MLB has accepted David Rubenstein as the new owner of the Baltimore Orioles, replacing the Angelos family Gabe Lacques USA TODAY
Just in time for one of the most anticipated seasons in the team’s recent history, the Baltimore Orioles are receiving a new owner.
On Wednesday, Major League Baseball unanimously agreed to sell the Orioles to David Rubenstein, a native of Baltimore, for an estimated $1.725 billion, from the Angelos family. The deal was agreed to on January 31 and was approved by MLB’s other 29 ownership groups.
Only a few days have passed since the club’s 1993 founder, Peter Angelos, passed away at the age of 94 following a protracted illness. In 2018, Angelos handed the club’s management on to his son John. After trying unsuccessfully for a year to obtain the rights to develop the land surrounding Oriole Park and extend the Orioles’ lease at Camden Yards, Angelos decided to sell the franchise to Rubenstein.
Rubenstein was a 74-year-old co-founder of the private equity firm Carlyle Group. He also created the company. He just made known that he was leaving his position as Kennedy Center chairman. It is estimated that he is worth close to $4 billion.
The Angelos family, who purchased the team for $193 million in 1993—just one year after the groundbreaking Camden Yards opened to the public—ends a turbulent reign with this sale. Peter Angelos battled in court to contest the amount of money the relocated Nationals received as part of their deal to move to Washington, then tried to keep a new club out of nearby Washington.
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On the field, Angelos’s Orioles saw mixed results; they were the AL East champions in 1997 and 2014 but struggled in the late 1990s and early 2000s as the rival Yankees and Red Sox established dynasties. By 2018, the team had lost 115 games, a rebuilding was mandated, and an ailing Angelos had given his son command of the squad.
In a statement, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said, “On behalf of Major League Baseball, I thank the Angelos family for their many years of service to the game and the communities of Baltimore.” “Peter Angelos was a significant figure in MLB for more than three decades. He loved baseball and Baltimore.”I’d want to congratulate David Rubenstein on being approved by the Major League Clubs to take over as the Orioles’ new control person. David, who has been a lifelong fan of the Orioles and a native of Baltimore, is uniquely qualified to manage the franchise in the future. As the new guardians of the franchise, we are pleased to welcome David and his partners.
The new general manager, Mike Elias, has assembled an intimidating baseball machine that won 101 games in the previous season and still has the best farm system in baseball in the six years since Peter Angelos handed over leadership to his son. At the absolute least, it is anticipated that the team will make the playoffs again this year.
