Puck News: Orioles sold to Rubenstein

[Bemorewins]

Just now, Going Underground said:

Rubenstein was at a few Oriole games last year.Fan since childhood of the Orioles.  I am sure he knows what is going on.

EXACTLY! I don't see any possible (even in Dr. Strange's 14,000,605 scenario) that this can be a bad thing. ANYTHING/ANYONE will be better (MUCH BETTER) than what we have had!

[btdart20]

14 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On Orioles sale, Maryland state treasurer says of Angelos: ‘We were lied to’

Gov. Wes Moore, center, who chairs a three-member public works board, which includes fellow Democrats Comptroller Brooke Lierman, left, and state Treasurer Dereck Davis, right, signs a lease agreement with the Baltimore Orioles to remain at Camden Yards. (Kevin Richardson/Baltimore Sun)

 

After the news broke that the Angelos family will sell the Baltimore Orioles, just six weeks after agreeing to a lease keeping the team in the city for at least 15 years, Maryland State Treasurer Dereck Davis said the state was misled.

Amid reports indicating the possibility of a sale, John Angelos, the team’s MLB control person, called Democratic Gov. Wes Moore in December to assure him he would not sell, according to a source familiar with the call.

But Baltimore native and billionaire David Rubenstein has reached a $1.725 billion agreement to buy the team, along with an ownership group expected to include Oriole legend Cal Ripken Jr., sources familiar with the deal told The Baltimore Sun on Tuesday.

“We were lied to,” Davis said during Wednesday morning’s state Board of Public Works meeting in Annapolis.

Someone earlier posted that Rubenstein has been in communication with the gov't.  How far back does that go?  I suspect .gov knew, just not from JA.

One last drag on JA is par for the course he's set himself on...

[interloper]

2 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

EXACTLY! I don't see any possible (even in Dr. Strange's 14,000,605 scenario) that this can be a bad thing. ANYTHING/ANYONE will be better (MUCH BETTER) than what we have had!

I mean, this is exactly what Orioles fans were saying in 1993 when Angelos bought the team.

I think it's likely that Rubenstein will be a better owner, but again... I'm an Orioles fan. I am ready for the rug pull at any moment. I'm surprised more aren't treating this news more carefully. 

Edited January 31 by interloper

[sportsfan8703]

1 minute ago, interloper said:

I mean, this is exactly what Orioles fans were saying in 1993 when Angelos bought the team.

I hope we have a 94-96’ type transaction run in us. Raffy. Alomar. Etc…

[Going Underground]

Tampa Bay Rays co-owner Randy Frankel sells Miami Beach mansion for $32M Sold to Michael Arougheti ,soon to be a co-owner of the Orioles. My interest is why Rubenstein picked Arougheti?

Edited January 31 by Going Underground

[24fps]

8 minutes ago, webbrick2010 said:

It is a private transaction, it should not have been told to the govt before announced to the public. It is not the governments business who owns the Orioles, only that they have an obligation to the terms of the lease that they have signed

I'm not sure this is completely true, and even if it was, there are a dozen different ways the state along with the city of Baltimore could claim a vested interest so why go out of your way to pick a fight?  It would be foolish to act as if the respective governments weren't partners in a real, practical sense with something as large and public as a professional sports franchise.

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

4 minutes ago, interloper said:

I mean, this is exactly what Orioles fans were saying in 1993 when Angelos bought the team.

I think it's likely that Rubenstein will be a better owner, but again... I'm an Orioles fan. I am ready for the rug pull at any moment. I'm surprised more aren't treating this news more carefully. 

It would be the ultimate twist of fate if Rubenstein's stewardship of the Orioles ended up being worse than the Angelos family. I just can't see that being the case. The fans might end up questioning some of the moves the team makes in the future, but I can't imagine it being anything close to the last 30 years since Peter Angelos took the reigns.

[Just Regular]

1 hour ago, CaptainRedbeard said:

Sure. I think we’re saying the same thing. But assume Rubenstein is approved next week and takes over full control - a big IF - he can’t come in and say “Scotty, what’s the rate for Blake Snell? 9 years and $270m?” without Elias wanting to pump the brakes.

Mr. Scott Boras would like to inform Mr. Mike Elias that an extremely rare baseball talent such as World Series champion Mr. Jordan Montgomery is an "ownership-level" decision for a Club, and he'd ask an audience with Mr. David Rubenstein to discuss this player's extraordinary merits.

[Bemorewins]

9 minutes ago, interloper said:

I mean, this is exactly what Orioles fans were saying in 1993 when Angelos bought the team.

I think it's likely that Rubenstein will be a better owner, but again... I'm an Orioles fan. I am ready for the rug pull at any moment. I'm surprised more aren't treating this news more carefully. 

I was only a teenager back then (barely) but I remember what was said in 1993. My confidence is in that lightening just strike twice in the same place. The days of our longstanding nightmare are finally over!

[Bemorewins]

2 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

It would be the ultimate twist of fate if Rubenstein's stewardship of the Orioles ended up being worse than the Angelos family. I just can't see that being the case. The fans might end up questioning some of the moves the team makes in the future, but I can't imagine it being anything close to the last 30 years since Peter Angelos took the reigns.

If Rubenstein is worse than Angelos, the Orioles won't exist in Baltimore another 30 years.

[interloper]

Just now, Bemorewins said:

The days of our longstanding nightmare are finally over!

Oh you sweet summer child.

At least wait until it's approved by MLB before tempting the gods with stuff like this. 

[interloper]

4 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

It would be the ultimate twist of fate if Rubenstein's stewardship of the Orioles ended up being worse than the Angelos family. I just can't see that being the case. The fans might end up questioning some of the moves the team makes in the future, but I can't imagine it being anything close to the last 30 years since Peter Angelos took the reigns.

I do agree. It's hard to imagine it being worse. All Rubenstein has to do is let Elias cook and NOT say absolutely unhinged stuff to the press. Simply not stepping on his own rake would be an improvement. 

[Going Underground]

16 minutes ago, interloper said:

I mean, this is exactly what Orioles fans were saying in 1993 when Angelos bought the team.

I think it's likely that Rubenstein will be a better owner, but again... I'm an Orioles fan. I am ready for the rug pull at any moment. I'm surprised more aren't treating this news more carefully. 

Some context of what was going  on back then:

 

 

Bill DeWitt -- the Cincinnati investment banker who first competed with Peter Angelos to purchase the Baltimore Orioles, then teamed with Angelos to complete the transaction in bankruptcy court -- is on the verge of being out of the Orioles' ownership picture.

 

DeWitt negotiated with former Orioles owner Eli Jacobs in late 1992 and early '93 to buy the club, and had a tentative deal for $141 million. Angelos, a Baltimore attorney, became involved because he was concerned about Jacobs's intention to sell to out-of-town interests. Jacobs, a New York financier, refused to negotiate with Angelos, but lost control of the sale when the failure of his business empire put him into bankruptcy proceedings.

DeWitt, sensing he would be outbid, joined forces with Angelos during the August 1993 auction in a New York bankruptcy court, and together they outlasted New York art dealer Jeffrey Loria and won the right to buy the team for $173 million. Angelos talked originally about DeWitt being active in the operations of the club, but that never happened. The Orioles, who turned a $25 million operating profit in 1993, weren't even a lucrative investment in '94, with the major league players' strike turning the franchise's projected $8 million operating profit into $5 million in operating losses.

Edited January 31 by Going Underground

[spleen1015]

Politicians just being politicians. This treasurer dude doesn't like JA, so he's getting his shots in.

Does JA lying mean the stadium deal isn't happening? No.

The who cares then.

Edited January 31 by spleen1015
typos

[Bemorewins]

Just now, interloper said:

Oh you sweet summer child.

At least wait until it's approved by MLB before tempting the gods with stuff like this. 

I get that some people want to protect themselves (understandably) from accepting the positive possibilities of this ownership change. But any scenario where the Angeloses are gone is nothing but a great thing for Baltimore and this franchise! Angelos was literally the worst case scenario if everything goes wrong. And we endured it for 30 years! I just feel bad for all the O's fans who passed away before getting to see this great day!