HHP: MASN/Nats/Orioles case (Inside the Courtroom)

[weams]

WAPO

Boras explained how Baltimore Orioles slugger Chris Davis would fit into Washington’s lineup, hitting behind Harper. Lerner countered by saying he did not want an exorbitant contract like Davis’s tying up long-term payroll that would hinder signing Strasburg or Harper, who is scheduled to become a free agent after the 2018 season.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/no-one-expected-a-stephen-strasburg-extension-then-scott-boras-made-a-call/2016/05/12/0e874fec-1865-11e6-9e16-2e5a123aac62_story.html?postshare=9561463084279168&tid=ss_tw

[Frobby]

Here's an update on the court case. Apparently, the April 12 mediation accomplished nothing, so on May 6, MASN/Orioles filed their opposition to the Nats' motion to compel arbitration, and made their own cross-motion to stay the arbitration while their appeal to the NY Supreme Court Appellate Division is pending. The Nats' response to this is due on May 27, and then MASN/Orioles, reply (solely on the motion to stay) is due on June 17. No hearing is scheduled on these motions, so this will continue to drag on.

In terms of the substance of the MASN/Orioles' opposition and cross-motion, it is mostly very technical and I won't bore you with the details. However, two things were noteworthy. First, it was mentioned that the Nats got a $9.6 mm profit distribution in 2015. Since they only own 17% of MASN, that implies that the Orioles must have gotten a profit distribution of $46.9 mm. That explains the Davis contract!

Second, MASN/Orioles aggressively attacked the notion that the Nats are hamstrung by the delays in this case, pointing out the Scherzer contract and the Murphy contract, and that the Nats have a top 10 payroll. (This filing was before the Strasburg contract, so you can bet that it will be mentioned in the next filing.) But more amazingly, MASN/Orioles argued that if the Nats can't attract free agents, it's because of management:

But if the Nationals have had any difficulty attracting talented players, as Mr. Cohen claims, it is not because of this dispute or a lack of financial resources. According to Ken Rosenthal, a prominent baseball journalist, the Nationals lost out on several high-profile free agents last winter, despite offering similar or more money, because theirclubhouse was notorious for being chaotic, mismanaged and perceived as a "less than happy and harmonious place." Hall Aff. para. 13, Ex. 22. In the same interview, Rosenthal observed "The idea that this is Team Toxic . . . that idea is out there. And the Nationals can dispute it all they want, but they've struck out a few times here...[W]hen you add it all up, you start to wonder." Id. at 3.

The Nationals' organization became headline news last September when Nationals' pitcher Jonathan Papelbon attacked teammate Bryce Harper in the dugout after a verbal altercation. Hall Aff. para. 15, Ex. 24. One Nationals player subsequently admitted that the Nationals' clubhouse is "a terrible environment" and "the amazing part is that everybody [on the team] feels this way." Hall Aff. para. 15, Ex. 25. As one ESPN reporter commented in January 2016: "[The] Nationals have to wonder: Does anyone want to play in D.C." Hall Aff. para. 14, Ex. 23.

That is a rather amazing broadside for the Orioles to take at another club in a public court filing. If you thought there was bad blood before, things just got a whole lot worse. And I bet the other teams are not happy at all with this.

[Filmstudy]

This entire thing has always confused me. From the outside and with very little information it seems like the Orioles are getting screwed.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The Orioles and Orioles fans are getting screwed in the sense MLB should have NEVER moved another team to DC.

That drastically ate into the O's market (and it was the richer portion of the market) when there were other reasonable solutions (like contracting the Twins & Expos or finding a different place for the Expos). As a consolation for having a big chunk of their/our market torched, the lopsided MASN agreement was put in place to compensate the Orioles and their fans. The Nats have now been in DC for 11 full seasons and want to change the deal. As an Orioles fan, I want that deal to be a perpetuity. It can end when this version of the Senators moves to Jacksonville or Mexico City or the Moon.

And at that time, we can welcome those DC suburbanites and displaced politicos back into our stadium, despite our distaste for their fickle odor.

When the Expos moved there, I said the Orioles were immediately in a death struggle with that organization. Only 1 will survive and anything positive that happens to the Nationals is, by it's nature, a negative for the O's.

[Filmstudy]

That is a rather amazing broadside for the Orioles to take at another club in a public court filing. If you thought there was bad blood before, things just got a whole lot worse. And I bet the other teams are not happy at all with this.

Do you see this tactic by the O's as a sign of desperation?

I do want them to win at any cost, because I think the franchise is at stake, but a simple, clean win based on the terms of the original agreement would be best.

[schittenden]

Do you see this tactic by the O's as a sign of desperation?

I do want them to win at any cost, because I think the franchise is at stake, but a simple, clean win based on the terms of the original agreement would be best.

All is fair in love and war, and litigation is war.

[MagicBird]

All is fair in love and war, and litigation is war.

Yea, I dont see it as a big deal. If its true its true and the Orioles would be foolish not use it in an advantageous way.

[SteveA]

Here's an update on the court case. Apparently, the April 12 mediation accomplished nothing, so on May 6, MASN/Orioles filed their opposition to the Nats' motion to compel arbitration, and made their own cross-motion to stay the arbitration while their appeal to the NY Supreme Court Appellate Division is pending. The Nats' response to this is due on May 27, and then MASN/Orioles, reply (solely on the motion to stay) is due on June 17. No hearing is scheduled on these motions, so this will continue to drag on.

In terms of the substance of the MASN/Orioles' opposition and cross-motion, it is mostly very technical and I won't bore you with the details. However, two things were noteworthy. First, it was mentioned that the Nats got a $9.6 mm profit distribution in 2015. Since they only own 17% of MASN, that implies that the Orioles must have gotten a profit distribution of $46.9 mm. That explains the Davis contract!

Second, MASN/Orioles aggressively attacked the notion that the Nats are hamstrung by the delays in this case, pointing out the Scherzer contract and the Murphy contract, and that the Nats have a top 10 payroll. (This filing was before the Strasburg contract, so you can bet that it will be mentioned in the next filing.) But more amazingly, MASN/Orioles argued that if the Nats can't attract free agents, it's because of management:

That is a rather amazing broadside for the Orioles to take at another club in a public court filing. If you thought there was bad blood before, things just got a whole lot worse. And I bet the other teams are not happy at all with this.

Wow.

Anyone else enjoy the irony of Angelos using quotes from noted Angelos-hater Ken Rosenthal in his filing?

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[Frobby]

All is fair in love and war, and litigation is war.

When you are litigating with a party with whom you have a permanent relationship, it is sometimes prudent to draw lines. Personally, I feel that MASN/Orioles crossed it. The Nats' argument about their budget was specious enough on its face that MASN/Orioles didn't need to take potshots at what goes on in their clubhouse, especially quoting Ken Rosenthal's sensationalistic hyperbole as though that makes it a fact.

[schittenden]

When you are litigating with a party with whom you have a permanent relationship, it is sometimes prudent to draw lines. Personally, I feel that MASN/Orioles crossed it. The Nats' argument about their budget was specious enough on its face that MASN/Orioles didn't need to take potshots at what goes on in their clubhouse, especially quoting Ken Rosenthal's sensationalistic hyperbole as though that makes it a fact.

If it's already been in the press, I don't see why it's a big deal. It's in the public domain. They aren't saying anything that people haven't seen before.

[DK745]

Tried searching to see if it was mentioned yet and didn't find it anywhere, so here's Rob Manfred's comments yesterday about the MASN situation. Doesn't sound like anything new other than thinking he and the Nats are in the right on it. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/sports/wp/2016/05/19/manfred-orioles-masn-ignoring-fundamentals-of-revenue-share-agreement-with-nationals/

[Frobby]

The Nats and MLB filed their reply papers on their motion to compel MASN to arbitrate before the RSDC. A lot of it is repetitive, but there were a few very interesting tidbits, including the following:

The Nationals’ profit share also is dwarfed by what the Orioles took home in MASN profit distributions in 2015 (about $50 million, compared to the $9.6 million that MASN says was paid to the Nationals), and by what MASN has paid the Orioles in profit shares since 2012 ($200 million, compared to the Nationals’ $34 million).

So there you go, the O's are getting $50 mm/yr in profit distributions from MASN, on top of the rights fees they receive.

The other three notable tidbits were:

(1) MLB sent a letter on May 27 saying that absent a court order to the contrary, the RSDC would convene a new arbitration this August,

(2) The RSDC has been reconstituted and now is comprised of Mark Attanasio (Brewers), Kevin Mather (Mariners) and Mark Shapiro (Blue Jays, and

(3) MASN still has not taken certain steps to perfect its appeal from Justice Marks' prior order, and the appellate proceedings could still take another year, according to the Nats.

MASN has papers due to the court on June 17, and then the matter will be in the hands of the court. No oral hearing is scheduled.

[SteveA]

The Nats and MLB filed their reply papers on their motion to compel MASN to arbitrate before the RSDC. A lot of it is repetitive, but there were a few very interesting tidbits, including the following:

So there you go, the O's are getting $50 mm/yr in profit distributions from MASN, on top of the rights fees they receive.

The other three notable tidbits were:

(1) MLB sent a letter on May 27 saying that absent a court order to the contrary, the RSDC would convene a new arbitration this August,

(2) The RSDC has been reconstituted and now is comprised of Mark Attanasio (Brewers), Kevin Mather (Mariners) and Mark Shapiro (Blue Jays, and

(3) MASN still has not taken certain steps to perfect its appeal from Justice Marks' prior order, and the appellate proceedings could still take another year, according to the Nats.

MASN has papers due to the court on June 17, and then the matter will be in the hands of the court. No oral hearing is scheduled.

Everything the Orioles front office does makes me feel like they are trying to keep this string of .500+ seasons going through 2018, when DD & Buck's contracts run out.

And that dovetails with dragging this out and keeping as much of the profit in the short term, even though we know we are going to eventually have to fork over some [TBD] much larger sum of money to the Nats.

If the world ends shortly after October 2018, this will have been a brilliant strategy all around.

I guess the only question is how long will the next Dark Ages be?

[weams]

Everything the Orioles front office does makes me feel like they are trying to keep this string of .500+ seasons going through 2018, when DD & Buck's contracts run out.

And that dovetails with dragging this out and keeping as much of the profit in the short term, even though we know we are going to eventually have to fork over some [TBD] much larger sum of money to the Nats.

If the world ends shortly after October 2018, this will have been a brilliant strategy all around.

I guess the only question is how long will the next Dark Ages be?

I agree. Well, I'm getting up there in age.

[BradyBunch]

So there you go, the O's are getting $50 mm/yr in profit distributions from MASN, on top of the rights fees they receive.

Which equates to each team if no profits are distributed (despite agreement signed) would only get an addition $30m a year ($76m total this year). Leaving the Nats short of it's $100m goal. Leave it to the Nats not to figure that out.

The other three notable tidbits were:

(1) MLB sent a letter on May 27 saying that absent a court order to the contrary, the RSDC would convene a new arbitration this August,

(2) The RSDC has been reconstituted and now is comprised of Mark Attanasio (Brewers), Kevin Mather (Mariners) and Mark Shapiro (Blue Jays, and

(3) MASN still has not taken certain steps to perfect its appeal from Justice Marks' prior order, and the appellate proceedings could still take another year, according to the Nats.

MASN has papers due to the court on June 17, and then the matter will be in the hands of the court. No oral hearing is scheduled.

Oh how nice.. not one Nationals NL East Rival in arb hearing.

[Frobby]

There has been some recent interim skirmishing going on regarding MLB's announcement that the renewed RSDC hearing would take place in the first week of August barring a court decision to the contrary. On June 7, MASN/Orioles sent copies of correspondence related to this to the judge's law clerk, saying they wanted to discuss it at a scheduled June 9 status conference with the law clerk. MLB sent a reply the same day saying that the topic was not appropriate for a status conference with the law clerk, and that either it should be off the table or heard by the judge. It's not evident from the court record whether the June 9 status conference occurred or not, or whether the topic of the August RSDC proceeding was addressed or not. Meanwhile, MASN's final brief on the motion to stay the arbitration is due this Friday, June 17.