Daily Archives: November 2, 2011

So Who Hasn’t Expressed Ownership Interest Yet?

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It’s been barely 24 hours since news broke that Frank McCourt would be willing to sell the Dodgers (hours in which we’ve tripled the previous one-day traffic record here, thanks largely to links at Grantland and the New York Times, and a reminder that if the McCourt disaster was good for one thing, it was blogging) and the silly season has already gotten started as far as potential owners.

Maybe Peter O’Malley will come back. Former Dodgers Steve Garvey & Orel Hershiser are reportedly preparing a bid, which must mean that a competing bid from Chad Fonville & Wilton Guerrero is just around the corner. Former owners and players not enough? How about former GM Fred Claire, who says he’s putting together a group with former A’s exec Andy Dolich. We could hold out hope that Mark Attanasio wants to ditch Milwaukee to come back to Los Angeles. Or perhaps Dennis Gilbert, long thought to be a top suitor. Maybe Fox or Time Warner want to buy in order to get the television rights. We could see Mark Cuban try again for MLB approval. Or if not him, perhaps other billionaires like Alec Gores, Eli Broad, Ron Burkle, or Larry Ellison. Or maybe that Chinese money will find its way back around.

And that’s just in one day. The point is, over the coming weeks and months, you’re going to be hearing the names of every egomaniacal Angelino with a heartbeat and either a fat bank account or friends who do floated in rumors about possibly acquiring the team. It’s going to be fun, and more than a little bit crazy.

Let’s just remember what we want from an owner. Jon Weisman has a solid list at Dodger Thoughts today, and if I can add one or two items that may be a bit unpopular with some fans, it’d be this: I don’t really care if the new owner is a “true Dodger”, and I don’t care if they’re even from Los Angeles. For my money, nothing matters more to me than having an owner that is well-funded, wants to win, and treats the franchise and fans with respect, not as their own personal plaything. That’s a big black mark for me against a Garvey group, because he’s had more than his share of scandals, and simply having played for the team decades ago doesn’t add anything for me. This is the same argument I’ve had with people about hiring Dodger managers, too, and it’s the same argument I’ll keep having as I can already see people getting behind the Garvey idea.

As for the issue of an owner being from Los Angeles, I certainly understand the emotion behind that. The McCourts blew into town and ruined an institution. Absolutely. I just think that’s more because they’re truly awful people than because of where they’re from; this could have just as easily happened if they were from Brentwood rather than Brookline. Look around the bigs, anyway – I doubt you’ll see too many Brewer fans upset because Attanasio isn’t from Wisconsin, or Red Sox fans unhappy with the John Henry era, even though he grew up a Cardinals fan in Illinois and had ownership pieces in two other MLB clubs before Boston. I get that everyone wants a Mike Ilitch, a hometown boy made good who grew up to rescue his childhood team, and if that happens here then fantastic, but it just doesn’t always work that way. (Yes, I’m biased for obvious reasons. Sue me.)

I don’t really have a preference yet on the list of names above (other than not wanting a corporation like Time Warner). O’Malley is intriguing, I suppose, and Cuban & Attanasio are probably wonderful pipe dreams. It’s really too soon to have an informed opinion, especially with interest levels varying and financial backing uncertain. Let’s just hope this is done the right way, that MLB doesn’t repeat the initial mistake that got us here in the first place, and that we can finally start acting like we’re merely baseball fans again sometime soon.

Frank McCourt Gets One More Push Out That Door

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The day you never thought would come? Yeah, it’s just about here. One of them, anyway. Bill Shaikin (as usual) with the fantastic news:

Frank McCourt agreed Tuesday to sell the Dodgers, abruptly surrendering the team after fighting to retain it over two years and in two courts.

McCourt and Major League Baseball have agreed to seek approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for an auction of the Dodgers. The sale is expected to include the team, Dodger Stadium and the surrounding parking lots, a package bought by McCourt for $421 million in 2004 and likely to sell for two to three times as much now.

The league hopes a new Dodgers owner can be in place by opening day.

First and foremost: YEAH! I wasn’t sure I’d ever live to see this happen, yet here we are. Remember, this has been going for over two years. Hell, this is what I was writing in October of 2009, well before bankruptcies, Russian faith healers, attempted MLB takeovers and over 50 other sins:

So when the news of your divorce came out on the day of Game 1 of the NLCS, that was troubling enough. In the days since, rather than celebrate the end of the Dodger season and plans for the offseason, we’ve had to listen to quotes like “they’re trashing each other terribly. It’s going to be World War III” and now see the news that Jamie’s been fired from her position as CEO, while promising a lawsuit.

I’ve yet to read an account that doesn’t characterize this as being an extremely ugly situation. And yet again, I don’t really care about the “winner” of this situation insomuch as who gets the two (at least!) mansions you own. Remember, we only really care about how this is going to impact the Dodgers. We’re workaday slobs, you know, so watching our favorite team succeed is the only respite from our otherwise crushing lives. Or something like that.

Don’t let your personal issues get in the way of the enjoyment of millions of Dodger fans around the world, because if – as seems likely – this devolves into a path of scorched earth and courtroom rhetoric that leads to the selling off of assets on the field and a string of losing seasons like in San Diego, you might still own the team, and you might have won in the eyes of the law, but you’ll still be a pariah in the eyes of Dodger fans everywhere.

Fix this quickly and privately, or sell the team. Now. You may be striving for the spotlight, but you’re not bigger than the Dodgers, and it’s your association with them that’s brought you fame – not vice versa.

…and I think we can see how well that worked out, while also reminding us that we couldn’t stand the McCourts well before any news of the divorce leaked. In addition, don’t forget the happy ancillary benefits that could come along with this… namely, the hope that a new owner might want to bring along his own general manager – one who wouldn’t give Juan Rivera $4m, Juan Pierre $44m, Jason Schmidt $47m, amongst a litany of other errors.

This is still a long way from over, of course. As I noted yesterday, there’s still a long way to go from “settlement” to “sale”, and if the reported $1b or more purchase price is scaring off Mark Cuban (who is never getting approved by MLB anyway), we’re definitely going to have to worry about if any prospective buyer still even has money left over after putting that kind of cash down – but that’s a worry for another day. For now, there’s light at the end of the tunnel. (A different tunnel, I would imagine, than the one we hope McCourt gets thrown down.) That’s progress. And that’s worth celebrating.