Rubenstein: "We don’t have debt problems, we don’t have financial challenges or anything like that"

SARASOTA, Fla. – The most popular figure this morning on the back fields at the Ed Smith Stadium complex wasn’t one of the players. It was the man who signs their checks.

Owner and control person David Rubenstein reported to camp, toured the complex and signed autographs for fans behind the fences. The scene usually plays out at Camden Yards during games, at times with Orioles cap tossed to the crowd from the front row.

“In life you have to do what you’re good at,” he said. “I’m not good at certain things, so when I bought the team, I said, ‘What can I help the team with?’ It probably isn’t by trying to second-guess the sabermetrics of some of our experts on things, so I thought I could be engaged with the community and try to make speeches around the community, be philanthropically engaged and show up at the games, engage the fans, sign autographs, selfies or things like that, and I try to do as much of that as I physically can.

“I hope to be able to continue to do that until the fans are tired of me. You never know when they may get tired of me.”

Rubenstein spoke to media for about 18 minutes outside the baseball operations center, making multiple assurances that the franchise is in strong financial condition and that his expectations for the 2025 season are lofty.

Here’s what we learned.

Rubenstein trusts that the work done in the offseason can lead to a deep playoff run.

“I think the team is in pretty good shape. We have a really solid team. We’ve added to it during the offseason and I’m very pleased with the team, and I think we have a chance to go all the way. Absolutely.”

The owner was hands-on depending on your point of view.

“I was learning the Orioles, so I can’t say I was as hands-on as somebody who’s been doing it for 10 years, but I tried to not do anything damaging to the team. So I think I did a reasonable job of trying to do what I was supposed to do, which was to try to energize the fan base a bit and try to show that I cared about what was happening in Baltimore and with the team.

“I can always do a better job, but I hope to be engaged publicly again with the Orioles and go as many games as possible and be actively involved in the civic affairs of Baltimore.”

Lines of communication were wide open between Rubenstein and executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias.

“We were in communication every single day several times a day with (ownership partner) Mike Arougheti and me, sent us emails or texts every day. We knew what was going on and went back and forth. I can’t say that I added a lot of value to his baseball knowledge. He knows a lot more than I know. But he knows baseball pretty well and we went through players and I’d say we were in contact several times a day during the offseason.”

Any inquiries about payroll will bring quick reminders of its increase – 56 percent from $103 million to $161 million, per FanGraphs.

“I don’t have a financial limit. The team is in very good financial shape. We don’t have debt problems, we don’t have financial challenges or anything like that. We want to put the best team on the field we can, and we don’t have a constraint by saying there’s a certain amount of money we’d spend. So we can get the best team we can get, we will try to do that, and if it costs more money, then we’ll do it. But we don’t have any particular financial constraints.”

Elias’ moves had to be approved, but there wasn’t going to be any pushback.

“I think in all of baseball, I’m not aware of any owners who say to their general managers, ‘Do anything you want and call me at the end of the season.’ I think all owners are involved and we’re no different than anybody else. We didn’t have a financial limit on what he could spend or not spend, but he did want to let us know what he was doing all the time and get our input, and we gave him our input. But our input really was relating to learning more about the players. It wasn’t so much about the money.

“The money isn’t the big issue. We are financially in very good shape.”

Rubenstein doesn’t believe that the biggest payrolls ensure success.

“Baseball has shown over the years that generally, spending now doesn’t necessarily produce championships. So championships are won by team spirit, by having real good camaraderie and by having good players, so it’s a combination of things. If spending more money was a guarantee of winning a World Series, we’d be happy to spend more money. It’s no guarantee.

“You want to have a team that works together well and it’s a team not just for one year, but it’s a team that’s going to get along for quite some time. So I don’t think we have a view that there’s any financial constraints that we’re operating under. We have a fair amount of money and we’re in pretty good financial shape. And we therefore spent money in the offseason and we got some pretty good players and we’re very happy with the team we already had, but we added to it.”

Ownership isn’t blind to the extension elephants in the room …

“I don’t want to use the word ‘confident’ because that would imply that I have some inside knowledge that I don’t really have. I would say, we have some great players. I just had lunch today with two of the great ones, Adley (Rutschman) and Gunnar (Henderson), and they’re obviously very talented people. That was just a social lunch. I wasn’t talking business with them. It was mostly about their background.

“I recognize how baseball operates and that it would be great if you can sign some people to longer-term contracts, but it takes a while to do it, and right now we’re focused on getting the team ready for the season and we’ll see what unfolds. But we’re not unaware of what you’re talking about.”

… and yes, ownership would prefer that the homegrown talent stays in Baltimore if possible.

“I certainly would like the best young players we have on the team, and those are two I just mentioned, to stay here in their career just like Brooks Robinson was here in his entire career, Jim Palmer was here in his entire career. We’d like to have players who stay with Baltimore for a long, long time in their entire career.

“Baseball is different than it was in the Brooks Robinson days and the Jim Palmer days, and we recognize that. But we think that we’re putting together a team that they’re very happy with, and we’re providing an atmosphere that they’re very happy with, and we’ll just have to see what unfolds. But we’re not unaware of the desirability of doing what you suggest. We’ll just have to wait time and see.”

Add Rubenstein to the growing list of people impressed with the culture that’s developed.

“Brandon (Hyde) two years ago was voted American League Manager of the Year, and I think Mike was voted the Major League Baseball Executive of the Year. So who I am to say I know more about baseball than they do? I’m very happy. The relationship between the two of them is very good, and their relationship with players, I think, is very good. I’m a new guy coming in and trying to help a little bit. I think they built a really great organization, and with the help of many other people they have working for them, so I’m very, very pleased with them. I spent time with them in the offseason, a lot of time, and I’m very comfortable with where we are now.”

Rubenstein views the Tomoyuki Sugano signing as aiding the Orioles' presence in the international market.

“I love Japan and the Japanese love of baseball. If we can get more really good Japanese players, we’d be happy to do so. Sugano is one of the best out there and we’re very pleased to have him. If we can find more people that are talented like him, we’d be happy to do it. Clearly what baseball is going to do is have more and more international players, I think, from other countries in the world, not just Japan. But clearly we have some from the Caribbean, some from other places in Asia. I think it’s a good thing for baseball to make it more international.”

Rubenstein isn’t against a salary cap if you read between the lines.

“I would just say the best way to phrase it, everybody in baseball wants to have a competitive environment so every fan thinks every team can win any given year. Having a competitive environment is what we want and what other owners want. And ultimately, I think that’s what I think the fans really want, too, is a competitive environment so no matter what city you live in, you think your team can win that year when the season begins. And that’s what I’m mostly focused on.

“If you look at other sports, the other sports which have that kind of arrangement seem to have players that are pretty happy with the situation. I can’t address the baseball situation, but I would say my impression is that players in other leagues seem to be OK. But I can’t address how that would affect baseball or something like that. I’m not sure anybody is thinking that the players in other leagues are thinking they’re in bad shape.”

Another reminder that the major ballpark renovations aren’t happening in 2025, but you’ll hear one immediate difference.

“We will have a new sound system up and running before this season begins. We will be moving the outfield wall in a little bit. The major renovations will occur after this season. We have to do them in the offseason. … We’ll make things like better fan experiences, a bigger, better scoreboard, the clubhouses will be better for the players, the ability for the players to get into the clubhouse will be better. I think the food experience and the ability to entertain in the stadium will be better.

“I think we’ve looked at what other stadiums have done and there have been a lot of improvements since Camden Yards came along 30 years ago. Remember, when Camden Yards came along 30 years ago, it was innovative and earth-shattering to people. But since that time in 30 years a lot of stadiums have been built and they’ve done some pretty good things. We look at what they’ve done and we’ll try to incorporate some of those things.

“I’m really looking forward to it. It won’t all be done by the end of ‘26, but a lot of it will be done for the next season. It will take two major offseasons to get it done.”

One huge perk of the renovations should be an opportunity to host the All-Star Game for the first time since 1993.

“I don’t think it will hurt. I think baseball wants to show off its best all the time. We haven’t had an All-Star Game for quite some time. There are a couple other commitments that have already been made to major league teams for All-Star Games, but they haven’t made commitments too far in advance. I think we have a reasonable chance, but we don’t have any commitments yet.” 

* Adley Rutschman doubled yesterday in live batting practice and homered twice today on the stadium field.

Rutschman cleared the fence against Grayson Rodriguez and Albert Suárez.

* Former Orioles pitcher John Means, recovering from his second Tommy John surgery, reportedly has agreed to a one-year contract with the Guardians that includes a club option for 2026. The deal is pending a physical.

The option is a crucial component because Means won’t be available to pitch until perhaps late in the season.