As the two area baseball teams kick off the 2011 season — the Nationals on Thursday against the Braves and the Orioles on Friday vs. the Rays — both franchises likely are facing some ownership changes in the near future.
Ted Lerner is the managing principal owner of the Nationals. There are other family members in the close-knit group involved in the decision-making process, but he’s the boss.
Lerner is also 85 years old.
In Baltimore, Peter Angelos is the chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Orioles, and there has been no doubt since he acquired the team in a bankruptcy auction in 1993 that he has been the boss.
He is 81 years old.
Both appear to be sharp businessmen at this stage of their careers. But the reality is changes will be coming for both baseball teams.
For the Nationals, the changes may have little impact on the way the franchise operates. The team has been presented as a family ownership to Major League Baseball and, according to sources familiar with the structure, will remain that way for a long time.
Those sources say that Mark Lerner, who has been the most visible of the family owners, is expected to take over as the managing principal owner, but there will always be close and constant supervision and consultation on everything with the rest of the family.
Not so in Baltimore, where the future is much more uncertain and change could be far greater.
Angelos has owned the Orioles for nearly 18 years. He has been the unquestioned boss of the franchise. His two sons, John and Louis, have had various roles within the organization — John is listed as executive vice president — and there has been speculation about whether the franchise would wind up in the hands of the two sons in the future.
Baseball has to approve any ownership changes, though, and industry sources say the more likely scenario is that the team will be put up for sale. In fact, observers are surprised the team isn’t already on the block.
It has been widely speculated that if and when that happens, Cal Ripken — who had preliminary talks about joining the Lerner group when it was bidding for the Washington franchise — is ready to lead a group to buy the Orioles, and other bidders are believed to be waiting for that sale to take place as well.
Opening Day is the first page of a new chapter in the history of a baseball team. Down the road, changes are likely coming among the history makers for baseball in Baltimore and Washington.
Examiner columnist Thom Loverro is the co-host of “The Sports Fix” from noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on ESPN980 and espn980.com. Contact him at [email protected].
