The Orioles have called Oriole Park at Camden Yards home for the last 30 seasons, and the team continues to negotiate with the Maryland Stadium Authority about the ballpark’s future and a lease extension. “The good news is both the Orioles and the stadium authority feel very strongly that we want to renew this partnership and that it’s been beneficial for all parties — the state, the city, the team,” Orioles senior VP of administration and experience Greg Bader told The Baltimore Sun’s Jeff Barker. The Orioles’ lease at Camden Yards is up in December 2023, though the club can decide by February 1, 2023 whether or not it wants to exercise a one-time, five-year extension that would run through 2028.
Given the mutual interest between the two sides, there doesn’t appear to be any concern that the Orioles would actually leave Baltimore, despite the uncertainty that often surrounds discussions of ballpark leases or renovations. Bader said the team is looking to upgrade OPACY to match “what a lot of newer or renovated ballparks have in terms of those social spaces, those areas for people to engage with baseball the way that people do today.” This could include loge seating, outdoor seating or concession areas, or a sportsbook, as “the Orioles are quite interested in finding the right sports gaming partner.” That said, Bader also stressed that old-school experience of watching a game at Camden Yards (the modern stadium that started the trend towards more retro, baseball-only venues) wouldn’t be significantly altered. “We’re not looking to upend the traditional side of a baseball park. We’re very confident that what makes Camden Yards so special would be able to be retained with whatever we do,” Bader said.
More from around the baseball world…
- Yimi Garcia’s two-year contract represents the Blue Jays’ biggest investment in their bullpen this offseason, and The Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm thinks the club might not spend big on any further new relievers. While relief pitching was a big weakness for much of the Jays’ 2021 campaign, the in-season acquisitions of Adam Cimber and Trevor Richards helped shore up a core group that also includes incumbent closer Jordan Romano and southpaw Tim Mayza. With other needs yet to be addressed, Chisholm figure the Blue Jays will spend bigger on the lineup and rotation: “keeping the stakes low [in the bullpen] is a logical approach so the larger bets can be saved for other areas.”
- In the latest edition of the Rates & Barrels podcast, The Athletic’s Derek VanRiper, Britt Ghiroli, and Eno Sarris discuss a variety of topics, including the Nationals’ struggles in player development, some hypothetical trade fits involving the Athletics, Blue Jays, and Mets, and the concept of Matt Chapman moving from third base to shortstop.
- Former Mets manager Bobby Valentine has received some consideration as a special assistant within the front office, according to The New York Post’s Mike Puma. It isn’t known whether Valentine is himself interested in such a role, as Valentine hasn’t been officially involved with a big league club since the Red Sox fired him as manager following the 2012 season. Valentine both played with the Mets in 1977-78 and then posted a 536-467 record while managing the club from 1996-2002, leading the Mets to the National League pennant in 2000.
Mets made it to WS in 2000 in spite of Valentine. He’s more overrated than Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter’s defense I should say
Who rates Jeter’s defense highly?
Far too many Yankee fans. As a kid of the 90s, every bandwagoner claimed he was an elite defender because of that stupid jump throw. Nomar was an excellent shortstop, and unlike Arod, didn’t need roids.
Ah, remember that SI cover?
Jester’s five Gold Gloves suggests he’s a perfectly capable SS.
Jester lol exactly that
Rafael Palmeiro’s Gold Glove as a DH suggests Gold Gloves are meaningless
No, actually Jeter’s five gold gloves suggest that the award is often meaningless. Mr. Person, you wanted to know who rates Jeter’s defense highly? Apparently bradthebluefish does. Every metric stat has Jeter as an awful SS (no range), but some foolishly still base their opinions on awards rather than facts.
What does roids have to do with defense?
@NMK 2
He said “He’s” present tense “more overrated than Jeter,” so I asked who overrates Jeter’s defense now. Citing a couple of fans in a comments thread doesn’t suggest he’s highly rated in general. Most of what I’ve read in the past twenty years has denigrated his defense. A handful of Yankee fans don’t represent the prevailing opinion.
As for the claim that the Mets won the pennant in spite of Valentine, I always find that sort of talk nonsensical. People who give managers no credit for wins but blame them for losses are ridiculous to me. Heads I win, tails you lose. The unfairness of it should be obvious to anyone.
But fans often preen themselves on the illusion that they’re better managers from their couches than real managers in the dugout handling 26 egos and basing decisions in real time on what they know about the current state of those players — who’s hurting and how much, who’s tired, who’s slumping, who’s having some crisis of confidence. Fans know little to nothing about those things; but they’re sure they’d be winning managers … in their dreams.
I actually looked that up. GG for a dh haha
GG = popularity contest
Carlos, is that you?
Nope
I think Valentine won the world series in Japan or somewhere. I just love him because of the mustache sunglasses disguise. Whatever that was baseball definitely needs more of it.
Yes, he did win the Japan Series in a sweep and then his Chiba Lotte Marines won the inaugural Asia Series, defeating the Samsung Lions of the KBO.
Valentine owns a .534 W-L% as a Mets manager playing in the same division as the Braves when Atlanta had by far the best pitching in the league and the most wins in baseball. How was he overrated?
*Because of Valentine. FTFY
A manager that takes a team with an outfield of Benny Agbayani, Jay Payton & Derek Bell to the WS in a pre-analytics era when managers actually managed the game should probably get a Nobel Prize.
There’s a blast from the past: “B-B-B-Benny and the Mets”
You forgot Timo Perez was part of that mix as well
Was a fan of Payton. Always seemed on cusp of becoming a superstar.
I remember the Red Sox picking up Payton from San Diego in a trade for Dave Roberts after the ’04 season. Payton would replace Gabe Kapler who signed to play in Japan and would be traded to Oakland and replaced by Kapler after being released from his Japanese team. The Sox also picked up Ramon Vazquez in the trade with Payton and Vazquez would be traded to Cleveland for Alex Cora, also during the ’05 season.
Him and Huskey were minor league players of the year- things looked bright. He had a season in Colorado most were hoping he would’ve had in Queens.
Maybe, just maybe, the Orioles will be almost ready to start the beginning of the finishing of their rebuild by 2028…
That’s just a dumb thing to say.
The rebuild still has 10 more years left.
Personally think Pearson will be the jays biggest bullpen piece next to Romano. Sounds like as of right now Strippling has the inside track on the 5th spot in the rotation.
Merryweather and Borucki also have the stuff to be high leverage relievers
@Dustyslambchops23
If Borucki can stay healthy, maybe. Not so much with Merryweather.
Merryweather has lights out stuff. Unfortunately he’s always injured.
He gave up 4 HR in 13IP. The only lights out about that is the ball breaking the bulbs in the light standards.
Pearson, Merryweather and Borucki may combine to contribute 50 innings, with their injury histories.
But there’s lots of guys who could be high leverage relievers. Relievers are unpredictable.
@bigdaddyt
The Jays have to see what they have in Pearson this year. Is he a top of the rotation arm like his promise suggested? Is he a serviceable starter or high leverage BP piece? If he’s not any of those he’s on the trade block.
so this begs the question. do you move a guy with elite velocity and potential to be either a front of rotation piece or bullpen ace this year while you can get a decent return for him
before he possibly busts?
what’s that saying? prospects are cool but parades are cooler.
@bigfatandugly
I’m fine keeping him around in the BP this year as a once through the order guy (to get his innings up) or plug him into a high leverage situation once in a while. If he doesn’t match the potential, off to AAA with him and reevaluate next offseason.
The problem with moving him this offseason is the Jays would be looking to get a FA BP piece to replace him. They should add one this too. Lots of cash when the team is limited to $25-30M by most accounts for payroll.
Is Pearson’s trade value more like Luzardo who could get you a nice couple of month rental piece or Honeywell who only brought back cash? In that case, I don’t really see the point in trading him this offseason unless you really need the 40 man spot or if he is a secondary or tertiary piece to get an impact trade over the finish line. Otherwise, I don’t see why you’d trade him for the type of player you can just get in free agency for $10m or thereabouts. If his stock rebounds a bit then you can think about using him to acquire a go for it piece at the deadline and if it doesn’t, he’s a depth arm at a time when pitching depth is really important.
Its a similar situation with Brandon Morrow who we all knew should be in the BP as well as Aaron Sanchez. They will keep running him out as a starter. I think he deserves one more crack as SP but if not working out they’ll need to adjust expectations. Something the FO is not good at
Camden Yards is the main reason to buy a ticket to an Orioles game. Love that park!
A phenomenal park.
Unfortunately, it’s in a city that’s gone to pot and the team is perpetually awful. Their attendance figures are generally a joke. If a team deserves to be moved, the O’s should be on the list.
There’s nothing wrong with Baltimore that isn’t wrong with really any other American city. Plus it pretty much has the best health care of any city in the country.
Haha just realized your name is miltpappas. I guess Milt is still butt hurt about getting traded to the Reds for Frank Robinson. Baltimore was sure as hell better off without Milt — at least compared to Frobby.
How is the area around the ballpark? I’ve never been there but would like to go
It’s nice – nicer than most neighborhoods around most stadiums
One of the best parts of OPACY is its lack of gimmickry, its lack of pandering to fans with a chronic need for other forms of entertainment and its pure emphasis on the game of baseball. Brilliant.
And also: thanks for no corporate name on the stadium. Classy.
That’s all gonna change! Might be good news if you want a winner.
Dimitri – It’s been like that the past few years because the crowds are so small and quite often half are fans of the visiting team. They don’t even bother having the mascot around for many games. But when they were decent years ago, there were plenty of distractions and gimmicks.
Bobby Valentine isn’t that great, change my mind.
He signed autographs for fans before every home games at Shea in the mid-80’s.
You weren’t supposed to actually change my mind.
I like the Showalter hire but Bobby really should have been back as our next manager
Nobody with any knowledge of Valentine’s time with the Red Sox would say such a thing. His tenure there was an unmitigated disaster.
Valentine was undermined by a player mutiny led by Dustin Pedroia ten days into the season. Pedroia wasn’t subtle about it at all — he bagged on Valentine to reporters and set up an us-against-him dynamic in the clubhouse. Valentine never had a chance in Boston.
Person – If you’re gonna bring up Pedroia, at least be honest and mention the reason why Pedroia was not fond of Bobby. Which was because Bobby ripped Youk in a television interview, accusing him of being disinterested and unenthusiastic. As the captain of the team of course Pedroia is gonna stick up for a longtime Red Sox star who was known for his intensity.
And while we’re at it, let’s talk about Bobby embarrassing Iglesias by pulling him in the middle of an at-bat for no good reason (no injury, no pitching change).
And when Bobby decided to demote Aceves from his closer position, without telling him.
And the time Lester obviously had nothing working for him in a game, so Bobby decided to punish Lester by leaving him in for 4 homeruns and 11 earned runs.
And the time Bobby said on air that he wanted to punch the radio host in the mouth.
And it wasn’t just the players and media that Bobby had issues with, even his own coaches couldn’t stand him. This was confirmed when Bobby said on air that all his coaches undermined him.
Is that enough examples of how awful a manager Bobby was?
.
Is this Pedroias mom?
Or examples of how the Red Sox organization backed a second baseman over the man they hired to manage him.
The year before they hired Valentine, the Red Sox were first in runs. The year after they fired him, they were first in runs.
The year they “played for” him, they were 8th in runs.
Just somehow forgot how to hit for a year and then remembered again as soon as they pushed him out, eh? What a coincidence.
Funny how the Mets didn’t have those issues with Valentine for seven years and the Rangers didn’t have those issues for eight years. Only cropped up in Boston.
And if you want to be accurate, let’s do that.
Bobby “ripped Youk”? Really?
This is exactly what he said:
WHDH Question:
“Kevin Youkilis, his bat has come to life here in the last two games, but he was off to a surprising start for Kevin Youkilis. Seven games, seven strikeouts, has only walked twice. Very un-Youkilis-like. What are your eyes telling you?”
Bobby Valentine:
“The walks came yesterday. He’s had a couple of big at-bats where he’s really gotten into it. I don’t think he’s as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past for some reason, but yesterday it seemed like he’s seeing the ball well. He got those two walks, he got his on-base percentage up higher than his batting average, which is always a good thing, and he’ll move on from there.”
Boy, what terrible remarks about a guy whose performance on the field the interviewer just called “Very un-Youkilis-like.”
And here’s how Pedroia mouthed off to the press:
Valentine’s criticism was questioned by team leader Dustin Pedroia. “I don’t really understand what Bobby’s trying to do,” Pedroia told a Boston radio station. “But that’s really not the way we go about our stuff here. I’m sure he’ll figure that out soon.”
“I’m sure he’ll figure that out soon.” Breathing threats against his manager to the press and saying things are gonna be done the players’ (i.e., his) way, not the manager’s. He turned the clubhouse against Valentine less than two weeks into the season, and the front office let him get away with it.
Fifteen years without those issues managing two other MLB teams and one year with those issues in Boston. One year out of sixteen. That’s the definition of an outlier, Guy.
Are you a student at Sacred Heart?
Bobby Valentine was a perfect example of how a divisive egotistical manager with poor judgement and poor decisionmaking can bring a talented team down. He inherited a very talented 90-win team and immediately brought them down 21 wins.
Funny how you ignored the fact his own coaches couldn’t stand him, and all the things he intentionally did to alienate his own players.
Has any other manager threatened to punch a media guy in the mouth?
Did Pedroia, a player revered by all his teammates and other managers, ever have an issue with another manager?
How did that same Red Sox team do the year after Bobby left?
There’s a reason why Valentine didn’t manage from 2003-2011, and why he has been completely out of MLB after 2012. Because his tired pathetic act was played out and nobody wanted him anymore. The Red Sox made the foolish decision to bring him back as a knee-jerk reaction to their 2011 late season collapse, and they paid for that decision dearly.
Someday when you get a job, and you have a manger that treats you like garbage, you’ll understand.
First of all, that was a veteran team of highly paid players. No way Pedroia could force all his teammates to do something. He was just the spokesperson, because he was the captain. You think Pedroia could influence Ortiz into doing something he didn’t want to do? Really? I think you need to join a team someday and learn about team concepts.
Bobby himself acknowledged his coaches undermined him, that’s how much his own coaches couldn’t stand him. What other manager has had all their coaches despise them?
But what do you expect from an egotistical arrogant manager who’s most famous for wearing a fake nose and glasses, injuring Jose Canseco by putting him in to pitch, and falsely claiming he invented the sandwich wrap. The guy is a clown, always has been. Maybe he’s mellowed and matured with age by now though. I still don’t think any MLB team will ever give him another chance though.
You’re falsely attributing the drop in wins exclusively to Valentine, as if no team has ever been worse one year than it was the last for other reasons.
Kramer – Most of the time I’d say a manager’s impact on his team’s record is negligible. But there are rare occasions when a manager can either torpedo a team or get a team to massively overachieve. Bobby Valentine’s one year in Boston is a perfect example of torpedoing.
How many guys have managed a team that won 90 games the year before, down to 69 wins with almost the exact same players, and then a year later watched a new leader manage essentially the exact same team to a 97-win World Championship season. Of course there’s no way to accurately quantify how many losses in 2012 were directly attributable to Valentine, but certainly when you have an entire team of players and coaches all unhappy with the manager, you’re going to have an underachieving team. Motivation is probably the biggest responsibility of a manager, especially these days. Either he motivates his players to excel, or he motivates them to underperform. Ask any executive in MLB why they think Alex Cora still has a job as manager, they will tell you it’s because he is a positive influence in the clubhouse.
You can’t praise some managers like Cora and Kapler for motivating their teams to do well, without acknowledging some managers have the opposite effect on their team. That’s just not logical.
Spent a great weekend at Camden this past season. No way they leave, although the area is a bit sketch
I don’t think the Orioles are going to want to leave either.. Camden Yards is a great stadium (the old Memorial was…..ugggggghhh). But, MLB is a big business, and there’s going to be some pressure to sweeten a deal with taxpayer money.
Went to Camden Yards for a game last season. Hadn’t been in 7 years. Not many upgrades have been made, but it’s still a great place to catch a game. The bars outside the stadium behind home plate are great pregame, but post game, get the hell outta there. If they could improve the surrounding area, it would be huge to the future of the ballpark.
I hope the Jays stay away from Matt Chapman. Now that they’ve missed on re-signing Semien, lost on Baez and their reported pursuit of Seager, I really hope they sign Bryant!
I think they can afford both of Bryant and Rizzo, and guys like Kikuchi and Fiers to round up the Rotation along with Pearson and Manoah on the last 2 spots.
1.Springer CF
2.Bryant 3B
3.Vladimir Jr. 1B
4.Bichette SS
5.Rizzo DH
6.Teoscar RF
7.Lourdes Jr. LF
8.Moreno C
9.Biggio 2B
1.Jin Ryu
2.Berrios
3.Gausman
4.Kikuchi
5.Manoah
6.Fiers
7.Pearson
I could live with that to start the 2022 season!
They’ll be competitive, and still have the farm system like Groshans/Pearson to swing a deal at the deadline!
Yeah the vaunted 7 man rotation. Do the jays get a couple couple of extra men on the roster this year?
Kikuchi should stay far away from the AL East
@Shoguneye
3.73 more players ;o)
5 Man Rotation, the rest is depth or LR. Don’t be a Moronic Moron would you!
Bryant 26M AAV
Rizzo 15M AAV
Kikuchi 10M AAV
Total 51M
Juuuuust a little bit over budget.
No way Kikuchi makes $10 M but even if they do, it’ll bring their budget to about $170 M or so. The Jays have gone there before!
So that scenario, is very possible!
Rizzo could make around $65M-$70M over 5 which it will be less than $15M a year.
@to4
The highest payroll the Jays have had is 165M (2017). Currently they sit at ~137M which includes projected arb awards. Your additions puts them up against the 190M wall.
Data from Cots.
How much you wanna pay for Rizzo? I wouldn’t pay much. Plus, shouldn’t he be at first and Vlad at DH? Sorry, splitting hairs here. The Jays do look good.
Grew up with the Orioles and attending games until I moved away from that area in 2014. The atmosphere at Memorial Stadium to be a fan was great, but the place was a dump. My most spiritual sports moment witnessed in person remains the last game of the 1982 season. Memorial was no more a dump than Veterans or County Stadium as they approached their last few years as I saw personally in the mid 90s. Or old Yankee Stadium….where you were breathless at the history vibe but really had to focus on that feeling while peeing in a trough.
Camden Yards is a beautiful ballpark. But the vibe is different – first they tried to attract the DC area yuppies and it was snobby. Then the team had a couple playoff-caliber years and it was a very good atmosphere. But not the same connection to the community the team used to have (or the old Colts did prior to 1984), and when they started losing that gap was noticeable. Still a good place to enjoy a game but more for an experience than feeling the Orioles, and when the team turned good again in 2012 (finally) it was a very good atmosphere.
The last night game I went there was 2007, otherwise daytime games after that. The area around it started to crumble. From what I understand from friends still there (including a connection in the Balto City police) the Freddy Gray riots dealt the city a mortal blow and covid finished it off. 20 years ago you could go to a game, and then freely go to Harborplace or Federal Hill, Canton, or Fells Point with minimal issues…even at night, but kept your head on a swivel when going back to your car especially if you wandered out of those core areas. But problems were rare. Now? You can wander around there at night if you want but stand a decent chance of not coming back intact and/or with all the stuff you went down there with that afternoon. Its pretty sad. The last game I went to in 2014 included a couple who are die-hard fans, they haven’t been to a game since the 2015 riots.
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