Quick Note: Orioles Plan To Sign New Lease To Remain In Baltimore

Another bit of news from the Washington Nationals' neighbors to the north.

According to an article in The Baltimore Sun, team chairman and CEO John Angelos (son of Peter Angelos) said in an internal memo to the Orioles front office the team intends to sign a new lease at Camden Yards that would ensure that the O’s remain in Baltimore over the long term.

The team’s current lease at Oriole Park at Camden Years expires after the 2023 season, though the Orioles have until February 1, 2023, to exercise a five-year extension that would stretch the lease through the 2028 season. Even if the Orioles did enact that five-year extension, there would seemingly not be any reason the two sides couldn’t continue talks about a new lease that would then begin after 2028.

The team made no official comment on the situation. However, Baltimore mayor Brandon M. Scott (in a written statement) said Friday that “time and time again about the possibility of the Orioles leaving Baltimore. I have 99 problems but the Orioles leaving Baltimore has never been one.  The Orioles are a part of the breath, blood and life of Baltimore.”

Louis Angelos (like John, the son of owner Peter Angelos and his wife Georgia) recently filed a lawsuit against his mother and brother to try and initiate a sale of the Orioles, while Georgia Angelos filed a countersuit. However, moving the team out of Baltimore never seemed realistic. Although in an August court filing, Georgia Angelos (who will inherit the franchise in the event of Peter Angelosdeath), “retained Goldman Sachs and Jones Day to provide investment banking and legal services in connection with the sale of the Orioles,”

The Oriole Park at Camden Yards was the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early 2000s. The stadium was completed in 1992 to replace Memorial Stadium.

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