Peter Angelos spent a lot of money after buying the Orioles. Will David Rubinstein?

The Orioles had a core.

But they needed more to get to the next level, to get back to the World Series. And the new owner, after the previous one nickel-and-died and missed, promised to be the one who would finally push the best players to their limits.

Sound familiar?

But this was 1993, not 2024. Peter Angelos, a Baltimore labor lawyer, had just taken over as owner of the Orioles, inheriting a team with Cal Ripken Jr., Mike Devereaux, Brady Anderson, Chris Hoyles and future ace Mike Mussina.

While the Orioles’ pockets were tight at the end of Angelos’ tenure as owner, especially when his son John managed them from 2021-23, the start has brought new hope to the city. Peter Angelos said he was going to spend his first offseason improving the team, and that’s exactly what he did.

Now, 31 years later, the Orioles are back in that same spot. They have a young core in need of a few pieces, and a new ownership group led by David Rubinstein, who acquired most of the team in January and the last shares in August.

Rubinstein, like Angelos in 1993, said he would provide the money to give the team everything it needed to succeed. This winter is his chance to prove it. Will he act like Angelos did in his first offseason?

“We’re trying to win baseball games” Rubinstein said at The Banner’s iMPACT conference in Maryland. event, noting that he would likely have to spend money on it.

When Angelos bought the team on October 4, 1993, for $173 million, it was the highest amount ever paid for a sports franchise. there were questions about whether they would have anything left to sign free agents.

Angelos assured fans that the team would be active, but people remained skeptical of the Orioles. turned down a five-year, $27.5 million offer to Will Clark, a highly sought after first baseman.. Previous owner Eli Jacobs had been stingy, and after that deal fell through, fears spread that Angelos would be the same. Clark signed a $30 million deal with the Rangers after hitting .308 with 77 home runs and an All-Star selection in five years in Texas.

Angelos defended the move. He was worried about Clark’s health… the first of many deals that fell through in the Angelos case tenure due to health issues – and thought the Rangers were bluffing. A few weeks later, he made up for it by signing first baseman Rafael Palmeiro to a five-year contract worth $30 million. (The Orioles eventually signed Clark before the 1999 season).

“I never had any doubt that I would deliver what I promised.” Angelos said in 1994. “It was just a matter of waiting for the right things to come along. I think we got the right first baseman. … I just hope we make the playoffs. It would be a great time, wouldn’t it?”

This will be their signature move this offseason, but the team also signed third baseman Chris Sabo (one year, $2 million), starting pitcher Sid Fernandez (three years, $9 million) and reliever Lee Smith (one year, $1.5 million). million dollars). committing $42.5 million (equivalent to approximately $93 million today).

Palmeiro hit 182 home runs in his first of two appearances with the Orioles. The impact of other deals was mixed. Smith was an All-Star in his one season with the team, and Fernandez became the starter behind Mussina and Ben McDonald, making 26 starts before being traded midway through his contract in 1995. Szabo played 68 games in 1994, hitting .256. .

The Orioles increased their payroll from just over $27 million in 1993, 19th-highest in MLB, to just over $37 million in 1994, ninth-highest.

Although the personnel changes caused controversy, Angelos making good on his promise to spend the money seemed to outweigh whatever was going on in the warehouse.

“It was amazing” general manager Roland Hemond said in 1994. “Every morning you wake up and wonder, ‘What do we do next?’

The effects of the waste were not immediately felt because the strike ended the 1994 season early with the Orioles going 63–49 and in second place in the division, but the Orioles continued to move up the payroll in the coming seasons. From 1996 to 1998, they had the highest or second-highest payroll in MLB, with Angelos signing free agents such as Roberto Alomar, Mike Bordick and Eric Davis. In 1996, the Orioles made the playoffs for the first time since winning the World Series in 1983. They advanced to the American League Championship Series that year and then did the same in 1997.

That kind of jump in the rankings will be difficult for the Orioles to replicate in Rubinstein’s first offseason — the top 10 teams were separated by less than $10 million in 1994, compared to $100 million in 2024 — but they can make up for lost time. The team hasn’t signed a free agent to a guaranteed multi-year contract since 2018, and this will show that Rubenstein is committed to the team’s long-term success. The same can be said for contract extensions—the Orioles were successful early in Angelos’ tenure because they built the future around their core.

Not all owners immediately spend money, like Angelos did in 1993, or more recently, like Steve Cohen in 2022, when the new Mets owner guaranteed $500 million to free agents.

“I’m not in this to be mediocre,” Cohen said when he took over. “It’s just not my business. I want something great, and I know the fans want something great. That’s my goal and that’s what I’m going to do.”

John Sherman, who took over the Royals in 2019, took a more measured approach.

“You know, but you have to have a core. There’s no point in going out and signing one big free agent if you don’t have talented people around him,” he said at the inaugural press conference.

The Royals, like the Orioles, rank third in the bottom half of the market. They too went through a renovation, but when it came time to compete, they spent the money needed to do so.

Kansas City made little splash in the first few offseasons under Sherman, but last winter the Royals committed a franchise-record $109.5 million to reliable veterans including Seth Lugo, Will Smith and Michael Wacha. They also signed shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. extension that could be as long as 14 years and $377 million..

The wait paid off for the Royals as they advanced to the American League Division Series a year later, losing over 100 games.

The Orioles’ top prospects are already regular major leaguers. Their window is here.

Will Rubinstein follow Angelos’ example in his early years? Or will he try to wait it out, like Sherman, until he decides it’s time to invest?

This winter will provide the answer.