In an email to Orioles’ season ticket-holders, Executive Vice President/General Manager Mike Elias writes that the team’s ownership is committed to keeping the Orioles.
Last Friday, The Baltimore Sun wrote: “Potential bidders are lining up in the belief that the Baltimore Orioles could be placed on the market for the first time in a generation, according to multiple sources.”
According to The Sun, tax liabilities could make it advantageous for John and Louis Angelos to sell the team after their father, Peter Angelos, who has been the team’s principal owner since 1993, and is in declining health, passes on.
“Our historic franchise has been a pillar of the Baltimore community for more than half a century, and our partnership group — consisting entirely of hometown, Maryland natives who act as stewards of this community’s ballclub — is committed to building upon that lasting legacy for the next generation and providing our baseball operations department with the most modern technology and other resources necessary to build a championship-caliber team and return back to our recent winning ways,” Elias wrote.
When Elias was hired in November 2018, John Angelos, who is Orioles’ Chairman and CEO said he was committed to holding on to the team. In a September 2019 address to a local business group, Angelos answered rumors that the team could relocate. The team would stay in Baltimore for “as long as Fort McHenry is standing watch over the Inner Harbor.”
According to The Sun, the Orioles and the state of Maryland are nearing agreement on a long-term lease extension for Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The lease expires at the end of next season.
Despite concerns that money would be tight with the Orioles this offseason, the team claimed second baseman Yolmer Sánchez on waivers from the Chicago White Sox on Friday, and on Sunday picked up the $3.5 million option on shortstop José Iglesias.
“While we know this year has brought about a great deal of uncertainty, please rest assured that there is nothing uncertain about the future of your Orioles in Baltimore, or of the organizational commitment of our Chairman and CEO, the partnership group, the Senior Leadership Team, our entire professional staff, and our 26-man team to stay the course for decades to come as we succeed on and off the field in leading the way for our Baltimore community,” Elias wrote.
“The future of Birdland is bright, and the Senior Leadership Team and I are looking forward to sharing the next phase of this journey with you as we bring winning baseball back to Charm City.”
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