[DaClyde]

Fascinating discussion going on there. Some world champion level hairsplitters among the comments, too.

From my interpretation of what John Thorn is saying, the league sold the league "franchise" of the Baltimore Orioles to owners who stood up a team in New York that eventually became the Yankees. I take this to mean the league was selling the open team slot in the league, not necessarily the assets of the Orioles team entity. And that certain players left dangling with the dissolution of the O's signed on to play for the Highlanders. Therefore, it was not a cut & dry "Orioles moved to New York and became the Highlanders".

All those who citing contemporary newspaper articles seem to be implying old=authoritative. From my family history research experience, I found that newspapers were rarely all that concerned with using correct technical terms in any discussion when "first impression" common language would suffice. Newspapers weren't peer-reviewed science journals, they were mechanisms for selling advertising. Heck, even today it is rare for a newspaper article (in print or online) to accurately portray any moderately complex subject.