Baltimore Orioles' New Owner Inching Closer to Owning 97% of Team

In what was a historic transaction for the Baltimore Orioles and their fans, new owner David Rubenstein is getting close to owning a massive majority of the team.

Apr 28, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; A general view of the field | James A. Pittman-USA TODAY Sports

Baltimore Orioles fans had grown frustrated with the Angelos family who were the majority owners of the franchise.

The continued lack of resources being put into the team left the Orioles largely unable to compete in their division against the cash-heavy New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. The Toronto Blue Jays then increased their payroll over the years and the Tampa Bay Rays seemed to have mastered cost-controlled analytics that allowed them to compete with their limited funds.

Once rumors started circulating that the Angelos family was looking to potentially sell this franchise, Baltimore native David Rubenstein was seen as a logical fit.

Eventually, the two parties came to an agreement and a new era of hope was ushered in as the possibility of the Orioles actually having the ability to spend money to boost their young core now seemed like a reality.

Once Peter Angelos passed away in March, things really jumpstarted into motion after the initial plan was to be a slow acquisition.

Now, Rubenstein and his group are close to owning 97% of the franchise.

"The partnership led by David Rubenstein will own about 97% of the Orioles when it completes the sale's second phase in a transaction that could occur as soon as the end of May, according to the private equity billionaire," reports Jeff Barker of The Baltimore Sun.

It's uncertain how much the group will eventually own as they can start selling minority stakes to investors. Angelos himself previously owned 70% of the franchise.

Rubenstein will own the majority of shares as he's officially listed as Baltimore's "control person," meaning he's accountable for the ballclub.

There is major optimism surrounding this sale and the future of this team, something that caught the new owner by surprise based on the amount of attention he has received with fans asking him for his autograph.

As far as what role he'll actually play for the franchise, it seems like he's going to let the baseball people handle that side of things. He called Mike Elias "the best general manager you could possibly get."

One thing he is planning on doing is hiring an executive to oversee the business operations, telling Barker, "we are recruiting people now and we have a search firm."