Longtime Orioles owner Angelos dies at age 94
Peter Angelos, owner of a Baltimore Orioles team that endured long losing stretches and shrewd proprietor of a law firm that won high-profile cases against industry titans, died Saturday. He was 94.
Angelos had been ill for several years. His family announced his death in a statement released by the Orioles that thanked the caregivers “who brought comfort to him in his final years.”
Angelos’ death comes as his son, John, is in the process of selling the Orioles to a group headed by Carlyle Group Inc. co-founder David Rubenstein. Peter Angelos’ public role diminished significantly in his final years. According to a lawsuit involving his sons in 2022, he had surgery after his aortic valve failed in 2017.
“I offer my deepest condolences to the Angelos family on the passing of Peter Angelos,” Rubenstein said in a statement. “Peter made an indelible mark first in business and then in baseball. The city of Baltimore owes him a debt of gratitude for his stewardship of the Orioles across three decades and for positioning the team for great success.”
Angelos led a group of investors that bought the Orioles in August 1993. The group included writer Tom Clancy, filmmaker Barry Levinson and tennis star Pam Shriver. The price tag of $173 million — at the time the highest for a sports franchise — came in a sale forced by the bankruptcy of then-owner Eli Jacobs.
While remaining active in a law firm specializing in personal injury cases, Angelos assumed a handson approach to running his hometown team. Few player acquisitions were carried out without his approval, and his reputation for not spending millions on high-priced free agents belied his net worth, which in 2017 was estimated at $2.1 billion.
In 1996, his firm brought a lawsuit on behalf of the state of Maryland against tobacco giant Philip Morris, securing a $4.5 billion settlement. The Law Offices of Peter Angelos also earned millions of dollars through the settlement of asbestos cases, including a class-action suit on behalf of steel, shipyard and manufacturing facility workers.
The Orioles never won a World Series with Angelos as their owner. The team finally ended a run of 14 consecutive losing seasons in 2012, reaching the postseason under manager Buck Showalter.
⏹ BREWERS: Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Brandon Woodruff says he won’t pitch this season while he recovers from surgery to his throwing shoulder.
When Woodruff underwent the surgery in October, the Brewers said the twotime All-Star was expected to miss most, if not all, of the season. Woodruff told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he won’t pitch this year and is targeting a return in 2025.
Woodruff, 31, went 5-1 with a 2.28 ERA in 11 starts last year despite missing four months with a subscapularis strain in his shoulder. He hurt the shoulder again late in the season, preventing him from playing in the Brewers’ NL Wild Card series loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
⏹ PHILLIES: Lefthander Matt Strahm and the Philadelphia Phillies agreed Sunday to a $7.5 million contract for the 2025 season, a deal that includes a team option for 2026.
Strahm also has a $7.5 million salary this year in the final season of a $15 million, two-year contract. He would have been eligible for free agency after the World Series.
The 32-year-old was 9-5 with a 3.29 ERA and two saves last year in 10 starts and 46 relief appearances. He pitched 5 1/3 scoreless innings over seven postseason games and got a save in the final game of the NL Division Series against Atlanta.
His 2026 option could become guaranteed.
Philadelphia also traded outfielder Jake Cave to Colorado for cash. Cave hit .212 last year with five homers and 21 RBIs in 203 plate appearances over 65 games.
Right-handers Andrew Bellatti and José Ruiz were reassigned to minor league camp.