Angelos reportedly to sell Orioles for $1.725B
John Angelos has agreed to sell the Baltimore Orioles to a group led by Carlyle Group Inc. co-founder David Rubenstein, according to multiple reports on Tuesday.
The transaction reportedly values the Orioles at $1.725 billion.
Rubenstein, a Baltimore native, reportedly will take over as the team’s controlling owner. He has assembled an investment team that includes Ares co-founder Michael Arougheti.
Major League Baseball still must approve the sale. Owners are scheduled to meet next week in Orlando, Florida. News of the deal was first reported by Puck.
A sale must be approved in a vote of at least 75% by the 30 major league teams. The sales approval process typically lasts several months.
The Angelos family has been in control of the Orioles since 1993, when Peter Angelos purchased the team for $173 million. Angelos’ son John has been the team’s chair and managing partner since 2020, as Peter suffers from dementia.
The Orioles recently finalized a deal with the Maryland Stadium Authority to remain at Camden Yards for the next 15 years, with a path to expand the commitment to 30 years.
Rubenstein previously had shown interest in buying the Washington Nationals.
Prior to forming Carlyle in 1987, Rubenstein practiced law in Washington. From 1977 to 1981, he was a deputy assistant for domestic policy to President Jimmy Carter. After graduating from Duke in 1970, he attended the University of Chicago Law School.
The Orioles are coming off a 101-win season and their first American League East title since 2014. With young stars Adley Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson and another top prospect on the way in Jackson Holliday, the future looks as bright as it has in a while for a team that hasn’t won a World Series since 1983.
One sore spot with fans is the club’s payroll, which has remained low, and it’s been another quiet offseason for the team so far. If the new ownership group is able to keep Baltimore’s young core together, the Orioles could have a lengthy window of contention.
When Peter Angelos first took control of the Orioles, they had recently started playing at Camden Yards, the downtown venue that revolutionized the way baseball parks were built. The Orioles spent aggressively, at least for a little while, and won the division in 1997 with future Hall of Famers Cal Ripken, Roberto Alomar, Mike Mussina and Harold Baines.
After that, Baltimore didn’t make the postseason again until 2012, when the Orioles began a renaissance under manager Buck Showalter. They eventually had to rebuild again, losing at least 108 games in 2018, 2019 and 2021 — a streak interrupted only by the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
Even as the team posted the best record in the AL last year, there were ominous signs on potential team spending, such as a New York Times piece in which Angelos was quoted as saying: “When people talk about giving this player $200 million, that player $150 million, we would be so financially underwater that you’d have to raise the prices massively.”
Information from The Associated Press and Field Level Media was used in this report.
BOSTON — Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas suffered a ruptured tendon in his left knee and is out for the remainder of the season, the team said.
The 25-year-old Casas ruptured his patellar tendon running to first on a slow roller up the line and fell awkwardly in Boston’s victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. After laying on his back in pain — not moving the knee — he was carted off on a stretcher before being taken to a Boston hospital.
The team announced Sunday that he had surgery for a left patellar tendon repair at Massachusetts General Hospital. The surgery was performed by Dr. Eric Berkson.
“I talked to him last night,” chief baseball officer Craig Breslow said in a news conference on Saturday discussing the injury outside Boston’s clubhouse. “We exchanged text messages [Saturday]. We all care deeply about just his overall wellbeing.”
Manager Alex Cora said Casas worked hard during the offseason to play every day after missing a large amount of last year with torn cartilage in his rib cage.
“He did an outstanding job in the offseason to put himself in that situation. It didn’t start the way he wanted it to,” Cora said of Casas’ struggles. “He was going to play and play a lot. Now we’ve got to focus on the rehab after the surgery and hopefully get him back stronger than ever and ready to go next year.”
Casas batted just .182 with three homers and 11 RBIs, but Breslow said his loss will be felt, especially with the team’s lack of depth at the position.
“He certainly struggled through the first month of the season but that didn’t change what we believe his production was capable of being,” Breslow said. “It’s a big loss. In addition to what we think we were going to get on the offensive side, he was kind of like a stabilizing presence on the defensive side of the field — also a big personality and a big part of the clubhouse.”
During spring training, Casas talked about how his focus at the plate this season was being more relaxed.
“You really want it until you don’t,” he said, explaining his thoughts while standing at his locker. “Then you can’t want it that much.”
Now, he’ll have to focus on his recovery plan for next season.
Casas, a left-handed batter, was placed on the 10-day injured list Saturday with infielder/outfielder Abraham Toro selected from Triple-A Worcester.
Cora said Toro — a switch-hitter — will split time at first along with Romy Gonzalez. who bats right-handed.
Breslow said the team might be exploring a long-term replacement.
“This is unfortunately an opportunity to explore what’s available,” he said. “We’ll look both internally and outside as well.”
Cora said there are no plans to move Rafael Devers, who was replaced at third by offseason free-agent acquisition Alex Bregman and moved to DH.
“We asked him to do something in spring training that in the beginning he didn’t agree with it and now he’s very comfortable doing what he’s doing,” Cora said. “Like I told you guys in spring training, he’s my DH.”
TORONTO — Cleveland Guardians star Jose Ramirez was back in the lineup for Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, two days after the third baseman left in the third inning because of a mild right ankle sprain.
The six-time All-Star was injured when he stumbled and fell while crossing first base on an infield single. Ramirez went down after being struck in the back by a throw from Blue Jays right-hander Chris Bassitt.
Ramirez was batting third Sunday against right-hander Bowden Francis.
Ramírez sat out Saturday when Cleveland beat Toronto 5-3. He went 2 for 2 before departing Friday, boosting his average to .274. He has five home runs and 15 RBIs in 31 games.
In last Thursday’s 4-3 victory over Minnesota, Ramirez became the first primary third baseman to reach 250 homers and 250 stolen bases.
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