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 The regional baseball rivals have been at odds over the amount
the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, also known as MASN, should pay the
Nationals to broadcast their games. The Orioles control MASN, which
broadcasts in the U.S. capital and seven surrounding states. The
Nationals own a minority stake.
MASN and the teams had agreed to take their dispute to a Major
League Baseball internal arbitration committee, which ruled in June
the network should pay the Nationals about $60 million a year,
rather than the $40 million that had been agreed on earlier.
MASN is now suing MLB and the Nationals in New York State Supreme
Court, arguing in part that the committee was not impartial, and
that Rob Manfred, who is due to be promoted to baseball commissioner
in the new year, exerted undue influence over the process in favor
of the Nationals.
MLB denies that, saying Manfred and others only provided
administrative support for the committee, which was led by the
owners or owners' representatives of the Pittsburgh Pirates, the
Tampa Bay Rays and the New York Mets.
 "This was the conciliatory role played by the commissioner with
everyone's knowledge," John Buckley, Jr., a lawyer for MLB, told the
court, He described MASN's request for further discovery as a
"fishing expedition."
On Monday, Judge Lawrence Marks partially granted a request by
MASN's lawyers at a pre-trial hearing that he order MLB to produce
records showing the identities of everyone who attended various
meetings and deliberations about the dispute.
He also said MLB must produce any correspondence it had about the
role Manfred and MLB had in preparing the committee's June decision,
and some details about when drafts and other documents were emailed,
faxed or posted.
The judge denied MASN's broader request that MLB produce the actual
draft documents themselves as well as documents about committee
meetings that were not connected to the Nationals dispute.
He also ruled that MLB may be able to withhold some of those
documents and records if it can convince the court that producing
them would breach attorney-client privilege.
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In an affidavit last month, Manfred wrote that MLB staff routinely
helped the arbitration committee with scheduling and other
administrative issues.
"Additionally, MLB attorneys, at times including myself, provide
legal advice to the committee as well as assist in preparing draft
decisions," under the committee's directions.
He argued that MASN and the Orioles had been aware of those
practices for many years, and that he had discussed with them the
MLB's role before the arbitration proceedings began.
MASN's lawyers say MLB ignored their concerns about the involvement
of Proskauer Rose, a prominent New York law firm that has long
represented MLB and also represented the Nationals in the
arbitration and represented the Pirates, Blue Rays and the Mets in
other matters while the arbitration was happening.
Manfred says he does not believe the committee had the power to
disqualify Proskauer, and that MASN and the Orioles did not pursue
other options to lodge objections about the law firm's involvement.
Another pre-trial conference is set for Jan. 8, and the trial is
expected to begin in March 2015. The judge has ordered a temporary
injunction on the payments terms decided by the committee.
(Reporting by Jonathan Allen; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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