The Lerner family is “not close to a sale” of the Nationals, according to sources cited by Chelsea Janes of the WASHINGTON POST. Sources said that Monumental Sports & Entertainment founder & CEO Ted Leonsis “remains the likeliest eventual buyer,” but “familiar long-standing obstacles remain.” Janes noted that the list of obstacles has “always started with the Lerner family’s expectations for a sale price,” but the “main complication remains” the Nationals dispute with the Orioles over broadcast rights and revenue from MASN. As a result, Nationals managing principal owner Mark Lerner and his “tight circle of family partners” are “still operating the team as if they plan to own it indefinitely, shepherding the franchise through a rebuild they might not be around to see completed while also overseeing a dramatic restructuring of their baseball operations department.” The “most visible evidence of the uncertainty around the franchise might lie in its payroll” as at the start of the winter meetings, the Nationals will probably begin next year with their “lowest 162-game payroll since 2012,” with just more than $100M committed to the roster in 2024. But sources said that the team’s “unwillingness to bid on top-dollar free agents this offseason” is largely because they “believe they are not one or two stars away from contention” (WASHINGTON POST, 12/3).
