Update Again Again: OPACY lease officially official, done and approved, for real this time

[ThisIsBirdland]

1 minute ago, Can_of_corn said:

I read the actual statement.  That is why I said it was an attempt at obfuscation in which they tried to fool people into thinking something has happened that hasn't.

That statement is designed to make it appear that the deal is completed when it isn't.

I think you know as well as I do that sometimes teams announce a free agent deal and it doesn't actually happen.

That's exactly my point though. Even though agreements don't always cross the finish line, they are still agreements, and parties publicize them for any number of reasons.

Again, it probably wasn't a good idea to announce this, especially in light of this morning's update that a 1 or 2 year extension of the lease may happen first, but that doesn't mean it was a lie. It also doesn't mean it's not an important step, and maybe the most important step. But at the end of the day, we don't care about any developments accept that it gets done, and until it's done (even if it's essentially agreed to), there will always be some angst.

[accinfo]

3 minutes ago, ThisIsBirdland said:

That's exactly my point though. Even though agreements don't always cross the finish line, they are still agreements, and parties publicize them for any number of reasons.

Again, it probably wasn't a good idea to announce this, especially in light of this morning's update that a 1 or 2 year extension of the lease may happen first, but that doesn't mean it was a lie. It also doesn't mean it's not an important step, and maybe the most important step. But at the end of the day, we don't care about any developments accept that it gets done, and until it's done (even if it's essentially agreed to), there will always be some angst.

Well if they end up signing a 1 or 2 year lease extension instead of what is agreed upon in this memorandum, none of this teeth grinding is going to end.  People who want to believe he wants to move the team are going to still believe it.  

[ThisIsBirdland]

3 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

They either shouldn’t have announced it or they should have said, we have reached an agreement in principle on a new lease deal and it will soon be finalized.

Just tell the truth about exactly what you did. Instead, you lied. You embellished. Typical political bs.

"Agreed to a deal that will keep the Orioles in Baltimore and at Camden Yards for at least the next 30 years!"

I really do despise defending anything to do with Angelos or these negotiations but this is not some villainous act here. They consider the agreement to be a meaningful step, and it almost certainly is, and they wanted to announce that development. Be honest, if they had announced some legal-jargon filled statement with disclaimers we'd be rolling our eyes about that too.

 

[Can_of_corn]

4 minutes ago, ThisIsBirdland said:

"Agreed to a deal that will keep the Orioles in Baltimore and at Camden Yards for at least the next 30 years!"

I really do despise defending anything to do with Angelos or these negotiations but this is not some villainous act here. They consider the agreement to be a meaningful step, and it almost certainly is, and they wanted to announce that development. Be honest, if they had announced some legal-jargon filled statement with disclaimers we'd be rolling our eyes about that too.

 

"Agreed in principal to a deal that will keep the Orioles in Baltimore and at Camden Yards for at least the next 30 years!"

 

Is that too much legal jargon for you?

 

They could have done that, they chose not to because the optics of that statement weren't as pleasing.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Can_of_corn
Tweaked it.

[foxfield]

This is literally just piling on JA.  He deserves it in many ways.  But any agreement reached has to be approved.  That isn't a new thing and isn't a surprising thing.  It also does not make the announcement last night a lie.

Of course worrying about the finality or veracity of the agreement is along the lines of those proffering that no agreement meant the Orioles were moving to Nashville over the assurances of John Angelos and MLB.

[Sports Guy]

1 minute ago, foxfield said:

This is literally just piling on JA.  He deserves it in many ways.  But any agreement reached has to be approved.  That isn't a new thing and isn't a surprising thing.  It also does not make the announcement last night a lie.

Of course worrying about the finality or veracity of the agreement is along the lines of those proffering that no agreement meant the Orioles were moving to Nashville over the assurances of John Angelos and MLB.

Actually it’s as much piling on our Governor and his need to get the PR as it is JA. JA wasn’t even mentioned in that announcement but Wes Moore certainly made sure he was mentioned.

 

[Sports Guy]

10 minutes ago, ThisIsBirdland said:

"Agreed to a deal that will keep the Orioles in Baltimore and at Camden Yards for at least the next 30 years!"

I really do despise defending anything to do with Angelos or these negotiations but this is not some villainous act here. They consider the agreement to be a meaningful step, and it almost certainly is, and they wanted to announce that development. Be honest, if they had announced some legal-jargon filled statement with disclaimers we'd be rolling our eyes about that too.

 

But the deal isn’t agreed to. If it were, it would be signed. It’s not signed.

And it’s how and when they announced it. They wanted that publicity and they lied to get it.

They even said last night that Moore was going to have a press conference about it today at 10AM. Even that didn’t happen.

Edited September 29, 2023 by Sports Guy

[ThisIsBirdland]

17 minutes ago, Can_of_corn said:

"Agreed in principal to a deal that will keep the Orioles in Baltimore and at Camden Yards for at least the next 30 years!"

 

Is that too much legal jargon for you?

 

They could have done that, they chose not to because the optics of that statement weren't as pleasing.

You have every right to your opinions on the matter. I personally am fine that they wrote "agreed" instead of "agreed in principle", but I will concede that saying "in principle" would have been more measured and appropriate given what we've found out today. I also don't think it matters that much.

[Hallas]

47 minutes ago, Sports Guy said:

But the deal isn’t agreed to. If it were, it would be signed. It’s not signed.

And it’s how and when they announced it. They wanted that publicity and they lied to get it.

They even said last night that Moore was going to have a press conference about it today at 10AM. Even that didn’t happen.

They signed an MOU, which (likely) means terms of the deal were agreed to and signed off on.   The Sun's reporting indicates that this MOU is fairly detailed.  To those that think the wording came off as more generous of a description compared to what actually happened, I agree, but i think it's a real stretch to call it a lie.  There would be less consternation if they said "agreed to terms" or "agreed in principle."

Edited September 29, 2023 by Hallas

[accinfo]

From Roch today.  

The Orioles sent out a press release this morning with a statement and more information regarding the new stadium lease announced last night.

“We had three goals in 2019 when we organized the Orioles management team,” said chairman and managing partner John Angelos. “We set out to remake the club to be a consistently competitive winner on the field, and to create a strong business and fiscal foundation to be able to do so at the highest level to sustain that competitiveness – and to completely reinvent and extend the Orioles’ partnership with the City of Baltimore and the State of Maryland for the next three decades to ensure that the O’s would be in Baltimore up to and through our 100^th anniversary. We have been very fortunate that we have achieved all of these goals.” 

The release stated that the partnership with the state includes a 99-year ground lease for select areas around the ballpark north of Lee Street, including the B&O Warehouse and Camden Station, “giving way to more private investment opportunities and spurring economic development.” Also included in the deal is the “changing of hands for operations and maintenance responsibilities from the MSA to the Orioles organization.”

“I could not be more thrilled to spend decades watching the Orioles win titles in Baltimore,” Gov. Wes Moore said in a statement. “This deal is not only a good use of state resources but will also drive economic growth in downtown and across the city. Today, we take a big step toward a more vibrant and thriving Baltimore – with good-paying jobs, a diversified economy, and opportunity for all. This deal is good for the city and the state, and I’m grateful for the partnership that got us to this day. The Baltimore renaissance is here."

The governor’s office sent out its own release today clarifying that it’s a “memorandum of understanding” rather than an actual lease, which will be finalized after more details are worked out. But it will “keep the Orioles in Baltimore for at least 30 years,” along with modernizing facility operations and boosting private sector development to revitalize downtown Baltimore City “and create more opportunity for all.”

[SemperFi]

6 hours ago, cboemmeljr said:

 

I know it's all BS but doesn't his above statements on the financial viability of fielding a competitive team run counter to his whining last month??  Are we to now believe that based on this statement they can run a $150m payroll?  

[25 Nuggets]

6 hours ago, Tony-OH said:

I'm pretty sure all this means is the T's still need to be crossed and the I's dotted, but the agreement is basically in place. I feel good that it will be finalized soon. 

How long is "soon" though?

I mean, I believe it will be done... but soon means nothing to me, for one, when it comes to the Angelos family.

[25 Nuggets]

3 hours ago, accinfo said:

The governor’s office sent out its own release today clarifying that it’s a “memorandum of understanding” rather than an actual lease, which will be finalized after more details are worked out. But it will “keep the Orioles in Baltimore for at least 30 years,” along with modernizing facility operations and boosting private sector development to revitalize downtown Baltimore City “and create more opportunity for all.”

I have never heard of a "memorandum of understanding" before.  Anyone else?

As long as it's legally binding I don't care what it's called though.

[TonySoprano]

"Also included in the deal is the changing of hands for operations and maintenance responsibilities from the MSA to the Orioles organization."

Is this outside of the $600M or does this mean JA controls the money?

[TradeAngelos]

So Wes Moore did a solid 10 minutes of LYING on WBAL today.  I mean that is what his job is these days but he was waxing poetic about how amazing he is and how great this deal is that has not been signed or even voted on. Everything is a lie with these people. They can't help it, it is in their DNA.