Judge grants preliminary injunction in the MASN-Nationals-Orioles dispute - MLB

Two weeks ago MASN and the Orioles went to court to (a) get out from under an MLB arbitration ruling requiring them to pay the Nationals a dramatically greater amount of money; and (b) get an injunction preventing the Nationals from dropping out of their broadcast deal with MASN and seek other broadcast arrangements while the dispute is hammered out. They just won on part of that.

There was an oral argument on the matter today and the judge hearing the case has entered a preliminary injunction which freezes the status quo pending the outcome of the case. That means the Nats are still going to be subject to their MASN deal and the dispute between them on one said and MASN/the Orioles on the other, will proceed in court. Or in negotiations, but those haven’t worked out too well so far.

Worth noting that part of the standard to obtain a preliminary injunction is to demonstrate that you have a reasonable likelihood of success on the merits of the dispute. So, at the very least, the Orioles and MASN convinced the judge that, yes, they could win a trial in the future which seeks to throw out the arbitration ruling entered under MLB’s auspices which favored the Nats.

There will likely be a long time to go before this is all resolved, but in the meantime, nothing will change with the way we as fans see Nationals games.

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles signed outfielder Aaron Hicks less than 24 hours after Cedric Mullins went down with a strained right groin.

Mullins went on the 10-day injured list, but the Orioles are hoping Hicks can help defensively in the spacious outfield at Camden Yards. Hicks was released last week by the New York Yankees with more than 2 1/2 seasons left on his contract.

“We had noticed that he was a free agent even before the injury,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said. “When the injury occurred and it became pretty clear this was going to be an IL, it seemed like a good fit even more so at that time.”

The Orioles are responsible for paying Hicks just $483,871, a prorated share of the $720,000 minimum salary. The Yankees owe him the rest of his $10.5 million salary this year, plus $9.5 million in each of the next two seasons and a $1 million buyout of a 2026 team option.

The 33-year-old Hicks hit just .188 in 28 games for the Yankees this year.

“We have stuff that we look at from a scouting and evaluation perspective,” Elias said. “It’s very different from just looking at the back of a baseball card, and we hope that we get a bounceback from anyone we bring here.”

Hicks batted .216 last season.

“Hopefully that’s a good thing for him,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of the Baltimore deal. “A lot of time here and a lot of good things happened for him here. I know the last couple of years have been a struggle. But hopefully it’s a good opportunity for him and certainly wish him well. Not too well being in our division and a team we’re chasing, but hopefully it’s a really good fit for him.”

Mullins left a loss to Cleveland after he pulled up while running out an infield grounder. Outfielder Colton Cowser – the fifth pick in the draft two years ago – is hitting .331 at Triple-A Norfolk, but he went on the IL in the past couple weeks.

“Certainly he was building a case towards promotion consideration prior to his injury and prior to Cedric’s injury,” Elias said. “We’ll just see where we’re at.”

Hicks was active for the game but not in the starting lineup. Austin Hays, normally Baltimore’s left field, was in Mullins’ usual spot in center.

When the wall in left at Camden Yards was pushed significantly back before last season, it made left field a bigger challenge defensively.

“In this park … you really need two center fielders,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Aaron’s got a lot of center-field experience. Played left field here before also. Brings the defensive aspect and then the switch-hitting.”