Is Angelos' family legal issue close to resolution?

[spiritof66]

2 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

I'm surprised to hear you say that. I men, you're the lawyer around these parts, but I would think it would be tough to sell a team where there's a legal dispute over ownership.

So far as I know, there's no dispute over who owns the team: Peter Angelos owns the controlling interest (estimated at 80 to 90 percent), and the others listed on the Orioles website own the rest. Lou's lawsuit involves who has the right to control the Orioles while Peter remains alive. It's pretty clear to me that Georgia Angelos holds that control (by virtue of 2018 powers of attorney from Peter) and that for now she has delegated decision-making authority to John. Unless she changes her mind, the team won't be sold while Peter is alive. So, while Lou and John may be able to find stuff to fight about, there's no immediate prospect of selling the team.

Peter Angelos's will (or living trust) may direct that the team be sold; if so, his estate will sell the team, and the proceeds will go into his estate (together with the estate tax obligations from the sale). If Peter's will/trust does not direct a sale of the team, it appears (from Lou's complaint) that John and Lou will inherit Peter's interest in the team. It's clear to me (for reasons I won't go into) that they will have to sell the team. I suppose John and Lou could fight about things like when to sell, when to sell, what process to use (e.g., auctions or sealed bids), which bidder to sell to, or who gets the proceeds, and a dispute of that sort may hold things up a bit. But I doubt that MLB will put up with that for long -- this isn't Oakland or Tampa Bay.  

I don't think those kinds of squabbles over money between two rich and soon-to-be-enormously-rich kids will affect the attractiveness of a team to prospective buyers or their valuations of the franchise. There may be a few extra hoops to jump through in order to get the sale done, but I don't see why that would affect bidders vying to pay over a billion dollars for a rarely available asset. 

[interloper]

9 hours ago, SteveA said:

 Bob Nightengale:

"Peter Angelos' family legal dispute is nearing a conclusion, which should trigger the Baltimore Orioles going on sale soon in the seller's market".

Maybe he'll be right, but this feels like a super bold and frankly lazy statement.

Edited January 9, 2023 by interloper

[forphase1]

If the court battle is over who controls the team while Peter is still alive but unable to run things,  then that could also impact who is authorized to sign the new lease with the city.  Signing free agents is one thing,  and clearly Elias can do that.   But the signing of a long term lease may require some resolution as to who has the right to sign said lease. 

[Aristotelian]

10 hours ago, spiritof66 said:

So far as I know, there's no dispute over who owns the team: Peter Angelos owns the controlling interest (estimated at 80 to 90 percent), and the others listed on the Orioles website own the rest. Lou's lawsuit involves who has the right to control the Orioles while Peter remains alive. It's pretty clear to me that Georgia Angelos holds that control (by virtue of 2018 powers of attorney from Peter) and that for now she has delegated decision-making authority to John. Unless she changes her mind, the team won't be sold while Peter is alive. So, while Lou and John may be able to find stuff to fight about, there's no immediate prospect of selling the team.

Peter Angelos's will (or living trust) may direct that the team be sold; if so, his estate will sell the team, and the proceeds will go into his estate (together with the estate tax obligations from the sale). If Peter's will/trust does not direct a sale of the team, it appears (from Lou's complaint) that John and Lou will inherit Peter's interest in the team. It's clear to me (for reasons I won't go into) that they will have to sell the team. I suppose John and Lou could fight about things like when to sell, when to sell, what process to use (e.g., auctions or sealed bids), which bidder to sell to, or who gets the proceeds, and a dispute of that sort may hold things up a bit. But I doubt that MLB will put up with that for long -- this isn't Oakland or Tampa Bay.  

I don't think those kinds of squabbles over money between two rich and soon-to-be-enormously-rich kids will affect the attractiveness of a team to prospective buyers or their valuations of the franchise. There may be a few extra hoops to jump through in order to get the sale done, but I don't see why that would affect bidders vying to pay over a billion dollars for a rarely available asset. 

I believe the team is now in a trust and the issue concerns control of the trust. There is also the question of power of attorney while Peter is incapacitated.

[Es4M11]

15 hours ago, Frobby said:

I’m sure it boils down to haggling for a few more goodies before the Feb. 1 deadline for the O’s to exercise their 5-year option.  I think it’s likely a long-term deal is finalized by that date. 

If this is the case, this type of brinksmanship from the Orioles is very off-putting to me as a fan of the organization. How much more do they really need to extract from the city and state? What has this club done to deserve such favorable status? As if they haven't been a trashy organization for most of my lifetime. And here the Orioles/Angelos family are playing chicken with the city, state, and fan base. Tone deaf if you ask me. Enough with the lip service, get a deal done.

[Going Underground]

According to the articles a few months back that said the Oriole dispute will have no bearing on being able to sign a lease That is what the Maryland Stadium Authority said.

[Tony-OH]

13 hours ago, Moose Milligan said:

What?

I'll trade you Snyder for Biscotti straight up and you'll quickly realize how good you've had it.

Never said I would trade for Snyder, nor did I say Bisciotti is anywhere near as bad as Snyder, just said I'd be praying he sells after Snyder. Bisciotti no longer cares about anything other than taking money baths that he gets from owning a NFL team. He's given Harbaugh a lifetime contract despite winning just two playoff games since 2013. 

He's about the old boys club and not keeping up with the new youth of the NFL. 

Bisciotti is certainly 3rd on the lists of bad owners in the area behind Snyder and the Angelos family, but he needs to go as well.

 

[clapdiddy]

9 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Never said I would trade for Snyder, nor did I say Bisciotti is anywhere near as bad as Snyder, just said I'd be praying he sells after Snyder. Bisciotti no longer cares about anything other than taking money baths that he gets from owning a NFL team. He's given Harbaugh a lifetime contract despite winning just two playoff games since 2013. 

He's about the old boys club and not keeping up with the new youth of the NFL. 

Bisciotti is certainly 3rd on the lists of bad owners in the area behind Snyder and the Angelos family, but he needs to go as well.

 

If you would have said this 5 years ago, I'd say you were crazy.  But now, I think you are right.  Bisciotti doesn't seem to care about winning.   Decosta and/or Harbaugh need to go, but they seem to be "untouchable". 

I'd be all for cleaning house and getting some fresh new thinking into the GM and coaching roles.  

[eddie83]

45 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

According to the articles a few months back that said the Oriole dispute will have no bearing on being able to sign a lease That is what the Maryland Stadium Authority said.

Makes sense. Nobody has any idea who the next owners are. This month we should hear about about a long term agreement like the Ravens.
 

My guess is Nightengale is hearing the family is closing in on settling their internal issues. 
 

Lou is the one who looks desperate. Maybe he can get some cash somehow to appease him until their father passes and the team is sold. I may be way off but John does not look like he is in any hurry to sell. 

[Frobby]

47 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

Never said I would trade for Snyder, nor did I say Bisciotti is anywhere near as bad as Snyder, just said I'd be praying he sells after Snyder. Bisciotti no longer cares about anything other than taking money baths that he gets from owning a NFL team. He's given Harbaugh a lifetime contract despite winning just two playoff games since 2013. 

He's about the old boys club and not keeping up with the new youth of the NFL. 

Bisciotti is certainly 3rd on the lists of bad owners in the area behind Snyder and the Angelos family, but he needs to go as well.

 

As an outsider who doesn’t care about the Ravens at all and has dwindling interest in the NFL, what the heck is wrong with Biscotti?   I’m looking at a team that’s had two losing seasons in the last 15 years, one of which was an 8-9 season.   They’ve been in the playoffs 4 of the last 5 years.  All I can say is, be careful what you wish for.   

[Tony-OH]

1 hour ago, clapdiddy said:

If you would have said this 5 years ago, I'd say you were crazy.  But now, I think you are right.  Bisciotti doesn't seem to care about winning.   Decosta and/or Harbaugh need to go, but they seem to be "untouchable". 

I'd be all for cleaning house and getting some fresh new thinking into the GM and coaching roles.  

I agree 100% on all. I used to be a huge fan of Bisciotti until I've seen him just disappear and allow DeCosta and Harbaugh to run this franchise into mediocrity because at the end of the day, he's making a ton of cash so why change?

[SteveA]

Just now, Tony-OH said:

I agree 100% on all. I used to be a huge fan of Bisciotti until I've seen him just disappear and allow DeCosta and Harbaugh to run this franchise into mediocrity because at the end of the day, he's making a ton of cash so why change?

I get your issues with the coaching staff but not sure I agree on DeCosta.

I mean, we all agree that Harbaugh/Roman have probably cost the Ravens some games this year.   So we are 10-7 but with better coaching we might be 12-5.   So DeCosta put together a team with 12-5 talent and we're supposed to  want him gone? 

Yes, I am aware of individual criticisms we can make like the issues at WR.   But in the end, without every drafting in the top 10, DeCosta has put together a string of talented playoff caliber teams almost every year.  (Yes even last year had the talent to be a playoff team if not for a historically bad rash of critical season ending injuries).

Fire Roman?   Absolutely.

Fire Harbaugh?   I won't shed any tears as long as we get a good replacement.   I think he's a good coach and would get hired somewhere else immediately, but his message may be getting stale here and I agree with you that he has done things like stick with Roman way too long.

But fire DeCosta?   I just don't get it.

[Tony-OH]

55 minutes ago, Frobby said:

As an outsider who doesn’t care about the Ravens at all and has dwindling interest in the NFL, what the heck is wrong with Biscotti?   I’m looking at a team that’s had two losing seasons in the last 15 years, one of which was an 8-9 season.   They’ve been in the playoffs 4 of the last 5 years.  All I can say is, be careful what you wish for.   

That is a typical take by an outsider and particularly a Redskin fan. I get it, Snyder is awful and has run the Redskins into an after thought in the NFL. We have higher standards as Ravens fans. I could give two rats ass about getting to the playoffs only to be wiped out in the first round which is what has happened a lot. DeCosta can't draft impact players and Harbaugh is the most over rated coach in football who always has a bad OC in his back pocket so he doesn't get fired. 

All of this is on Bisciotti's watch. They have won one Super Bowl that was aided by the Mile High miracle and then Joe Flacco playing like Joe Montana throughout the rest of the playoffs.

Since 2013, two playoff wins. Not acceptable. 

He no longer shows up and is accountable to the media though the local media is scared so they won't ask tough questions anyways. Sound familiar? 

I get it, we look like a rock star organization compared to the Redskins, and we are in comparison, but it's time for someone who cares and someone who won't make the team leadership his buddies and hold them accountable.

[Tony-OH]

2 minutes ago, SteveA said:

But fire DeCosta?   I just don't get it.

I'm not really as strong of a "fire DeCosta" guy as I am the the other two, but there are two main reasons why I would not "shed any tears" if he was let go too.

1) He won't hold Harbaugh accountable and keep giving him contracts

2) He can't draft impact offensive talent that can stay healthy. Basically, he's wasted two very high draft picks on Hollywood and Glass Man Bateman. 

Now, both Hamilton (who looks like a stud) and Linderbaum have been hits so far, but when you look at the Ravens wide receiving corps right now you have to be embarrassed that any GM would run them out there. that's on DeCosta.

At the end of the day, if DeCosta would just fire Harbaugh I'd probably be happier with him. I don't think he's terrible at anything but drafting WRs and that's partially on his scouting staff which needs to add a WR expert because they clearly can't judge NFL WR talent.

[Frobby]

12 minutes ago, Tony-OH said:

That is a typical take by an outsider and particularly a Redskin fan. I get it, Snyder is awful and has run the Redskins into an after thought in the NFL. We have higher standards as Ravens fans.

I’m not a Redskins (or Commanders, or whatever) fan.  I grew up as a Colts fan.  When they moved, I became a Broncos fan because they had John Elway, who had been the QB at Stanford while I was in law school there.  When Elway retired, I lost interest in football, but mildly followed the Redskins in the Gibbs II era because I respected him as a coach and person.  When Gibbs retired for the second time, I dropped whatever mild interest I had in the Redskins.   Put it this way: I care more about whether the Orioles win their first exhibition game than about who wins the Super Bowl.  But I do follow football enough to know what’s going on, including knowing that the Ravens are consistently in the playoff hunt.   

I don’t care enough about football or the Ravens to argue with you about this.   I’ll just say that Ravens fans have high standards precisely because the team has had a lot of success under Biscotti’s ownership.