‘In its due time’: Md. treasurer takes new tone on Orioles stadium deal delay

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ANNAPOLIS – State Treasurer Dereck Davis, who two weeks ago called out the parties involved in Baltimore Orioles stadium lease negotiations for their lack of transparency, reversed course Wednesday, saying he expects a deal will be reached “in its due time.”

Davis said he decided to take a step back after sitting down individually with Gov. Wes Moore and Orioles Chair and Managing Partner John Angelos.

“They did not ask me not to say anything, so I don’t want to put that on them,” Davis said in an interview with The Daily Record following a Board of Public Works meeting. “We were having, I would say, a trust … it’s a trust issue.

“I won’t get into specific details, I don’t think that’s appropriate,” he said. “They did share their vision with me, what they want to see, how they’re trying to get there. So, I understand that these are complex negotiations … it’s gonna take some time.”

Davis said he was “comfortable” with the answers that Moore and Angelos provided to him, and while he plans to keep “cajoling” and checking in on where the negotiations stand, he’ll be doing so in “a less public way.”

Spokespeople for both Moore and Angelos declined to comment on the conversations with Davis.

The Orioles and the Moore administration have committed to creating a multi-decade, public-private partnership to revitalize the 30-year-old Camden Yards complex, with visions of a “live, work, play theme” to attract people to downtown Baltimore year-round and be a catalyst for the city’s “second renaissance.”

At the end of a Board of Public Works meeting in mid July, Davis called on Angelos and members of the Maryland Stadium Authority to say publicly why a deal had not been reached to keep the Orioles at Camden Yards.

His remarks — made while sitting directly next to Moore — came days after Moore and Angelos said in a joint statement that a deal was coming “soon” but provided no details about why one had not yet been reached, where discussions stood or a timeline for when the team expects a lease agreement with the Maryland Stadium Authority might be reached.

While the Orioles remain red hot on the field — boasting the best winning percentage in Major League Baseball’s American League and the second-best in all of baseball — fans have been left in the dark about the future of their team’s home.

Davis said he had wanted Orioles fans to know that “somebody heard them and was fighting for them.”

Davis didn’t walk back his previous comments, saying that his goal was to express the concerns and frustrations of Orioles fans. He said his hope is for an announcement to accompany a World Series berth for the team.

“I’m not a timeline guy or deadline guy, simply because they get missed,” he said. “And when deadlines get missed, they cause problems.”

Angelos, according to multiple news reports, said in February that he hoped his team would have a new lease by the MLB All-Star break, which ended in early July.

When asked about the progress of negotiations on Wednesday, Angelos’s spokesperson referred to his vague statement with the governor.

While Moore, Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and now Davis have conveyed optimism about the Orioles remaining at Camden Yards, a stadium authority board member has picked up the baton in calling for transparency.

Speaking earlier this week at the Maryland Stadium Authority board’s monthly meeting, board member Bill Cole said he was “perplexed” that the Orioles didn’t have a new lease, according to a report Tuesday from The Baltimore Sun.

Board Chair Craig Thompson said in response that “discussions have been very productive,” adding that he appreciated Cole’s “sentiment on that issue,” The Sun reported.

The team’s existing lease with the Maryland Stadium Authority is set to expire at the end of the year. A new agreement would come with $600 million from the state for upgrades, resembling what the Baltimore Ravens received after renewing its lease at M&T Bank Stadium through 2037.