NEW YORK — Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred strongly rebuked the Orioles' position on Thursday in the club's revenue dispute with the Washington Nationals, saying the Orioles have “engaged in a pattern of conduct” that ignores a long-standing agreement under which the Nationals were to gain rights fees from the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, the Orioles-owned broadcaster that carries the games of both clubs.

Speaking at the conclusion of the quarterly owners' meetings at MLB headquarters, Manfred acknowledged that the disagreement — which the Nationals argue is limiting their rightful revenues and therefore impeding their ability to, among other things, pursue marquee free agents — is “driven by litigation postures at this time” because the Orioles, Nationals and MLB are appealing a November decision by a New York Supreme Court judge that dismissed a decision by an MLB panel to award higher rights fees to the Nationals.

But Manfred argued, more strongly than he has in the past, that the basics of the deal negotiated in 2004, when MLB approved the Montreal Expos' move to Washington, should still apply today, and that MLB's Revenue Sharing Definitions Committee should calibrate the fees the Orioles pay to the Nationals. MASN is withholding those funds.

“It is important to bear in mind the fundamentals,” Manfred said. “The fundamentals are that the Orioles agreed that the RSDC would set the rights fees for MASN and the Orioles every five years. The Orioles have engaged in a pattern of conduct designed to avoid that agreement being effectuated.”

In court filings, the Nationals have sought more than $100 million a year in rights fees from the network. The Orioles and MASN argued they should pay $35?million. The RSDC figure was approximately $55 million to $60 million.

MASN, meanwhile, issued a statement saying Manfred's statement “ignores the fundamentals of the case.” MASN pointed out that a New York court sided with the Orioles because of MLB's “pervasive conflicts of interest,” and that “MASN and the Orioles never agreed to allow the RSDC to set the telecast rights fees at its sole discretion.”