O's have budget concerns

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Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos asked some of his department heads to propose budget cuts that could reduce spending by as much as 20 percent, The Washington Times has learned.

The request comes at a time when Major League Baseball is near a decision on the relocation of the Montreal Expos. Washington, of course, is a possible destination for the Expos, something Angelos has fought, claiming a team in Washington would cut into his team's market. It's possible the Orioles' owner may be positioning himself to sell the team, though the budget cuts also could be a business decision in a volatile economy.

Club spokesman Bill Stetka said he could not comment, and neither chief operating officer Joe Foss nor John Angelos, the owner's son and the Orioles' executive vice president, could be reached for comment.

Mark Ganis, president of Chicago-based Sportscorp Ltd., a sports business consulting firm, said he has heard a number of major league clubs have gone through similar reviews recently.

"A number of teams have been doing a comprehensive evaluation of operations with the premise that teams are overstaffed right now," Ganis said. "Baseball has the highest operating costs of the four major sports, though part of that is the number of games they play and also playing in outdoor facilities."

And one high-ranking major league official said the club simply could be cutting costs after a first-quarter budget review.

Robert Caporale, chairman of Game Plan LLC, a Boston-based investment bank that has consulted on the sale and refinancing of many pro teams, said he thought the review was unusual.

"This is not the norm. It's not something I have seen a lot of lately," he said. "But it certainly is smart business, holding your department heads accountable. It's very easy for your spending to get out of control, particularly in sports."

Earlier this year Peter Angelos told the Baltimore Sun the team was not for sale and said his election to the owners Executive Council in January was a sign he was not intending to leave baseball.

"I could see if I had run for the job and not gotten it, people could guess that I might [be planning to leave] but not now. Especially not now," he told the Baltimore Sun.