Angelos-Buccaneers Talks Heat Up : Business: A Tampa Bay official says Oriole owner is the apparent front-runner to take over the team soon.

Peter Angelos’ negotiations to buy and move the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Baltimore have shifted into high gear, with the Oriole owner now among the front-runners to strike a deal--and to do it soon--according to a top Buccaneer official.

“I would definitely classify our meetings . . . as going beyond the preliminaries. We are going to move forward with some more in-depth discussions to see if we can consummate a deal,” Steve Story, one of three trustees operating the team since the death of owner Hugh Culverhouse, said yesterday.

Angelos, who met with Story for three hours Saturday night, concurred. “We’re into the nuts-and-bolts negotiations. We’re close to making the deal.”

A contract to buy the team, subject to NFL review, could be signed within the next few weeks, Angelos said.

Story, in the area for the Buccaneer-Redskin game Sunday, met with Angelos and his attorney, George Stamas. They covered specific aspects of a deal and left Story encouraged that an agreement can be completed soon.

“We’re interested in consummating a deal with someone quickly,” Story said. He said he expects intensive discussions this week with Stamas, beginning with a conference call Monday, to hammer out the fine points, he said.

Discussions will deal with several issues, including potentially up to $50 million in team liabilities, from deferred player compensation to the Tampa Stadium lease, he said.

Story described the meeting Saturday as the “most aggressive” yet. Angelos has met several times with Story, in Florida and New York.

“Certainly he’s up there in the front--there are several front-runners,” said Story, who has expressed a preference for a buyer who will keep the team in Tampa, which has been home to the expansion franchise established in 1974.

The trustees also will talk this week with other interested bidders--primarily those who want to keep the team in Tampa, including New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner, Story said.

Angelos, the controlling partner of the Orioles, is seeking to buy the Buccaneers and move them to Baltimore to play in a publicly funded, $165-million stadium to be constructed adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Stadium funding has been approved and the election of stadium supporter Parris N. Glendening as Maryland governor has eased some concern that opponents would try to rescind the bonding authority.

Story, who earlier had decried a lack of specific offers to accompany the interest shown by bidders, said he and Angelos have discussed the “parameters” of a bid.

Angelos has said he is willing to offer $200 million for the team. He said he believes the Buccaneers, who play in an outdated stadium in front of some of the smallest crowds in the NFL, meet the league’s guidelines for relocation, which require a team to be unsupported or unprofitable at home. He also predicts the trustees will be compelled by their fiduciary responsibility to the trust to accept the highest offer.

Story declined to comment on that, but has said price would be one of several factors the trustees will consider. The trustees have said that “all things being equal,” they would like the team to stay in Tampa.

Even competing bidders acknowledge they can’t match Angelos’ $200-million offer, made possible by the lucrative economics of the proposed stadium. They hope the uncertainty of league approval will enhance the value of their bids in the eyes of trustees.

“That’s something the trustees will have to weigh,” Story said. He said Sunday the trustees are not interested in an arrangement whereby the sale is contingent on the team being moved. Under Angelos’ offer before Culverhouse’s death in August, the team would still get a fair price even if the franchise was forced to remain in Tampa. “I think the league has made it particularly clear: They would like the franchise to stay where it is,” Story said.

The legality of the league’s current rules on moves--untested in court--are an object of debate among legal scholars. Trying to block such a move, especially if it is done to protect the Redskins’ territory, could leave the NFL vulnerable to charges that it has violated federal antitrust laws designed to encourage competition in business.

One of the groups seeking to buy the Buccaneers and keep them in Tampa is prepared to “write the check,” said Bruce Frey, a Chicago developer and member of the group headed by Palm Beach businessman George Lindemann.

But it won’t be for $200 million, he said. “If Angelos is going to buy it for $200 million, he’s got a team,” Frey said Sunday. But, he added, “Why doesn’t he just do it? With all deference to Mr. Angelos, stop talking about it and do it.”

Among the competing bidders the trustees have heard from is a second Baltimore group, represented by local attorney Robert Schulman. Story described those talks as preliminary.

Stanley Kroenke, the prospective investor seeking a team for St. Louis, also has contacted the trustees, but seems focused on his talks with the Rams, Story said.

* Sun staff writer Vito Stellino contributed to this story.