Baseball ownership drama might not be your cup of tea, but this new is HUGE! According to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times the Frank McCourt era in Dodgerland has come to a close.
“Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig stripped Dodgers ownerFrank McCourt of financial control of the club Wednesday, saying he would appoint a trustee to oversee the team’s business affairs while investigating the “operations and finances of the Dodgers and related entities.”
Selig intervened after McCourt required a $30-million loan from Fox last week in order to meet the team’s first payroll of the season.”
It was only a matter of time before this happened. Frank McCourt’s reign as owner of one of the league’s crown jewels has been nothing short of a disaster. He’s racked up an ungodly amount of debt; attempted to draw multiple loans from the team’s former owner to make payroll; and weathered through a very ugly and public (and still unresolved) divorce. All-in-all, it’s been a brutal couple of years for the Dodger organization–and we haven’t even touched upon the mediocrity they’ve produced on the field.
Here’s what Commissioner Bud Selig had to say about the situation:
“Pursuant to my authority as Commissioner, I informed Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt today that I will appoint a representative to oversee all aspects of the business and the day-to-day operations of the Club. I have taken this action because of my deep concerns regarding the finances and operations of the Dodgers and to protect the best interests of the Club, its great fans and all of Major League Baseball. My office will continue its thorough investigation into the operations and finances of the Dodgers and related entities during the period of Mr. McCourt’s ownership. I will announce the name of my representative in the next several days. The Dodgers have been one of the most prestigious franchises in all of sports, and we owe it to their legion of loyal fans to ensure that this club is being operated properly now and will be guided appropriately in the future.”
Yikes! Bud sounds like he’s seen enough, and he’s sick of it. As much as he’s engaged in crony-ism over the years (and there’s been plenty of that between he and McCourt), it seems that there’s a limit to how much crap he’s willing to take.
Larry, my respectable colleague and co-writer over at IIATMS likened the Dodger takeover to the NBA’s takeover of the New Orleans Hornets and MLB’s takeover of Jonah Keri’s beloved Les Expos. It’s a pretty apt comparison. He goes on to say:
But most observers believe that Selig’s move here is unprecedented, and that Frank McCourt is likely to challenge Selig’s move in court.
Ultimately, it appears that Selig’s goal is to force McCourt to sell the Dodgers. The Dodgers are estimated to be worth anything from $800 million to over $1 billion. But the ability to sell the Dodgers may be complicated by Frank McCourts’ ongoing divorce proceedings with his ex-wife Jaime. The McCourt divorce court has ruled that Jaime co-owns the team along with Frank.
To my knowledge this move is completely unprecedented. In the case of the Expos, Jeffrey Loria sold his stake in the team to purchase Marlins…whose ownership had recently been vacated by John Henry who joined forces with former Padres owner Tom Werner to purchase our beloved Red Sox–albeit under some shady “under-the-table-hand-shake” negotiations. Interesting side note to the that deal is that Frank McCourt was considered to be a serious bidder for the Red Sox during that time. Luckily, he failed in his bid to do so. If he hadn’t, the Red Sox could be in this exact situation right now. Think about that for a second. As bad as things for the Red Sox are right now performance-wise, it could be a lot worse.
One last thing. It makes you wonder how long Selig will allow the Fred Wilpon-Bernie Madoff distraction/money issues situation to go with the Mets. They could be on a much shorter leash than any of us had previously been able to imagine.