Is the Baltimore Orioles management THAT soft?

So let's bring in Ryan Fagan from the Sporting News, baseball writer extraordinaire.

Right now, who knows, he might be opening up a pack of baseball cards because that's what he does. I'm not going to put Kevin Brown of the Orioles on the list of the John Millers of the world, who have also been, by the way, run out of Baltimore for not being an advocate for the team. I was there at the time, and I've already referenced John Miller. So I was there in Baltimore working for the Oriole flagship when that happened, and I remember how disappointing that was.

And that was Peter Angelos, not John Angelos, the son. But I can't make heads or tails of what Kevin Brown did that led to a suspension. He's now been off the air for the better part of two weeks. He's been off TV for almost three, since July, I think it was the 23rd of July. So we're now into a third week. None of it makes any sense to me because the comments weren't, I couldn't figure out what he said wrong.

What do you make of this? Well, first of all, I do have a pack of 1988 score that I was just about to open for a pack of the day. So I'll get to that. If you get a Greg Jeffries rookie card, save it. I always do.

I've got five or six of them. It's one of the best cards of that year. Anyway, I was like a lot of people that you saw the tweet and you watched the clip and you thought, well, they must have put the wrong clip in here because there's no way anything in what he said. And I kept waiting. I turned the volume up a little bit.

I was like, did I miss like he accidentally cursed or something in there? And no, it was just, you know, I mean, it's mind boggling and I love that the reaction has been what it has been. Right. You know, universally, I mean, I think, look, there's always a few contrarians out there just for the sake of being contrarian, but they've been drowned out by just this universal sport. And I love the fact that you have all of these other play-by-play guys, Jason Benetti and Gary Cohn and Michael Kay, you know, among so many others. Robert Ford with the Astros who have who have come out in his defense and just really spoken so highly of this guy of Kevin Brown, who, you know, I mean, let's be honest. I think, you know, oil fans obviously love him, but I think on a national scale, he didn't have quite that level of recognition that he certainly does now. And so, you know, when you look at his long term career, it feels like this could be a good thing for him, even if it doesn't happen in Baltimore.

But there are a lot of other teams that would, you know, look at him, a young and up and coming guy, the guy who could potentially be the voice for a generation of different, you know, different fan bases. And it can be a good thing. But yeah, it really is. It's such a it's such a bad look for the Orioles and for John Angelos.

It's such a bad look. It's it's mind boggling. But I guess, you know, when you look at the history, obviously, as you know, the Angelos family and broadcasters is not great. You know, Dan Connolly, who has reported on the Orioles for a long time, came out with a story and sports not the other day and kind of looked at some of his history and some of what the Orioles do and how they tell the broadcasters to talk. And, you know, they can't talk about former players because they're not here. And that reminds fans. They're afraid to remind fans of bad times and they can't talk about Manny Machado.

They can't talk about Brady Anderson. That's mind boggling stuff for a fan base for a franchise. Look, the Orioles are as fun, maybe more fun than any team in baseball right now.

You know, why not just accept that things are going well and to know that when things are going well, you've got to come from somewhere, right? It's OK to say things haven't always been as good as they have been in 2023, but that's not how we can do it there in Baltimore, apparently. Ryan Fagan, Sporting News is joining us here on The Adam Gold Show. The comments that theoretically got him suspended were really complimentary of this current team. So let me get to this because it is a young team and sometimes and I think all of sports is like this. Sometimes anything can upset the chemistry of a team. Now, maybe the team rallies around it, but with a young team who has not been through this, the danger of something like this impacting the play on the field is what do you think? I don't know that it's I mean, you're right.

Like we never know what what can kind of cause a little bit of a rolling downhill and pick up momentum and kind of get that. But it feels like, you know, especially when the players see the way that the fans reacted. I mean, you saw what happened last night at the ballparks when, you know, the fans started chanting freak, Kevin Brown.

I mean, that was just awesome. It was undeniable. And I'm sure the players heard that, too. And and they, you know, he's kind of like them. Crowd mics, by the way, went suddenly went out on the mass and broadcast, according to what I was told. I did see that, too.

Yeah, it was on the on the national broadcast, but not the local one. So, yeah, I mean, it's, you know, he's a lot like them. He's a he's a young guy who's getting a chance and he's doing exceptional things with it, right? A lot like most of the Orioles players. So at least theoretically, you could see them kind of embracing him, you know, I mean, I'm not sure you're going to see a whole lot of comments from the team. But look, this is a an Orioles team that is it's not supposed to be this good, right?

They're just not not yet. Not not not to the point where we're in, you know, in August and they, you know, going into yesterday's game, we're tied with the Braves from most wins in baseball, right? They're a team that's that's already overcome a lot and they've not listened to the noise around them, you know, and I think a guy like Abby Rushman, you know, he's a young guy, second year player, but he's really one of the team leaders. And I, you know, I talked to him at the All-Star game, you know, and he just I tried to get him to talk about, you know, what was happening and all these things. And he was just like, we're day to day. We're worried about what we can do today. And tomorrow we'll worry about what we can do tomorrow. Just was very impressed by the fact that it didn't feel like he was just giving me a line, but that's really how they were. And I think that's good for a team that is going through this right now.

All right, let me get one more thing in here with Ryan Fagan before we have to say goodbye. The Angels at the trade deadline took a chance. They did not. They could have moved Joey Atani. I'm sure they could have gotten a lot for him because of the value that he brings, but they have decided they were going to try to win this year. And I am assuming will try everything in their power to re-sign him this offseason. Currently, the winning this year thing isn't working. There are four teams between them and the last wild card bid. They are seven games out. They still have to jump Boston, the Yankees, and Seattle.

But again, seven games out with a bunch of teams. It looks like a long shot at best. It's probably too late for them. What chances do you give them of Atani re-signing next year?

Zero. I don't think there's any way in the world that he sticks around. I think he's seen what the franchise's problems are, issues with winning, and he got a taste of winning when he was playing for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic. We saw how much he clearly loved that. He relished that big moment.

He stood up there and struck out Mike Trout to win the title for Japan. He wants that. And I think when you look at the failings of this particular Angels team, it's the reason why he's not going to come back. And I don't care how much they could offer him a billion dollars and nobody else comes in at more than $600 million.

And I bet he wouldn't sign back there. It's not just they didn't trade for this guy or they didn't trade for this guy. It's a failure in the organization over the years to put what is necessary into player development. To creating an organization like the Orioles, like the Braves, like the Dodgers. All these teams that continually compete and they have reinforcements ready in the minor leagues to come up. The Angels don't have that, right?

He understands that as well as anyone. And I think that's why when you look at where Shohei Ohtani is going to be for the next decade, it's going to be somewhere that he has a chance to compete for World Series titles every year. Because look, even as far out as they are right now, you just talked about, this is the Angels' best season. Yeah, it's true.

It is true. With Ohtani. The best season. And they're still not even able to stay within shouting distance of the third wild card in the American League. He's not coming back. And he wasn't coming back even if they made a run this year somehow miraculously. He still understands where that franchise is right now.

And he wants to win. Ryan Fagan, Sporting News on X, Ryan Fagan. Appreciate your time, my friend.

So let me know later on what's in the 88 pack of scorecards, right? I'll tag you on X. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ryan. I'll talk to you later. Sounds good. Thanks, Adam.