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Could the Orioles Move Out of Baltimore in 2024?

oriolesfan97

By oriolesfan97
in Orioles Talk

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spiritof66 Hangout Grand Counsel

spiritof66

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I've posted on this subject several times, so I'll try to brief. Right now, there's no great place to move. The most logical options all have some uncertainties associated with them, and they are being held in reserve for Oakland and Tampa Bay if they can't get their stadium situations, and two expansion teams. All that could change by 2023 through the rapid growth of population and wealth in Portland or Nashville or elsewhere. On the other hand, Miami or another marginal franchise might also be looking to move by then. The Orioles, with their stadium and their history, almost certainly would be given last choice.

MLB does not want to admit that a franchise has failed anywhere, least of all a city with an adequate place to play and a long baseball history. While the MLB owners might be willing to approve a move that can be blamed on the lack of a decent  stadium or other external factors, I think they'd be very reluctant to say in effect, "The owners of the Orioles say that can't make a go of it in Camden Yards. We'll let them try Montreal."  And the Commissioner doesn't want to be known as the guy who cut Baltimore loose; I'm pretty sure he'd rather be the guy who saved Baltimore baseball from the Angeloses.

There's no question that under MLB's current setup the Orioles are in a difficult position,  a combination of circumstances imposed on them (the AL East demographics, the advent of the Nats,, and the  relative lack of  wealthy, institutional season-ticket buyers), and some of it self-imposed (gross mismanagement for most of the past 25 years, poor decisions about how to invest their resources, Angelos's selfish short-sightedness, screwing up the MASN deal in a way that enables the Nats and MLB to drain much of the value from it). It's a challenge, but not now, and in my opinion not likely to be, of the dimensions currently faced by the A's or Rays. 

Especially if the Angelos family still owns the franchise early in the next decade (a grisly thought, I know) and seeks to move it, I think the odds are about 100 to 1 that MLB and the owners would encourage a sale of the team to someone committed to do better in Baltimore. While it remains to be seen how successful a prudent ownership group, with money to invest in  world-wide scouting and development, would fare in Baltimore, I think that seeing that play out would  be at least a 10 to 15 year process. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Rene88 Hangout Grand Counsel

Rene88

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I just heard someone of interest talk about expansion and the cities mentioned were numerous. I think there is no shortage of cities. Montreal, Mexico City, Las Vegas, Charlotte, Portland & the great city of Pasadena, Maryland. Okay, having a little fun with the last one but there are no shortage of cities. I think this person (I wish I could remember) stated that both Tampa and Oakland need to be resolved first before expansion however.

I have brought this up a few times. It scares me to think about but Camden Yards is a treasure so that gives me hope. However, the Orioles need to get their organization structure functional to prevent a move-friendly owner from buying the team. I doubt the Angelos family would move, I can all be guarantee that would not happen. Say what you want about the Angelos family, they wouldn't move the team under their ownership IMO.

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NashLumber Hangout Grand Counsel

NashLumber

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5 hours ago, MDtransplant757 said:

Nashville or Salt Lake City would be my guesses. 2 prime and rapidly expanding markets that would be uncontestable with other teams in the league. 

The few articles I’ve read have in common the cities of Portland and Montreal as prime options as far as expansion is concerned. Not sure about a team moving, but Charlotte has also been mentioned if you want to count a podcast I’ve heard on the subject. 

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Tx Oriole Hangout Grand Counsel

Tx Oriole

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7 hours ago, oriolesfan97 said:

Camden Yards lease with the Orioles is expiring after 2023, and with the TV rights dispute with MASN and the Nats entering a new MLB arbitration panel, a loss in the courtroom for the Orioles will be so bad financially, that relocation becomes a possibility.

 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/blog/bs-sp-schmuck-orioles-relocation-20180622-story.html

I sure as hell hope not. I'm still upset with that jackass Bob Irsay for moving the Colts. I've been an O's fan since 1959. That'd be two teams I have cheered for since my childhood being moved by some  AHole. 

 

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24fps Hangout Grand Counsel

24fps

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8 hours ago, MDtransplant757 said:

Nashville or Salt Lake City would be my guesses. 2 prime and rapidly expanding markets that would be uncontestable with other teams in the league. 

I vote for Nashville.  20 minutes away.  WooHoo!  As long as they can field a better team than Vandy that is...

I'm not sure about uncontestable though.  Mlb.tv blacks out St. Louis, Cincy and Atlanta for me.

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FlipTheBird All-Star

FlipTheBird

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3 hours ago, birdwatcher55 said:

My point is it happens. It could happen again.

Impossible? No.

Incredibly improbable? Yes.

We all know that putting the Nats in DC was bad for baseball in Baltimore, but it's far from a franchise-ending move.

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