The Lerner family is no longer pursuing a sale of the Washington Nationals, the family confirmed to the Washington Post on Monday. The Lerners had been gauging interest in the franchise for approximately two years, with local billionaire David Rubenstein at one point being connected to the club. Rubenstein recently agreed to purchase the Baltimore Orioles.

“We have determined, our family has determined, that we are not going to sell the team,” Nationals managing principal owner Mark Lerner told the Washington Post. “… Nothing has really changed. We’ve just decided that it’s not the time or the place for it. We’re very happy owning the team and bringing us back a ring one day.”

Last March the Lerners put their efforts to sell the team on hold due to the ongoing MASN dispute with the Orioles. Now that the O’s have new ownership coming in, there may be a path to resolving the MASN dispute. And, once that dispute is resolved, the Lerners could again look to sell the team. To be clear, this is only speculation.

The Orioles sold for $1.725 billion and there is some belief that price is on the low side. The Lerners reportedly received interest in the Nationals in the $2 billion range, including from Ted Leonsis, who owns several Washington sports franchises, including the NHL’s Capitals, NBA’s Wizards, and WNBA’s Mystics.

The Nationals went 71-91 and finished in last place in 2023. Since winning the franchise’s first World Series championship in 2019, Washington has baseball’s sixth worst winning percentage at 310-398 (.438). The Expos relocated from Montreal and became the Nationals in 2005.

Ted Lerner purchased the Nationals from Major League Baseball for $450 million in 2016. He ceded his role as managing principal owner to his son, Mark, in 2018. Ted Lerner died at 97 last February.