The Giants were the first NL West team up in MLBTR's 2011-12 Offseason In Review series. Tim Dierkes examined the Giants' winter moves earlier today as we continue to review every club's offseason in the weeks leading up to Opening Day.
Here's the latest from the NL West…
- Steve Cohen may be the favorite to take ownership of the Dodgers, writes Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Cohen and fellow bidder Stan Kroenke are the richest of the four remaining ownership groups bidding for the team, though Cohen has seemingly made more connections within MLB and Kroenke's bid "could be complicated by [a] cross-ownership rule from another sport" since he also owns the NFL's St. Louis Rams, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and the NBA's Denver Nuggets.
- Perhaps as a way of combating Cohen and Kroenke's cash-on-hand advantage, the Dodgers ownership group led by Magic Johnson has added Peter Guber to its rank, reports Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. Guber co-owns the NBA's Golden State Warriors and his Mandalay Entertainment group owns and manages seven minor league baseball franchises.
- Jeff Moorad's attempt to buy the Padres is an "uphill battle," a source tells Jon Heyman. As per Moorad's deal with current Padres owner John Moores, Moorad has two years remaining to try to complete the purchase but may not be able to win the votes needed from other owners. White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf and Diamondbacks owner Ken Kendrick are rumored to be against Moorad's bid.
- Dennis Tankersley hasn't pitched in the majors since 2004 and hasn't played any pro ball since 2008 but is attempting a comeback with the Padres this spring, writes MLB.com's Corey Brock.
- Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers told reporters (including Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic) that he is still looking to add depth at the middle infield and catcher positions. Towers also said that teams have expressed an interest in Gerardo Parra via their scouts talking to Arizona's scouts, though Towers reiterated that he doesn't want to trade the outfielder. In January, I outlined why the D'Backs want to hold to Parra even though the Jason Kubel signing pushed him out of their lineup.
Cohen… Smells of McCourt. No thanks. Next?
McCourt didn’t have $900 million in cash up front, he had loans.
Smells like the complete opposite.
Only 900,000,000?
The way he wrote it, it’s $900 billion, so I guess he’s taking a loss.
I’m liking the Tragic Johnson group more and more (especially in light of Cohen being the front runner now)
Why would the league let Moorad get this far down the road to purchase the Padres just to turn him down now? This makes no sense. Contrary to some fans opinions, Moorad has done a ton for the Padres in a very short time. Sure he didn’t hand ouut crazy contracts, to Gonzalez and Bell, that would have crippled the franchise, but he has raised payroll just as he said he would and has put his money where his mouth is when it has come to the draft. He has also gotten the Padres a fabulous TV deal, that will help the franchise out for years to come.
If Reinsdorf and Kendrick have this much pull with Selig, then all of the other owners in the league should be very worried. It sounded as though the sale from Moores to Moorad was a done deal a month ago and now it sounds like it may never happen. It’s a shame that 2 owners with a personal vendetta against another would be owner can have this much sway with the comissioner.
If this is all about Moorad putting his ducks in line to avoid another fiasco that is the Dodgers, then fine. But with the money apparently being in escrow for over a month now, this smells of something else and it does not smell good.
Got to thinking about Selig’s extension and how the terms of the Padres’ sale expire before the Commissioner’s current contract does. Would certainly be terrible to see Bud sit on his hands while Padres’ ownership continues to bound aimlessly in limbo.
Jesus, Kroenke owns 4 other franchises? How much money is he going to put on the Dodgers payroll when he has multiple obligations?
It just needs to be somewhat proportional to the revenue coming in from the Dodgers, and it will be plenty. Not like he’ll be taking revenue out of the Dodgers and putting it into the Rams…