak what he’s asking for? Because I I’ve been to the Atlanta Have you been to the Atlanta site or not? Have you been to Wrigley lately? No. Netflix last time in Wrigley.
Mike Rosenfeld 14:13
15 years ago, maybe.
Nestor Aparicio 14:14
Oh my god, Michael.
Mike Rosenfeld 14:16
You’re not. That’s not true. I went to a Northwestern football game last year. So the neighborhood
Nestor Aparicio 14:24
and what they’ve done there and how much the tribune people bought up land and parking. And they they didn’t do what Atlanta did, which was the Johnny o of Atlanta. The county came out and stole the team, right like literally by giving them Owings Mills basically giving them this giant parcel of land that they’ve turned into. Have you been to nats Park lately lately like the last three years? Yes. Oh, my God, what’s popped up around that area? From a living space, multi use business space, the bad neighborhoods and the crime and say getting forced out gentrification or whatever you want to say for that area down there. It’s unbelievably remarkable. I went down to anthem last month to see seal and I drove in the south side. And I’m like, oh my god, it’s a whole city that’s created. Atlanta has done that. Chicago, where you’re gonna be this weekend, look around at what’s there and what wasn’t there 15 years ago, and how much money has come in because of baseball. And because of a stadium and because of gambling. Gambling is a huge part of it right for baseball, but Angelo’s is envisioning this and he has no capacity to come on my show, like David Modell and put his feet up and tell me what his dream and his vision is. He he has no ability to do that. He has no friends in the community here. He has a new governor that’s trying to get over with everybody and make everything right run for president one day. And I get that, and I’ll sit with Western we’ll talk about it. But what the stadium as we know it to be the last 30 years. Mike’s not good enough. The Inner Harbor is not good enough. What the Sheridan used to be, it’s not good enough what the convention center used to be, it’s not good enough anymore, because I’ve been to Nashville. And I’ve been to San Diego. And I’ve been to these places. I’ve been to Vegas, where they’ve now stolen three teams. And they’re about to win a Stanley Cup, right? So I’ve seen the cities get transformed, including ours, when we got the baseball stadium in the football stadium. But what I’m seeing from a financial outlay, and from an infrastructure situation, where they built the baseball community, in the suburbs of Atlanta in a White Marsh there or in Owings Mills, kind of where the freeway meets the road, literally, and what we have here, and the potential of it, and I believe whatever John Angelos puts in front of me with, I believe anything for potential for what the Inner Harbor can be for what Baltimore can be. But if you think John Angelo should be the Lord have that you haven’t had your eyes open, and whatever we’re doing to enrich him, and whatever the family and whatever. I mean, all they’ve done is screwed the city for 30 years, and screwed the state for 30 years. And now we’re going to give them a community, allegedly, whatever they ask for, it’s going to be outrageous, because he thinks he can go to Nashville and get more and he’s going to see whatever Las Vegas is going to do for the Oakland owner. And he’s not going to sign a pity pity Poor me. lease deal. This is his only leverage of his lifetime. His old man leveraging for 30 years he has the keys to do a deal not do a deal. Be a bad guy and stand cranky and take the team out of town and lies aren’t he’s already liars on record line. So all of that being baked into this. It’s a lot of responsibility for the young man. He’s chased his brother off. You served his mother the deal with the all the legal proceedings last year. This is John Angelo son Westmore. Trying to create a bigger, better Baltimore. That’s really what this is a
Mike Rosenfeld 18:08
lot to unpack there. So for allowing me
Nestor Aparicio 18:11
to unpack that because I haven’t unpacked it yet. No. So I’ve spoken out loud about it. By the way you go to Baltimore is the first time I’ve talked out loud about in six months?
Mike Rosenfeld 18:18
Well, I think this is enlightening because I think people need to understand I’m not going to be the one to say that what these owners are doing is right? Moral. fair, reasonable. When cities have the problems that they have. What I will say is, if you want to play ball, no pun intended, you have to you have to compete. And Baltimore, as we know and love it. We know we have we’re a blue collar town, we have a chip on our shoulder. We’re between Washington and Philadelphia. We’re just a potential stop. If you If you dare, between the two. And I’m being facetious because people are are ignorant and don’t realize the beauty of our city. But at the end of the day, if you want to compete, you have to compete. So look, if you say you know what, that money would be better spent building up our neighborhoods and infrastructure and roads. I can buy that.
Nestor Aparicio 19:24
But if you know what else you can buy if you can buy me saying what the hell of the Orioles done for Baltimore the last 30 years. What did your father really do? What position did your father leave our community in after wrecking wrecking the baseball franchise which wrecked the hotels record? And of course the other answer would be Have you seen the crime city wrecked itself? We’re we got wrecked because of the city. And that’s the way you leave right the way you leave is saying I couldn’t get a deal. Am I Baltimore and I love Baltimore even like a cowboy boots on I live in Nashville. So moving the franchise but there’s a whole notion The Major League Baseball wouldn’t allow it wouldn’t allow John to run out. This is I bet when you peel back this onion and and John’s in the middle of this with Rob Manfred in Oakland Vegas. I mean, let’s be honest, Mike, let’s move this to golf for just one minute. The Golf deal happened. The only reason the golf deal suck as Jay Monahan loves Saudi Arabian money, he was told by his lawyers, we’re gonna lose. That’s it, the Saudis have come in and taken over the American legal system, and the legality of what Liv is trying to do, and anti trust and how many lawyers they have, and have you met the dead bodies around them, they have an unlimited amount of money, they will put us out, they will put us out. It’s like when the mafia comes to town, you better go into business with them, because they’re going to take out. And that’s what the Saudi Arabia thing felt like to me with golf last week, and it’s happening right in front of your eyes in Los Angeles this weekend, on Father’s Day that the PGA has been usurped by this, and you’re now going to play by their rules, they kill journalists. So whatever their rules are, so if you think you’re gonna get saved, because Rob Manfred is going to save you, and save Baltimore and save Camden Yards. The really important thing here, Mike, and I’ve talked more about this, the last two weeks, is if you saw the movie Major League, you could say, well, we have a winning team, and nobody’s coming to the ballpark, and we’re not making money. And this would be where John or the ownership, or the next ownership that would make him wealthy moving the team to Nashville would say, what’s the potential for money there, Baltimore small, it might just be a one sport, and it might just be football, that you might just be a one. I’m not here to say that. But I do know this. They’re winning, and people better start coming back and spending money. Because to your point, that’s where it’s at. And that’s the thing it’s going to get Tampa in the end. It’s what got Oakland in the end that if you want the team, you have to come and give Mr. angelos, your money, whatever Angelos is in front of the team.
Mike Rosenfeld 22:03
Okay, I’m gonna, I’m gonna play devil’s advocate, and have you laugh at me along the way. Okay, this is because you know, way more than I’ll ever know, because of what you do for a living. This is just coming to a lifelong Baltimorean who loves our sports teams. I will acknowledge I mean, here’s my memory of Peter Angelos in the beginning, spend money wanted to win, spoke extremely long a cow retcons events, and it was uncomfortable. And it was very much me, me, me. And then everything went downhill. I don’t know, his son’s what I can tell and and it’s ugly, from what I read
Nestor Aparicio 22:45
20 or 30 years and like, nobody knows him. So like, well, you know, so much for his loyalty to Baltimore. You know, these people are gonna feign loyalty to Baltimore when they don’t even live here.
Mike Rosenfeld 22:56
What I will say and this is where the where you may laugh of me is the direction that the team is taking, hiring and Mike Elias investing in the you know, the Caribbean and South America. In in in being patient and being and building up the farm system to the fact to where we’re number one for for several years. That’s because we sucked but you still we suck for a decade before there and I don’t remember our farm system
Nestor Aparicio 23:25
I would never say to you the baseball things being run poorly now it’s got a genius running it. They had a genius me to cat was a weirdo. But but a genius. I mean, when you bring in genius people and you stink and you draft Manny Machado, and you trade for Chris Davis, and he turns out okay, the way you don’t think it’s don’t give him money.
Mike Rosenfeld 23:46
This is where the scar tissue is my breaker of news, my son that I call him says Mike Elias is having a random press conference. This was like two or three weeks ago. And I’m like, oh, man, is he leaving? Is he had enough? Does he not like the direction that this family is taking him in? That’s how and I’m a half full guy but with the scar tissue of the Colts and, and not signing the lease. I’m like,
Nestor Aparicio 24:12
the Dodgers does a better job. So I mean, you know, like lice isn’t here for life. He they’re gonna have to pay him a lot of money to keep him around. And by the way, my sources told me when they signed him, he was the highest. They had to overpay to get him to come to Baltimore work for this family while daddy’s eatin putting in the kids are fighting. I mean, he has been here for three years of the kids in the in the mother fighting. If you think that hasn’t created a bad night or two for him. Privately, I would be stunned. Right? It’s been quiet. I mean,
Mike Rosenfeld 24:47
so So I am going to continue my rant of Half past full here. The baseball team has been run better than it was under the father. It’s ugly that the family businesses going public you know When the feuding and all that but but if you look at the pure baseball situation, it’s great. I don’t begrudge someone who owns a franchise to not want to take a hometown discount. You know, we hear that all the time. They’re looking at deals that other owners are making they want something similar do I love it? But I think it’s distasteful as a guy who’s not a billionaire or didn’t inherit billions of dollars
Nestor Aparicio 25:24
if your city residency and how bad the schools are in St. Louis. So, billionaire $600 million.
Mike Rosenfeld 25:29
I’m not I’m not here to say that that’s fair. I’m just saying if you’d look at, if you want to be competitive, that’s what it’s gonna take. Either you got to stomach it or say, Bye bye pack up and good riddance to you. But the but so therefore, when you’re negotiating, you can tell people when he’s playing poker right now, if I’m wrong. And if this team leaves, it’s unconscionable that a local family who who saw what happened in in 1984 and afterwards did to the city, but I don’t begrudge them at this point for keeping the cards close to their vest to try to get the
Nestor Aparicio 26:06
how many years do you do the one year deal one year?
Mike Rosenfeld 26:09
Done? I think that’s it. It’s got to be put put up or shut up at this point. How many one year the how many years? Have they done one year deal?
Nestor Aparicio 26:16
Whatever he wants, he wants the baseball team. Oh, Colin’s playing with records running around the stadium and writes
Mike Rosenfeld 26:23
the leases with the stadium authority. Correct? Correct. Yeah,
Nestor Aparicio 26:26
well, they’re not going to tell him he can’t play here next year. But they know dude, he’ll come on now. He can string this along. As long as until such point he gets what he wants, whatever it is he wants. I don’t even know what he wants. I don’t know. I don’t. I would be interested to see if Wes Moore knows exactly what he wants. And I’m telling you what he wants. You’re gonna see in Chicago, which is all of it mine. I want mine Steve took his steeping. Steve doesn’t care about the city state didn’t care about having the casino and houses across the street. And what Bob crafted build movie theaters and building a mall around it. Steve wanted any that he would go into fall for it. Steve just wants to be on his boat and be left alone. Like literally and everybody that knows Steve tells me that Steve doesn’t Steve’s already wealthy Steve didn’t want to be the guy coming in here threatening to move the team. Any of that Steve has executives, he has a team. At some point, he’ll sell the team he tried to sell the team a couple years ago, nobody reported that it’s a fact that Steve was shopping the football team before the plague that he thought maybe he wanted to be out feels like he’s in now. But I could wake up a week from Monday and they could have a new owner instead would be so like Steve, to not do it the way Dan Snyder did it, or the way the Denver people did it, which is paraded around Steve may have a press conference, we can choose and say here’s my new owner, boom, done. I’m out. Here’s the keys. Enjoy Sashi and Chad. And hey, Nestor if you too, you know what I mean? Like that. That’s how Steve’s going to exit. It’s not he’s not giving the team to his kids. He’s not going to talk about it. He’s not going to put it out on the market say it’s for sale, whatever. He’s got to lease, he’s got a management team, it’s worth more than it’s ever been worth. Right. So when Steve walks away, I don’t think we’re gonna get a call on that. But John ain’t never done anything. Except sit around and watch his father screw things up. Right? Like, this is John’s chance to be Mr. Big and to make a deal and make a splash and make a legacy and move back to Baltimore. And I don’t know what the hell John what nobody does. When John has spoken out publicly. He’s made a fool of himself. And so I don’t expect John to speak out. But to your point. You’re a concerned citizen, you’re concerned fan, you’re invested, or your fan and you want to buy in and if they’re trying to sell you a sponsorship for the stadium for the what what do you say? Do you have a lease? Are you what’s the long term plan? Come on. Wes. Come on. John. Come on Georgia Angelo’s. Come on Rob Manford. What’s the what’s the big, big, big big plan for baseball here the next 20 years that you’re taking gambling money? What are you doing for the city? Steve sidestep that by just taking the money and sending Satoshi and Jad down to Annapolis and Chad stands up all six foot eight, no questions and everybody runs like hell and nobody even knows that he signed the lease. So me right now.
Mike Rosenfeld 29:14
So So I know that John Angelo’s patiently awaits your in my release of our of our interviews here. So here’s what I have to say to John. John, if you’re a skilled gifted if you then just inherit the team and you’re and you want to make a legacy and you want to be put your big boy pants on and you want to make a deal. One year extensions is not a sign of a good in my opinion, a good a good business person. Put on your big boy pants.
Nestor Aparicio 29:47
I’m just living here this summer and and rowing the boat and showing up at places and saying I’m the new old owner of the Orioles. I’m going to be your owner the next 15 years and here are the two ranges we have for the city and reinvigorating the city and things I couldn’t do working for my father, we all know my father, but I’m here now and I’m competent, and I’m on. Nobody has that confidence. Nobody that met John Angelo See, Gilman has that confidence was ever portrayed that confidence to me that he is going to come in here and be rocky words,
Mike Rosenfeld 30:19
but he could. But he could. So here’s the here’s the, here’s the ask, if you can’t, if you can’t get what you want, you can extract from the city and the state, what is reasonable or to you or what you want, stop putting with us and get on with it. And if you’re going to move the team, move the team, but otherwise negotiated deal, be a business person, get what you can get, improve the city in the way that you think it could be improved. Once again, I know people are going to be like, what we could take that money and build schools and all that. And I totally get that. And while I’m being facetious here, I do not know that he is not capable or isn’t currently doing that. So I know he’s not feet on the street. But I am because you know more than I am going to give I always give people the benefit of the doubt that’s but once again, I bring it back to I swore that I heard June and July was was an important time time. And that may be to your point when they have to say, Okay, we’re doing another one year deal. If I’m in the state of
Nestor Aparicio 31:19
playing in Montreal next year, right? Like, you know what I mean? Like, there’s no chance of that. That’s your, I mean, if people say you’re talking about they’re moving way this out three, four or five years if you can’t get what he wants, and if what he wants is outrageous. And the public gets a hold of it. And the public starts throwing it around and saying we’re doing what for whom? For who who goes to the games, a bunch of white people go to the games, let’s be honest, I mean, I paid to the games who’s engaged in is the team really engaged in the community. And more than that, it’s not about the stadium. It really isn’t. It’s about what happens outside of the stadium. It’s about this Chicago, Atlanta, San Diego model where all of the real estate around there, including my place where I lost a quarter of a million dollars being three blocks from his stadium while the team languished. And while he got wealthy or right. I mean, the team went up in value, and they’re getting all the money I lost, living down there with none of the benefit of being down there. And we’re trying to figure out the Inner Harbor, this should be talked about in tough tongue. This shouldn’t be just the Orioles. We got to keep all my good. We give him anything he wants. Well, what is anything he wants? What does he want? And that would be that to your point. That’s the big boy part of this and saying, Come on, you know, you want to make an investment here the next 20 years. You want us to invest in you? What what what is the investment here other than the city’s gonna be an ATM for you like the television network was for the last 20 years?
Mike Rosenfeld 32:51
Yeah, I need to see something I need to see some of these young people get contract extensions, I need to see, it’s I need to see this isn’t going to be what Tampa was they’re better now because they’re spending more money on their on their players. But I don’t want to I don’t want to see Adly and pinstripes I don’t want to see gunner in you know, in LA I don’t want to see any of that. So let’s just, let’s just you you’ve evolved the team, to where I think people here see the vision and trust the process, which is what they said about the Sixers, but they never made it over the hump. I’m trusting the baseball process of the team. But as far as what you see and all that, come on, man. Now I have one last question I’ll and then is, did the Ravens ever go year to year? Did they ever posture? No,
Nestor Aparicio 33:41
no, no. The Ravens, the Ravens got in ahead. Right.
Mike Rosenfeld 33:44
I mean, that’s a bit that’s a that’s a that’s a business strategy. It’s a negotiating tactic. I mean, it’s
Nestor Aparicio 33:52
it’s also a great business strategy for Steve to sell the team with certainty, as opposed to dangle the team with uncertainty, which would be moving them to Europe or, I mean, with the Chargers being out there. They’re dangled, they would be worth billions more in Europe than they are in LA right. With the Ravens. I like the idea that the ravens are going to move that’s not Steve’s mind, right, like Steve’s mind is, I’m going to sit him there for the next 20 years. And I’m not going to own the team and 20 years, Steve would admit that and say someone else is going to own the team and a damn sure not going to move the team because it’s going to have a lease and it’s gonna end it just gonna be certainty and enough is enough. I don’t need a $10 billion franchise. I have a $5 billion franchise. I you know, I’m good with that. I don’t know what John thinks other than when his lips have been moving. He’s been lying. I’ll say this about Steve. Steve’s too honest right to be in front of me because I would ask him real questions and he’d be inclined to give real answers. And he stopped doing that. After Ray Rice. He stopped doing that because of litigious people. He never liked it. Steve never liked talking to the media. He always feared it. He hates the media which I’m example one of why I’m not there at camp this week. Steve Bashaud. He hates me. And he hates the media. He hates people who ask questions that but that being said, He loves the city, and he loves the football team, John Angelos I, I don’t know what John Angelos loves. You know what I mean? But maybe significance and money at this point. He’s got money, but significance would come from doing something greater than whatever he’s done, which is a crappy television network that they made a lot of money on. I just, I like doers. I don’t like bullshitters Mike, you know what I mean? Like I saw David Modell being the doer. I saw Larry Lucchino being a doer. You know, I saw people being doers here. And I don’t see doers right now. I see people like Sashi Brown and Chad steel that sit at the top of a throne that was built 30 years ago that the ravens are too big to fail. They can empty seats don’t cost them money, nothing cost them money. The baseball thing with the media side of this, like I had Jeff Montgomery on last week, right? Multiple All Star buddy of mine owns the sports radio station in Kansas City has for as long as I’ve owned wn St. And I’ve known Jeff longer than that. Right. Jeff came on last week. And you know what I said to him, I got on the front end of your questions. I said to him, how could they have done that differently than what I saw four weeks ago? Which is this more of an empty ballpark? My images of Mike Christakis and Eric Hosmer and bla bla bla bla bla, and then them winning, Ned Yost winning and I was there when they swept us in Kansas City, seeing all that seeing the parade, and it’s like, blink, they’re all gone. We suck. The fans are gone. There’s nobody at the stadium. And that’s the Royals right now. That’s what they are. I said to him, how could How could the Orioles ever have this arc? Where they when the next three or four years? How do they not be empty again in 2029? Right. How does that happen? They I don’t know. It’s baseball.
Mike Rosenfeld 36:57
Yeah, I mean, I think they have to do with the rays did they have to keep keep the smart people that they overpaid in the front office? Because we have to have realistic expectations about the economics of baseball and like football with with you know,
Nestor Aparicio 37:13
Angelo’s have realistic academic economics about Baltimore, if he can make more money elsewhere? And that’s a fair question to ask, right?
Mike Rosenfeld 37:19
Here’s the reality. And we know this for a fact. He is going to leave a legacy. He is going to leave a legacy. It’s either going to be his legacy is going to be in Baltimore bringing keeping the team here long term, building a a experience and community outside there. Or he’ll be art modell, who will be welcomed as a hero to the city moves to. He has two options to be a hero
Nestor Aparicio 37:48
hero. Sounds good. I’m 55. I’d love to be a hero. I tried to be a hero here for 30 years. I’m not but I tried. You know what I mean? And part of trying is having conversations like this that you’re not going to hear a WPA on like Rosenfeld is my guest. He has a web connection. He is the outsourced Chief Digital Officer even for disposed and deposed media members, like myself, tell me what you do because you manage websites at a high level for a lot of people. And you are in the business space of people who talk about such things as the Orioles lease and the importance of the city of the city. Right. I mean, this isn’t about the baseball team. It’s about the city. And it’s about the community. It’s about business, which is what you hold together.
Mike Rosenfeld 38:27
Yeah, well, I appreciate it. Yeah, I would say I’m an entrepreneur at heart. And what web connection, what we do here is we provide an outsourced Chief Digital Officers. So any small to midsize business who has no idea how to leverage the web, whether it’s their website, their apps, social media, digital advertising, email marketing, whatever it is, we come in, we learn the business. And we act as a an executive to help chart a course of what the each client should do, how they should leverage these tools and how they should grow. We are not a digital marketing agency, we would be the ones that would determine Do we need a digital March marketing agencies and one of the services that they’re trying to provide our BS and what ones are actually valuable to us. So so that’s what we do. We do it on a fractional basis, so it’s affordable to most small to midsize businesses who really want to compete and grow.
Nestor Aparicio 39:27
Well, you find Mike at the front of Baltimore positive you can find him at web connection.com He’s also out on the social media channels find him at appear to sausage if he’s doing it right on the north side. So I got a spot for you in Chicago. Are you ready? Are you going to take me up on it? Got to be EQ UODP quads PQ us your pizza spot? That’s my pizza spot. I want you to go there. Get the Sausage and pepperoni pizza. I want you to sit at the bar. Get the beer of your choice. It’s a long fly ball from from Wrigley Field but The shorter Uber ride I might add at probably a beautiful walk to the north side of Chicago, quite frankly, the you know, 18 blocks from there to Wrigley Field and you’ll have a full belly anyway beer in you. So you’re gonna need to walk it off but I hope you have the greatest weekend ever in Chicago for anybody that is going out. I hope you enjoy the Cubs experience. I enjoyed it at the turn of the century many many times with friends that lived up there and a second place Orioles team you’re getting in Chicago Michael.
Mike Rosenfeld 40:27
It’s beautiful. Hey, before we go, I have a challenge to everyone out there. Try to find try to push try to find out the answer to this Oriole question this lease question so that we can light a fire. You know, we we are the citizens of the city. He owns he owns a baseball team but but this is this is for outreaches that and you know we just got to get some answers. He sued
Nestor Aparicio 40:52
his brother in a bloodbath the last two years in front of everybody you think he’s not capable of moving the baseball team? Come on, man. Come on, man. Do you know like, like, we gotta least talk about it. I am excited about baseball looks at the ballpark all week. The Blue Jays are in this weekend off on a bird to Chicago where Mike Rosie felt to be watching baseball with pizza beer and sausage on the north side of one of my favorite adopted towns. The South Side. They like the Aparicio is more than they do on the north side. I will I will assure you of that. And they they eat that other kind of pizza on the south side as well. I am Nestor I’m out on the road. We’re everywhere. Luke is going to be in Owings Mills. If there’s any breaking news you get first and the wn S T tech service brought to you by our friends Coots, Baltimore Ford, I’m doing the Maryland crabcake tour beginning next week at spirits west on Wilkins Boulevard. All my St. Joe buddies seem to like that a lot as well. It’s also brought to you by our friends at window Nation. I’m Nestor we are wn st Towson Baltimore and we never stop talking Baltimore positive
