(Bloomberg) -- Baltimore Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., now a part-owner of the Major League Baseball team he spent more than two decades playing for, said small-market teams can compete with big-spending rivals even as player salaries skyrocket.
“I never liked the idea that because you are a small-market team you couldn’t compete,” Ripken said at Power Players New York on Thursday. “When you’re a smaller team, you have to be better at your baseball decisions.”
The famously durable former shortstop, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007, was part of an investment group led by Carlyle Group Inc. co-founder David Rubenstein that bought the team for $1.7 billion in January. The group includes former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.
Ripken said that becoming an owner has changed his perspective on negotiating player salaries.
“It’s about ego and it’s about breaking the bank and it’s agents wanting to continue to make it go up for other people that come through,” Ripken said on stage during an interview with fellow owner Rubenstein.
“I try to think of what are the other intangible values that you can offer a player beside the bottom line dollars, because the bottom-line dollars are so big,” Ripken said.
The Orioles, who currently have a half-game lead over the New York Yankees atop the American League East and won the division last year, have enjoyed success in recent seasons despite a relatively low payroll.
For the full interview with Cal Ripken Jr., watch “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer to Peer Conversations” Wednesday October 30 on Bloomberg Television at 9:00pm in New York.
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