Orioles intend to sign new lease committing team to remaining in Baltimore, document says

The Orioles intend to sign a new lease with the Maryland Stadium Authority committing the ball club to remaining in Baltimore even as the family of ailing owner Peter Angelos battles in court over control of the team, according to a document obtained by The Baltimore Sun.

“As a lifelong Baltimorean I very much look forward to signing on behalf of the Club,” Orioles chairman and CEO John Angelos said in a Sept. 1 memorandum to about 250 of the team’s front-office staff members.

He said in the memo that the lease would be part of a broader “memorandum of understanding” underscoring the team’s “special relationship with the State of Maryland and the Greater Baltimore area” and highlighting “our philosophy of what true private-public partnership should be about.”

John Angelos has said previously that the team would stay in Baltimore. The memo was the strongest signal yet of his intention to lock in his commitment to Oriole Park at Camden Yards in a lease.

Mayor Brandon M. Scott, in a written statement Friday, said the team’s “deep commitment to our city is unmatched by any other MLB team” and that he looked forward to seeing “this young gritty team grow at the same time as we renovate the Ballpark that forever changed baseball.”