By George Solomon
                  Washington Post Staff Writer

                  Peter Angelos, the majority owner of the Baltimore Orioles, said yesterday
                  that despite reports to the contrary, the team would be interested in
                  scouting and signing Cuban defectors. "But we would not solicit or
                  encourage anyone to defect--rather we would discourage that," Angelos
                  said yesterday.

                  The Washington Times reported Wednesday that the Orioles were not
                  interested in signing Cuban defectors.

                  But Angelos, whose team played a home-and-home series against a
                  Cuban all-star team last year, said the Orioles eagerly scouted pitcher
                  Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez before he signed with the New York
                  Yankees several years ago.

                  "I was advised not to sign him," Angelos said. "Obviously, that was a
                  mistake."

                  Angelos said that if a Cuban player were to defect and was a prospect,
                  "He would be judged on his own merit, without political implications."