Orioles are one last step away from officially being under new ownership

With the news from the weekend that former Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos passed away, it was a reminder that big changes are coming to the franchise. Many Orioles fans are wondering what will be different under new owner David Rubenstein, but the first order of business is making the change in ownership final.

There are a lot of hoops that need to be jumped through for the sale to go through. There has to be regulatory approval from the relevant state agencies as well as getting all of the financial terms set in stone and, most importantly, demonstrating to MLB and the rest of the owners that Rubenstein has the means to run a MLB team effectively.

That last step is all that is left now with the latest news that Rubenstein received the needed approval from the Maryland Stadium Authority to buy the Orioles.

Orioles' new ownership could be finalized very, very soon now

Earlier this year, the ownership group led by Rubenstein agreed to purchase the Orioles for $1.725 billion from the Angelos family after a rocky end to their ownership tenure. There was speculation over patriarch Peter Angelos' health and well-being, as well as family drama that led to accusations of some family members wanting to move the team out of Baltimore.

All of that appears to be in the past now, and the final approval of the sale is widely expected to be a formality that could come as soon as this week. The MLB Ownership Committee already approved the sale earlier in March, and with Rubenstein possessing no known red flags and navigating the rest of the process quickly, it is extremely likely that he will get the required 75% of MLB owners to approve him as the team's new owner. That final vote is set for Wednesday.

What happens after that will be very interesting. There is widespread speculation that Rubenstein will be more likely to spend on payroll than the Angelos family was, and with so much young talent on the Orioles' roster at the moment, there is now hope that the Orioles could actually hand out extensions to at least some of the young players that make up Baltimore's core. We'll know soon enough if Baltimore will become big financial players once again, or if it will just me more of the same penny-pinching fans have become accustomed to.

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