Owner Peter Angelos

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Orioles owner Peter Angelos emerged from the club's spring training offices moments before yesterday's exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox and told a group of waiting reporters that he was there to watch a game and not to make statements. Then, for the next 15 minutes, Angelos candidly and, at times, playfully answered a barrage of pointed questions ranging from baseball's economics to his reasoning for vetoing a trade involving second baseman Brian Roberts to his own future involvement with the franchise he has run since 1993.

The Orioles will at least temporarily wait to begin a search for a successor to recently ousted general manager Frank Wren, leaving the same five-man committee that advised majority owner Peter Angelos on the hiring of manager Mike Hargrove to direct baseball operations."

Two days after the Orioles had played out their second straight losing season, six months of organizational rancor and intrigue reached a climax among first-year general manager Frank Wren, chief operating officer Joe Foss and Orioles general counsel Russell Smouse. A meeting Tuesday in a B&O warehouse third-floor conference room aired issues involving the team's revered third baseman, organizational control, Wren's leadership and his ability to deal with majority owner Peter Angelos.Finally, Wren left Camden Yards that afternoon knowing that he would soon be the Orioles' former general manager.

Orioles pitcher Doug Johns' status with the team remains unchanged despite his arrest Monday.Johns was released on his own recognizance yesterday morning after being arrested late Monday night in downtown Baltimore, about 3 1/2 hours after the conclusion of the team's season-opening win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Camden Yards.Johns has been charged with possession of marijuana, possession of drug paraphernalia, driving while intoxicated and failure to obey a traffic signal. A court date has been set for June 2, when the Orioles are in Seattle to close a nine-game West Coast trip.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Orioles majority owner Peter Angelos said yesterday it is possible but increasingly unlikely he will reach an agreement with left fielder B. J. Surhoff or starting pitcher Scott Erickson on a contract extension before Opening Day, meaning the club may begin the season with an unprecedented 14 players -- 56 percent of its roster -- as pending free agents."

Kevin Malone should be the Orioles' next general manager, and owner Peter Angelos should give him the authority to pick his own manager, farm director and scouting director.Will it happen?Not a chance.Malone is not a puppet, can't be a puppet, will never be a puppet. He's not going to accept the job unless Angelos allows him to run the team. And there's no indication that Angelos is even willing to hire him."I would have interest in the job, but I think there would have to be some changes made," Malone told the Associated Press.

Novelist Tom Clancy's hunt for a purple NFL team may now have to go through the office of commissioner Paul Tagliabue.Clancy held up what he said was a signed contract to buy the Minnesota Vikings at a news conference yesterday in Minneapolis, pledged not to move the team and promised to make the Vikings as popular in the Twin Cities as the Orioles are in Baltimore.Brushing off the protests of team president Roger Headrick, who contends he has matched Clancy's offer of about $200 million for the team, the Baltimore native said, "Here's the deal.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos is ready to take up the cause again. He tried hard during baseball's last labor dispute to convince fellow owners to focus their revenue-sharing program on new stadium construction, and still feels that it would be a better way to use the millions that are being transferred from large-market to small-market clubs.Angelos talked informally to some other owners about the idea during the last quarterly ownership meeting and could bring it up again when Major League Baseball begins to devise its strategy for the next collective bargaining talks with the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos said yesterday he has declined to increase his bid for the Washington Redskins, but hasn't received any formal notification that he's no longer in the running to get the team.Angelos said he assumes he's no longer in contention, but he dislikes the blind bidding process being conducted by the investment banking firm of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter in which he doesn't know what the other bidders are offering."Let's just say the whole process and procedure is not one that we find appealing," Angelos said.

While stopping shy of classifying his foundering team in transition, Orioles majority owner Peter Angelos insists that whatever changes are made to a $69 million clubhouse will be pointed toward winning in 1999 and not toward a lengthy and painful reconstruction.It appears increasingly likely someone other than Orioles general manager Pat Gillick will supervise any organizational reshaping. Gillick, in the last year of a three-year, $2.4 million contract, sidestepped questions about his future yesterday, saying, "I've still got a responsibility and a job to do. We have decisions to make the rest of this season."

ANAHEIM, Calif. - - Jim Johnson has been so solid since assuming a setup role in the Orioles' bullpen that when he struggles, it becomes a topic of conversation around the club. That has been the case his past two outings. In Wednesday's gut-wrenching loss to the Boston Red Sox, Johnson walked and surrendered a home run to the only batters he faced, a major reason the Orioles coughed up a four-run ninth-inning lead. In the Orioles' 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday, Johnson allowed a run on a hit, a walk and two wild pitches over 1 1/3 innings.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos, who once fought to keep a team out of Washington, said yesterday that he hopes the Nationals are successful and doesn't mind if Orioles fans occasionally slip away to catch a game at the new stadium. "There's no law against visiting the other franchise," Angelos said in an interview with The Sun. "One's a National League city and one's an American League city." Angelos had once argued the region couldn't support two franchises. "Originally, I said [Washington and Baltimore]

There are plenty of reasons I love Opening Day, not the least of which is the opportunity to see Jim Hunter in a tuxedo. And that's no rental tux. My man Hunter will be the master of ceremonies today for the pre-game festivities at Camden Yards, which means the afternoon will go off without a hitch unless Jim suddenly decides to jump on Andy MacPhail's Brutal Honesty Bandwagon and starts tackling guys on the orange carpet. That's unlikely, but even Jimmy knows that this is going to be a rebuilding year and that he'll have to temper his expectations.

Orioles owner Peter Angelos didn't veto a proposed trade that would have sent ace pitcher Erik Bedard to the Seattle Mariners for a package headed by young outfielder Adam Jones, club president Andy MacPhail said yesterday. Asked whether Angelos were responsible for nixing a deal, MacPhail responded, "No." He wouldn't elaborate or provide details on why the talks appear to have hit a snag - though the deal could still happen. It's believed that the two sides agreed to the framework of a trade that would have sent Bedard to the Mariners for Jones, left-handed relief pitcher George Sherrill and 19-year-old starting pitcher Chris Tillman, along with at least one other player.

Give Brian Roberts credit for one thing. It took him only four days to process the revelations in the Mitchell Report and come out with a heartfelt apology for his fleeting experimentation with anabolic steroids. Even the Orioles moved quickly to e-mail an apology to season ticket-holders Monday after their renewal mailers failed to mention a modest hike in the price of some seats. It is the holiday season, which is a time for celebration and - now more than ever - the spirit of forgiveness, but you generally don't get forgiveness unless you ask for it. That's why Roberts made the right decision to throw himself on the mercy of Baltimore sports fans while so many others have tried to get by on lame excuses or tortured silence.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.-- --One year after the Great Brian Roberts Trade Veto of 2006, the Orioles' diminutive and popular second baseman is back at the center of wheeling and dealing at baseball's winter meetings. This time, the hot rumor is that he's going to the Chicago Cubs for a couple of young players, including a starting pitcher, possibly 21-year-old right-hander Sean Gallagher. This time, dealing Roberts would represent so much more than last year, when he almost was shipped to the Atlanta Braves - along with pitcher Hayden Penn for second baseman Marcus Giles and first baseman Adam LaRoche - before the deal was nixed by Orioles owner Peter Angelos.

Changes in command under owner Peter Angelos: On Sam Perlozzo 2005-2007 Hire: "There's an old expression - `rough seas make a great sea cap' - and I think we got to see the best of Sam in a very difficult time [as interim manager]. I was very impressed the way he handled the club." - Executive vice president Mike Flanagan, Oct. 12, 2005 Departure: "We felt Sam was prepared. We felt the club was prepared to do battle every night. For whatever reason, it just wasn't working." - Flanagan, yesterday On Lee Mazzilli 2004-2005 Hire: "They [Flanagan and Jim Beattie]

The most intriguing aspect of yesterday's Orioles shake-up wasn't the most obvious. Everybody knew Sam Perlozzo was managing on borrowed time. Nobody knew that owner Peter Angelos actually could see the bigger picture. If it is true that he is hammering out a deal to make former Twins and Cubs executive Andy MacPhail the highest-ranking nonfamily member in the Orioles organization, it might be a sign that he finally has figured out that traditional management principles are traditional for a reason.

So far, Orioles owner Peter Angelos has exercised his right to remain silent about the status of embattled manager Sam Perlozzo, but it isn't hard to imagine what's going on in his head. He has spent the past month waiting and hoping that the Orioles would right themselves and allow him to avoid a decision he does not want to make. For all the talk about his supposed volatility and vindictiveness, he has never had a quick hook. Inside Orioles place Baez on 15-day DL, release Williams.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Orioles owner Peter Angelos emerged from the club's spring training offices moments before yesterday's exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox and told a group of waiting reporters that he was there to watch a game and not to make statements. Then, for the next 15 minutes, Angelos candidly and, at times, playfully answered a barrage of pointed questions ranging from baseball's economics to his reasoning for vetoing a trade involving second baseman Brian Roberts to his own future involvement with the franchise he has run since 1993.