9:16pm: SI.com's Jon Heyman hears that McCourt "intends to fight" MLB for control of the team (on Twitter). It's an uphill battle not just legally, but in the court of public opinion. Legal costs could be another issue for the Dodgers' owner.
3:59pm: Commissioner Bud Selig has announced that MLB will take over the Dodgers' financial operations from Frank McCourt, reports Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times. Shaikin's colleague Dylan Hernandez adds that Selig "will appoint a representative to oversee all aspects of the business and the day-to-day operations of the Dodgers." Shaikin has the official statement from Selig here. ESPN's Buster Olney calls Selig's takeover "a two-handed shove out the door," and awaits McCourt's legal response.
SI's Jon Heyman wrote earlier today that MLB is "disinclined to grant McCourt's request" for approval of a TV deal with Fox that might have allowed him to retain control of the Dodgers.
Matt Kemp to the Braves….PLEASE.
Gross. No.
No matter which team you pull for, the “GROSS” was just epic =D
Yeah, right, for Heyward AND Uggla. 🙂
Sure, just send that Heyward kid on over.
Fire sale!
What exactly does this mean for the team?
I would have to assume that it means that the payroll will stay the same and McCourt will be gone. That’s best case scenario
Worst case scenario would be a fire sale. But I don’t see MLB letting a Los Angeles team to become terrible.
the only good players are the cheap ones. Kershaw, Kemp, Ethier, Billingsley. Nobody will take on contracts like Furcal, Lilly, or Blake. They really can’t have much of a fire sale because the only attractive options are guys getting paid less than 8 million. By the time those guys hit their last years of arbitration, they’ll have a new owner.
Pretty sure the Red Sox and Yankees would be interested in Kuroda on a one-year deal.
I heard that the Red Sox already have in place a trade with the Padres:
A bag of baseballs;
A Rawlings glove;
Two overhyped players with no future in boston and who won’t be on the majors until 3 years after the trade;
In exchange, Jed Hoyer will give his former boss Theo, liberty to choose any player he wants (Heath Bell is next ;)).
Obvious troll is obvious
Pretty sure Kuroda has a NTC. Would expect it, anyway, considering he clearly preferred to sign with the Dodgers and did so at a discount.
Who cares. We have to get rid of the McCourts first…the team can’t function with him as owner.
This is certainly an interesting situation. It’s a shame a franchise with history like The Dodgers has come to this.
Maybe it’s a result of the beating of the Giants fan and much needed increased security.
You are correct. The McCourt allowed that gentlemen to get beaten by electing to cut security as a cost saving solution.
now only if mccourt would of went to the SF games and got jumped as retaliation, we would’nt be in this mess…lol
It’s a win win! Dodgers get to watch their loser ex-owner McCourt get beat up, and Giants fans get a healthy revenge!
exactly…we can all be even and friends…except when we play each other!! then its just nice friendly competition…lol
“Selig “will appoint a representative to oversee all aspects of the business and the day-to-day operations of the Dodgers.”
welcome back, joe!
You are joking but I would be at all surprised if Joe is put in charge. That would hurt.
It almost makes you wonder if that was the plan when MLB hired Joe. Probably not but it’s still a thought.
It might actually be the plan when they hired Kim Ng, as she knows Dodger operations as well as anyone. She is the perfect person to run things
I think that whole thing was an “abandon ship” situation when both of them left. I really hope Ng becomes the GM. That would be sweet.
Man, I think you hit it. Kim Is the perfect choice. That’s funny, and possible.
Omar Minaya, c’mon down!
Joe was a great candidate to be hired as team president months ago when it became clear that the McCourts would have to sell. If MLB put him in charge of operations now it would be the best thing that’s happened to the Dodgers in a year or more, and I’d even have to revise my opinion of Bud Selig.
Dear Mr. McCourt,
You are terrible and such. That is all.
Love, Your Mother
P.S. Easter dinner will be at your sisters house. You will be in charge of bringing mashed potatos.
Thank god! I get my Dodgers back.
Selig “will appoint a representative to oversee all aspects of the business and the day-to-day operations of the Dodgers.”
Hello Omar Minaya!!!!!
Oh Noez The Montreal Dodgers….
You mean “Los Montreal Dodgers”
haha for those of you thinking that Kershaw, Kemp, or Ethier is going anywhere – you’re dreaming.
Will my Mets be next?
No
Why not? it’s our dream? oh yeah selig and wilpon are butt buddies
One failure at ownership at a time, my friend.
Has this ever been done before? Sounds unprecedented.
Maybe they move back to Brooklyn! hahaa
I would love to see them move to Brooklyn but I would hate to see them leave LA :/
Yes. to the Expos. Fangraphs has a good article on it.
As a huge die hard Dodgers fan. THANK GOD. So Long Mccourt. Sure we’ll suffer the rest of the season. But atleast he’s gone and done with. Hopefully sell the team in the offseason and have a whole new regime! Thank you bud!
This just sounds like MLB’s way of easing McCourt out.
This is no easing McCourt out, this is more locking him out of his own business. It is a pretty severe action by Selig. Selig hadn’t done this to Tom Hicks or Fred Wilpon. He would had done this to Hicks, but Hicks was much more compliant in letting MLB stepping in when he was being crushed by too many loans..
Basically, Selig has made MLB the owners of the Dodgers, and forced McCourt out.
That can’t be good for their draft budget. Slot players, come on down…
What this all likely means is that McCourt is going to eventually be forced to sell the team.
Would not be shocked to find out soon that MLB is financing the Dodgers for the rest of ’11 and that MLB will start looking for prospective buyers soon.
I have to think McCourt is on fumes financially if he had to borrow $30 mill last month just to make payroll.
Mr. McCourt, you’ve been banished from the “Good ‘Ol Boy Club” for being a douche. Now get the hell out!
Hopefully this isn’t the same situation as when MLB took over the Expos, and they traded away Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, and Grady Sizemore for Colon.
Praise be to the Great Dodger in the sky!
Dennis Gilbert, answer the phone! Finally! Oh, or Mark Cuban!
Cuban would be my favorite. Broad would be ok
im all for Broad considering he made a last ditch effort to buy the Dodgers originally before Bud said the Frank was the new owner. Eli Broad is ranked in the middle for the top 100 billionaires in the U.S. with a worth of over 5.8 Billion dollars. He has also lives in Los Angeles and has helped over see the renovation of Downtown LA and is known to be a huge spender in the Arts and charity…thats the kind of person i want running the team
Broad wanted to renegotiate the broadcasting rights deal that Fox signed with itself before putting the Dodgers on the sale’s block. Both Fox and MLB were against it.
The business of baseball is a dirty messy business, with low profit margins, huge overhead, and plenty of headaches, (like the Dodgers PR nightmare of the Giants’ fan beaten into a coma on opening day in the parking lot, with rumors that McCourt cut security before the 2011 season) I think there should be trepidation that a knight in shining armour is going to swoop down and make the Dodgers all better, without putting their own neurosis on the organization as the McCourts have done with team.
However, Eli Broad would be a huge step in the right directions compared to looney bin that McCourts have created with their ownership of the Dodgers..
Short term, I don’t think this means any changes at all, not major mid-season acquisitions, but hey, that was true with the McCourts anyway. Long-term this is good for the Dodgers. The Dodgers will keep all of their core players, although I have no problem if they can trade Broxton for a single elite prospect. Use Kuo and Padilla as co-closers. I am actually OK with Torre or Omar having feedback for a single season, the team will simply stay pat, no fire sale, and the team can play .500 ball this year and begin to rebuild under new ownership by the end of the calendar year.
So you’re saying Dotel, Podsednik, Theriot and Lilly weren’t major mid-season acquisitions? I was shocked those 4 didn’t lead the Dodgers to the playoffs… /sarcasm
If they are in the mix at the trade deadline the trustee could authorize little moves like the above ones. But yeah, no deals for Albert or Prince, that is for sure. But that is OK, so long as they keep the 2014 starting rotation of Kershaw, Billingsley, Zach Lee, Rubby de la Rosa, Chris Withrow and Ethan Martin, the outfield of Kemp, Ethier and Sands, and infielder Dee Gordon. The rest is negotiable to me, although I am partial to keeping Kuo and Padilla to be the co-closers until a better acquisition can be had.
I was just suggesting that McCourt was unlikely to make major mid-season acquisitions, either. He hasn’t since ’08. So, whatever… no loss there.
the dodgers need a new owen…stress NEED…and because they are a big market team in LA they need a very very rich owner….Mark Cuban would be perfect for them. He has wanted a team for a long time and for some stupid reason selig wont let it happen. But how many other people would be able to work as a baseball owner in LA? Cuban should own either the mets or the dodgers but because selig is a horrible comish it wont happen
Cuban is not what baseball needs. The guy cant stay off the basketball court why would he stay off the diamond. Baseball takes cool level headed people to over see the big picture and he is anything but.
i think cuban would be great…i’ve been saying for months i want him and his money to be the owner…but he said before the season that he is giving money to BCS to make it more competitive and interesting…and has given up on owning baseball…i dont think that means he will change his mind tho!!
Mets are next
Whomever takes over for MLB will probably take a highly conservative stance and hold on to every good player who isn’t too expensive. That keeps the franchise’s value high, as the Dodgers can be sold with the expectation that costs will be low and the chance of winning soon good.
So even if there is a trade that might be made to help them win now, I don’t think it will happen. The only moves I can see them making are to ship out a couple of older guys for prospects. That’s the reverse of what happened with the Expos, where there was incentive to win immediately in hopes of keeping the franchise in Montreal.
I agree. I could see them moving Lilly, Garland, Broxton or Uribe, not the core youngsters.
Not sure any of those guys get picked up even if you put them on waivers… their contracts are all far heavier than their production. Maybe Lilly gets picked up. Maybe.
But good luck trading any of them for anything useful…
how do you mismanage the Los Angeles Dodgers to this kind of low? Frank McCourt has got to be one amazing fool.
If he comes off the DL for long enough they should trade Furcal. His option won’t vest and I doubt, even if the dodgers sell quick to someone with unlimited resources, that it makes sense to re-sign Furcal yet again at 34 to another 1 1/2 years playing and another 1 1/2 years on the DL for 12 mil a year deal. I think they will let him walk if not traded. Especially so if he has another DL stint after recovering from the finger. The team is built in such a way that we don’t miss him when he’s gone, which is about 50% of his career in LA.
It just makes sense to move Furcal, even if the ownership thing were not going on. There will be someone in need of a shortstop who will be in the pennant chase down the stretch and will pay decently for the rental. If not, let him play out the year and decline his option.
I bet Bud puts Joe Torre in charge. That’d be sweet.
You’re VERY close. But my money says Kim Ng, if there isn’t any conflict of interest/comfort issues in the way of it.
Better yet, how about Peter O’Malley?
I’d vote for Joe, as if our votes count. No matter who gets the job, it has to be a real baseball person.
Selig’s 2011 to do list:
Replace retiring Bob Watson: CHECK
Oust McCourt – CHECK
Hunt & Kill Osama Bin Laden – TBA
Don’t mess with Bud…
Seriously though, hopefully he follows through on the process, and brings in a REPUTABLE OWNERSHIP group as fast as LEGALLY* POSSIBLE.
*Afraid this will be hung up in court for a very long discouraging time…
RE: Fire sale comments:
MLB’s move to take over is to prevent exactly this type of activity from happening…
I believe you are right. But in addition, it became obvious that the McCourts were not going to settle the ownership issue any time soon.
hahaaha
for a second, I thought it read MLB TR take over Dodgers’ Financial Operations.
That would be sweet!
If we ran a team, that team would be a force to be reckoned with.
…in Double AA.
I bet Red Sox fans are dancing on their ceilings after reading this. There but for the grace of Bud go they.
Why? Guess who’s coming back to Boston?
I don’t get the “Torre as team president” idea. I’m sure he saw this team wasn’t going to contend and figured he’d get out while the gettin’s good and dumped the mess in Mattingly’s lap. I don’t think making him an executive solves anything other than trying to put a smiley face back on the organization. Sad that one of the most storied franchises in not just baseball, but sports has been reduced to an MLB takeover.
By the way, this is NOT a Montreal thing if any of you were wondering. MLB took over the team and Selig did everything in his power to kill them. Not gonna happen in L.A.
Two words: Nolan Ryan.
WHat does the Texas owner have to do with L.A.’s financial problems?
Ryan came back to the Rangers when he was hired by owner Tom Hicks to run the club as president. Ryan only became co-owner a couple of years later. What this has to do with the Dodgers (the team, not their financial problems) is that they desperately need a real baseball person like Ryan to get the club back on the right page and to restore fan faith in the future of the club. They need someone to do what Ryan did for the Rangers.
I told Selig I’m interested in buying the team.
Iam Smell has more MLBTR post money though.
i hope the next owner is a LA home grown guy
There will be no fire sale. Don’t expect any miracles on the field this year. MLB has to make the team solvent and find a new owner.
Question.
Doesn’t the fact that the league is taking over will PROBABLY mean that they plan on maintaining the current payroll and while they probably won’t add much to the payrollit would sort of negate the need for a fire sale? When they took over for the Expos and the Rangers it didn’t neccesarily keep them from adding players.
im guessing when MLB takes over there just there to make sure the team can put a good winning team on the field day after day. i think it doesnt stop a team from added players but that my guess.
So when is MLB going to take over the Pirates? Is there a rule in the MLB charter that says a team from LA or NY has to have a winning record and none of the other teams matter?
And as much as I hate to bring politics to the table, a good portion of the people that complained the government was too big when they took over General Motors are probably viewing this as a positive, but it’s the same thing. A governing body is taking over an ailing business because if the business doesn’t survive, the governing body will be hurt financially.
Not even close to the same thing. Teams are not independent businesses, they are part of MLB. They are franchises, which MLB both creates and governs. That said, it’s not a matter of fielding a winning team — that’s entirely up to the franchisee. The Pirates haven’t fielded a winning team for years, but they don’t seem to be financially mismanaged. The Dodgers owners are at legal war with each other. They don’t have the cash flow to meet payroll. This is why the Commissioner stepped in. The only complaint I have is why he didn’t do it six months ago.
Better question.
Where the hell have you been?!
im so happy this happen because if you have a owner that need to make a loan just to pay the bills then you know there no way he can keep the team. or add good playes to make this team able to win
You almost feel bad for him. It’s been a couple of hard years for McCourt.
Almost feel, as in “I almost feel like I shouldn’t have rubbed my eyes after peeling habeneros” or “I almost feel like drinking 15 beers and performing brain surgery on myself is a really good idea”?
Time to move the Dodgers to San Antonio or Oklahoma City.
HAHAHAHAHAHA Don’t make me laugh. Oh, wait.
Somebody’s taking the “420” thing too far…
Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, how many pickled peppers would it take for McCourt to sell before he could keep the Dodgers? These are the questions we need to ask ourselves in these times of need.
Kershaw/Broxton to Florida for the Marlins Manatees, who will be converted to security guards.
W/T to F?
McCourt was a fake millionaire, fake husband, and fake baseball owner. He has been called out on all three, and it couldn’t happen to a bigger clown. Thanks for nothing, Frank. Several inglorious, wasted seasons…and the darkest day in Dodger history…are your legacy. From the cost-cutting of security to your insipid, heartless response, the Stow beating reflects on you nearly as badly as the scumbags who perpetrated that crime.
This is a great day for Dodger fans. Now if we can get some good new about Mr. Stow, perhaps we can put this horrible era behind us.
Prayers as always for Bryan Stow and his family.
Not like it would happen.. but it would be nice to see Kobe own the Dodgers.