John and Georgia Angelos have hired Goldman Sachs to assess the prospects for selling the team

[Jim'sKid26]

Daniel Kaplan of the Athletic broke this story, https://theathletic.com/3623328/2022/09/23/baltimore-orioles-goldman-sale-angelos/

"John and Georgia Angelos are definitely evaluating options. There are several complicating factors that make a sale difficult, not the least of which is the taxes."

I think this is going to complicate this coming off season in a big way. After all, if you are a big time free agent, who are you actually negotiating with? And who are you going to work for? Timing could not be worse.

[Jammer7]

It is peculiar, but not unexpected. Perhaps there is already a group in play to buy. And they agreed with John to build it up and spend within certain parameters. I could see that happening. 

[Sports Guy]

I don’t really care if it slows things or not.  Nothing is better for this franchise than getting it out of that family’s hands. 
 

 

[Pickles]

11 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I don’t really care if it slows things or not.  Nothing is better for this franchise than getting it out of that family’s hands. 
 

 

Not to be contrarian, but things can always get worse.

[Gurgi]

1 minute ago, Pickles said:

Not to be contrarian, but things can always get worse.

Imagine if we got something like the Irsay family?   Things can always get worse.  

But on the whole getting the team away from the train wreck that is the Angelos family is likely to be better for us.  One caviat is that I am nervous that a new owner would want his own an and move Elias and I have come to really respect what Mike is doing here.  

[Frobby]

I don’t think a potential sale will complicate things this winter.  Players will go where the money is best.  The O’s are in a good position, with money to spend and a team that free agents can see is on the rise.   From reading the article, no sale is likely in the next 12 months unless Peter Angelos passes away and the Nats are sold first.  

Interesting to hear that the Lerners are asking $2.5 bb for the Nats.   Before the season, Forbes valued the Nats at $2 bb, the O’s at $1.375 bb.  Of course, “asking for” a price is not the same as getting it. 

The purchase price for the Nats in 2006 was $450 mm.

 

[CharmCityHokie]

1 minute ago, Gurgi said:

Imagine if we got something like the Irsay family?   Things can always get worse.  

But on the whole getting the team away from the train wreck that is the Angelos family is likely to be better for us.  One caviat is that I am nervous that a new owner would want his own an and move Elias and I have come to really respect what Mike is doing here.  

It's not just new ownership who might make that choice, Elias might not want to work for someone he's never met. I'd imagine all executives have provisions in their contracts that on the event of a sale of the team they can opt-out of their contract (Which honestly is only fair) and Elias would be a hot commodity. 

[Pickles]

1 minute ago, Gurgi said:

Imagine if we got something like the Irsay family?   Things can always get worse.  

But on the whole getting the team away from the train wreck that is the Angelos family is likely to be better for us.  One caviat is that I am nervous that a new owner would want his own an and move Elias and I have come to really respect what Mike is doing here.  

Yeah, I'm worried a hell of a lot more about how this affects Elias' status than I am about some potential FA.

[Frobby]

17 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I don’t really care if it slows things or not.  Nothing is better for this franchise than getting it out of that family’s hands. 
 

 

Well, I’m pretty happy with how John is running things.  But that could change.  

[Frobby]

Just now, Pickles said:

Yeah, I'm worried a hell of a lot more about how this affects Elias' status than I am about some potential FA.

Yeah, that makes sense.  I think any new owner would be crazy to change horses, but Elias may not want to operate under someone new.  I’m still not worried about this being an issue this offseason. 

[Jim'sKid26]

Elias could leave tomorrow and walk away with an enormous amount of prestige given what he has accomplished. The turn around is well underway and his part in it is nearly done. He can likely name his price at several organizations. 

The top FAs, and their agents, will have multiple choices. Baltimore, as a city, has almost no allure, (if we are honest) and an uncertainty in the ownership group is not going to be a selling point either. Whether the team is sold in 12 to 24 months makes for an unstable situation. I'm not so certain I would dismiss this out of hand.

[Sports Guy]

21 minutes ago, Pickles said:

Not to be contrarian, but things can always get worse.

They can..but I will take my chances 

[Sports Guy]

15 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Well, I’m pretty happy with how John is running things.  But that could change.  

I’m happy in certain ways for sure. But I know too much behind the scenes stuff to make me feel confident in him going forward.

 

[Tony-OH]

49 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

I don’t really care if it slows things or not.  Nothing is better for this franchise than getting it out of that family’s hands. 
 

 

Truth, but we are entering a window here where to get to the next level, some money needs to be spent. I doubt that's going to happen if they are trying to maximize the value of the team. 

[hutchead]

I don't get all this talk about how valuable Elias is. I mean don't get me wrong - I like the guy and I think he's done a great job with this rebuild. BUT, he rebuilt the Orioles using a tanking strategy that is no longer allowed. I highly doubt he could be as successful building another club.

Also, he has no experience whatsoever in the next important phase of the rebuild - signing the right free agents and trading from among his surplus minor leaguers to fill holes. I hope he can do as well in these areas.