The Table Setter, Jan. 31, 2024: New Owners in Charm City, Turner to Jays, Jorge's Hitter Eyes

The American League East had the most active day Tuesday, and while we might not see massive or immediate change because of other move, the ripples sure will be interesting.

Angelos Family to Sell Orioles
News broke Tuesday evening that the Angelos family (namely, John Angelos, who inherited the team from his father, Peter) has agreed to sell the Baltimore Orioles to a group headed by billionaires David Rubenstein and Mike Arougheti. The deal values the organization just north of $1.7 billion. It's a welcome development in Baltimore, not least because Rubenstein is a native son of the city and viewed as a dedicated Orioles fan. He's certainly not short on money.

It's only natural to flinch at the modifier many reports have attached to Rubenstein and Arougheti's status: "private-equity". Private equity investments have an (extremely well-deserved) awful reputation, lately, as several of them have taken over respected and profitable entities and made them either worse or outright defunct. It's probably not necessary to wring those hands so tightly, in this case. Notably good ownership groups in Los Angeles and San Diego have been headed by people who made their money in private equity. Rubenstein gives them credibility and local roots, and the involvement of Cal Ripken Jr. deepens both. 

Besides, it's a bit fitting that this group would take over for the Angelos clan, who (in turn) bought out a New York venture capitalist (the square to private equity's rectangle) Eli Jacobs 30 years ago. Peter was (intermittently) a good steward for the local institution, but his progeny have been inattentive, ineffectual, and cynical. Rubenstein and company are an upgrade, if only because of their massively superior spending power. Remember, this team just renewed its lease at Camden Yards for decades to come, so things are looking up on the Harbor.

Jays Round Out Lineup with Ol' Red Beard
It's been a difficult winter to be a Blue Jays fan, and the reaction was mixed even to this news, but Justin Turner signed a one-year, $13-million deal with Toronto Tuesday. That's a healthy payday for a 38-year-old, especially with the offseason so close to its close, Turner figures to be the DH much of the time, and could slot in occasionally at either first or third base. Unquestionably, adding him makes the Jays better, but it could forestall some other moves that fans might have preferred.

While the goal and primary focus for the Twins right now should be on winning the AL Central, signings like this one have an impact. The Jays will be a contender for a Wild Card berth again in 2024, and whether that makes them a threat to the Twins' own hopes for that kind of entry to the playoffs or a candidate to come back and see them at Target Field again come October, they're relevant.

Polanco Has Hitter Eyes
When I think about Jorge Polanco, my mind always goes straight to Roger Angell. The best baseball writer who ever lived (and one of the great American essayists of the 20th century, within sport or beyond it), Angell is never far from my mind. He did everything well on the page, but one of my favorite habits of his was the tendency to carefully, perspicaciously study the faces and bodies of his subjects and describe them with evocative elan.

In particular, Angell saw people's personalities, their capacities, and their dispositions in their eyes. That can be a trap, of course, but he did it rarely enough to make it always feel earned and serious. One thing he noticed and jotted down multiple times was a belief that great hitters tended to have "oddly protruberant eyes."

That quote was about Carl Yastrzemski. On a separate occasion, Angell spent time on Al Kaline. "Somebody mentioned Kaline's extraordinary eyes, which are protruberant and pale and somehow lynxlike," he wrote in 1972. "'He has sniper's eyes,'" he quoted Billy Martin as saying. "'He's out to kill you.'"

That's how we tend to react, if someone has unusually large eyes and fixes them on us with intensity. Eyes like Yastrzemski's and Kaline's can be startling; they give the impression that their possessor is running on special adrenaline. They look like they see just a little bit more than you can, and often, they really do. Polanco has those hitterish eyes--big, staring, but intelligent and lethal. You could see, in the arc of his career and sometimes in the arc of a single swing, the way those eyes fed his success.

An attentive baseball fan can always find the next enjoyable wrinkle, the next little trait that makes a player more fun and rich a study than their peers. Polanco's exile to Seattle won't mean the end of seeing those little things that make you smile and think of someone like Roger Angell. Still, when someone who makes the game so vivid and beautiful goes, it's a sad occasion. Hopefully, the Twins will make this move worthwhile by upgrading their roster more than the Polanco trade itself did.

Would the Twins sell for more or less than the Orioles? With Turner off the board, whom do you want to see the front office sign to strengthen the lineup? Do you have a player who draws you into a deeper immersion in the game, for reasons their baseball card can't explain? Start the conversation below.