If you were worried about the Baltimore Orioles owners having to spend $3.5 million to rip out a large section of the left-field grandstand at Camden Yards so that it’s no longer such a short porch for opposing sluggers — it’s been a short porch for Orioles sluggers, too, or would have been if the Orioles had any sluggers to speak of — then worry no longer, because it turns out the good people of Maryland will be paying for the whole thing:
Top state officials on Wednesday approved a plan for the Maryland Stadium Authority, which owns the downtown stadium, to discount the baseball club’s rent in exchange for the work that’s being done.
The Orioles would get one-fifth of the cost deducted from their rent in 2022 and 2023. And if the club extends their lease or signs a new lease past the current 2023 expiration, they’d continue to get rent credits in 2024, 2025 and 2026 under the deal.
So, yeah, $700,000 in rent breaks over five years — assuming Orioles management doesn’t abruptly decide to move out after 2023 and go play in the street — adds up to $3.5 million, so there’s that bill covered. The Baltimore Sun notes that Maryland Treasurer Dereck Davis asked why the state should pay for this cost when “there’s not any kind of structural issue or decay or decline. This is a cosmetic request,” but was outvoted by the other two members of the state Board of Public Works, Gov. Larry Hogan and Comptroller Peter Franchot. Gov. Hogan, in fact, had a rather curious explanation of why the state should hand over $3.5 million to the owner of a profitable sports team, which was that this money will seem like a drop in the bucket when all the other Orioles renovation bills come due:
“This is a tiny one compared to the rest of the improvements that will have to be made to extend the lease,” said Hogan, a Republican.
“I think it’s a good sign that they continue to work with us on the lease negotiation,” he said.
We’ve heard officials of the Maryland Stadium Authority say before that they want to offer the Orioles owners a pile of renovation money in order to get them to sign a new lease, but this is the first time elected officials have gone on record as indicating how big that pile will be, even if it’s only “a whole lot more than $3.5 million.” Team CEO John Angelos, as a reminder, promised last year that “the Orioles will never leave Baltimore,” but at the same time they seem to be telling Hogan that they need an inducement to re-up their lease. Or maybe Hogan is just implying that so he can give himself cover for why he’s preparing to shovel state money at the Angeloses? So hard to say, really.
As I wrote more than a year and a half ago in a post titled “What questions should we ask to make sure the Orioles don’t screw over taxpayers in Camden Yards lease talks?“:
If the framework is “Here’s how we can make the stadium bring in more money, and how to share it equitably between the team and the public,” that’s great; if it’s “Here’s what state taxpayers need to do to keep the team happy so we don’t run off to, uh (throws dart at map), Nashville,” then that’s what got Maryland into this three-decade-long budget hole to begin with. The time to start asking questions of the state of Maryland about how it’s going to get a fair deal for taxpayers is now, while the terms of discussion are still being framed.
Nobody in the local media seems to have asked those questions yet, or at least no one has gotten answers, but it’s not too late! I’m going to reach out to Gov. Hogan’s office today, but really what we need are some local journalists who can actually ask these people in person, if anything is done in person anymore. My two questions will be “1) Would the state of Maryland expect to see an increase in revenue from Orioles stadium upgrades, and if so how much and how was that calculated?” and “2) Why are you concerned about the Orioles not renewing their lease if John Angelos has promised that the team won’t move?” These are open-source questions, so anyone feel free to copy or adapt them for your own politician-pestering uses, then report back here (or on your own news organization’s website) how it goes!
They should have paid for it themselves, but that left field power alley was far too easy to reach. Might save them some where and tear on bullpen arms.
UPDATE: Gov. Hogan’s office doesn’t list any contact info for press contacts, and his general switchboard phone number goes straight to voicemail. If anyone in the Annapolis area would like to volunteer to throw a rock with a note tied it through the office window, please contact me.