Lawsuit dropped between Angelos parties

[interloper]

So when do we know about the MASN conclusion again?

[ChrisP]

It’s a lot easier to sell/relocate the team without pending lawsuits. 

[Oriolesfan1988]

3 minutes ago, ChrisP said:

It’s a lot easier to sell/relocate the team without pending lawsuits. 

Selling the team yes. Doubt MLB will allow the team to relocate. 

[Frobby]

10 minutes ago, interloper said:

So when do we know about the MASN conclusion again?

Not clear.  There’s an oral argument in the New York Court of Appeals on March 24.   But a decision won’t be forthcoming for at least several months after that.   And whatever the decision is, it won’t resolve everything, for two reasons:

1.  The issue on appeal is whether it was proper for MLB’s Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee (RSDC) to conduct the arbitration, as provided in the parties’ contract, or whether the prior proceedings of the RSDC had shown so much evident bias that the arbitration must be held before some independent arbitration panel unrelated to MLB.  If MASN wins the appeal, everything that’s happened is thrown out and a new arbitration before an independent body must occur, with its own round of possible appeals etc.

2.  Even if MASN loses the appeal, and the RSDC decision stands, it only decided what the rights fees should be for the period 2012-16.   So, unless the parties come to an agreement, there will have to be further arbitration proceedings covering 2017-21 and 2022-26.  (The rights fees are decided every five years, supposedly in advance, but the 2012-16 controversy has put the rest of it on hold.)

Now, you would think that if the decision about 2012-16 is upheld, the parties could apply the general principles explained in that decision and reach agreements for the other periods.   But the way the parties have behaved to date (especially MASN and the Orioles), there’s no guarantee that they’ll act like adults and resolve the later periods.   

[interloper]

22 minutes ago, Frobby said:

Not clear.  There’s an oral argument in the New York Court of Appeals on March 24.   But a decision won’t be forthcoming for at least several months after that.   And whatever the decision is, it won’t resolve everything, for two reasons:

1.  The issue on appeal is whether it was proper for MLB’s Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee (RSDC) to conduct the arbitration, as provided in the parties’ contract, or whether the prior proceedings of the RSDC had shown so much evident bias that the arbitration must be held before some independent arbitration panel unrelated to MLB.  If MASN wins the appeal, everything that’s happened is thrown out and a new arbitration before an independent body must occur, with its own round of possible appeals etc.

2.  Even if MASN loses the appeal, and the RSDC decision stands, it only decided what the rights fees should be for the period 2012-16.   So, unless the parties come to an agreement, there will have to be further arbitration proceedings covering 2017-21 and 2022-26.  (The rights fees are decided every five years, supposedly in advance, but the 2012-16 controversy has put the rest of it on hold.)

Now, you would think that if the decision about 2012-16 is upheld, the parties could apply the general principles explained in that decision and reach agreements for the other periods.   But the way the parties have behaved to date (especially MASN and the Orioles), there’s no guarantee that they’ll act like adults and resolve the later periods.   

Thanks for the excellent breakdown. That's a good bit bleaker than I thought, just in terms of "timeline until completion"... lol. Ah well. At least one lawsuit is done prior to the season. 

[spleen1015]

So, @Frobby and anyone else I guess... I haven't seen this mentioned.

How much does this MASN BS play into how much the Orioles spend on players? If they don't know how much money they have to give up for this MASN BS, they may be reluctant to spend money if that money will be needed to settle that dispute considering it looks like they'll have to pay something going back 10 years.

 

[Frobby]

14 minutes ago, spleen1015 said:

So, @Frobby and anyone else I guess... I haven't seen this mentioned.

How much does this MASN BS play into how much the Orioles spend on players? If they don't know how much money they have to give up for this MASN BS, they may be reluctant to spend money if that money will be needed to settle that dispute considering it looks like they'll have to pay something going back 10 years.

 

I think it has basically a $20 mm/yr impact, based on the finding that the Nats were underpaid by a net $100 mm over $2012-16.   That’s an oversimplification for several reasons, but close enough.   

[Getz]

Could this mean that they are selling the team?

[spiritof66]

22 minutes ago, Getz said:

Could this mean that they are selling the team?

They will be selling the team. This could mean that the sale is closer, but it could mean lots of other things. No way to tell.

[spiritof66]

3 hours ago, Going Underground said:

It said that Peter Angelos had a court appointed lawyer, is that usual or would he have a high priced lawyer like you?

The likelihood is that Peter Angelos is deemed too far gone to make a decision about hiring a lawyer and his wife is not empowered to hire a lawyer to protect his interests (or was advised not to do that). So the court appointed a capable lawyer for him, and he'll be paid a reasonable amount, though he probably didn't rack up many hours.

[Frobby]

10 minutes ago, spiritof66 said:

The likelihood is that Peter Angelos is deemed too far gone to make a decision about hiring a lawyer and his wife is not empowered to hire a lawyer to protect his interests (or was advised not to do that). So the court appointed a capable lawyer for him, and he'll be paid a reasonable amount, though he probably didn't rack up many hours.

I’d say that Georgia probably was empowered to hire a lawyer to protect Peter’s interests, but did not do so, and the court decided it would be better if it did so itself to avoid any conflicts of interest.  Remember, Peter wasn’t a named party in the lawsuit, so I’d say the court was being cautious to protect his interests even though not named.  

[Orioles0615]

Way to wait until the offseason is over, no free agents left, and pitchers and catchers are about to report

[Aristotelian]

2 hours ago, Getz said:

Could this mean that they are selling the team?

Yes

[jrobb21613]

I fully expect them to sell the team but I can't imagine them doing so until after Peter's death. Doing so beforehand would cost millions in taxes.

[spiritof66]

6 hours ago, Frobby said:

I think it has basically a $20 mm/yr impact, based on the finding that the Nats were underpaid by a net $100 mm over $2012-16.   That’s an oversimplification for several reasons, but close enough.   

I estimated, years ago, that the difference between the Orioles' position and the arbitration award was between $19 and $21 million a year from 2012-16. But that was based on the first RSDC arbitration award. Is your $20 million estimate based on the second RSDC award,  where I thought the spread was a little less per year? 

I don't know whether interest has been running, and if so when and at what rate.