Dodgers News & Notes

• How is it that baseball didn't expect Frank McCourt to file Chapter 11? Bud Selig made an egregious blunder when he allowed Fox to sell the Dodgers to McCourt. He might have added to it when he shied away from staging a hostile takeover. But this would have gone strictly against precedent for a league known for sticking to the old ways of doing things, even at a time when one of it's most glorious franchises edges near financial collapse. Full story here.

• Steve Dilbeck ponders why McCourt continues to employ Steve Garvey while the latter assembles a group to purchase the Dodgers? It's a a mystery that "rates slightly behind Charlie Sheen taking steroids for a baseball movie." Full story here.

• The other potential suitor is a Dodger Stadium fixture too. Unlike Garv, he pays a small ransom to be be there. With an impressive list of credentials that includes a coaching stint with the San Fernando Orioles, you better believe Dennis Gilbert warrants serious consideration. Full story here. 

Rejected! Bud Selig says no to Frank McCourt. No Fox TV contract (updated)

Bill Shaikin of the LA Times is reporting that Bud Selig has rejected the proposed television contract between the Dodgers and Fox Sports.

The reasoning was laid out explicitly in the Commissioner's statement:

It is my conclusion that this proposed transaction with FOX would not be in the best interests of the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise, the game of Baseball and the millions of loyal fans of this historic club.

The $385 million up front would have likely rescued McCourt from his current financial hole and secured his role as owner of the Dodgers. The Commissioner's Office would have preferred all of the up front money to be put back into the team, but "last week's divorce settlement earmarked up to $173.5 million for the McCourts and their attorneys."

Selig's decision now invalidates the divorce settlement and opens the door for Frank to sell the team or sue Major League Baseball.

Read full story here.

Update 1: Lawsuit looms
Frank McCourt's lawyer just released a statement in response to MLB's rejection of Dodgers/FOX TV deal. This excerpt is pretty laughable:

Commissioner Selig’s letter of rejection is not only a disappointment, but worse, is potentially destructive to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and Major League Baseball.  Accordingly, we plan to explore vigorously our options and remedies with respect to Commissioner Selig’s rejection of the proposed FOX transaction and our commitment to protect the long-term best interests of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

I like a man that doesn't shy away from hyperbole.

Read full statement here.

Update 2:  This is gonna get ugly
One of the few cool people associated with ESPN, Molly Knight was on the air today with Steve Mason and John Ireland. Knight brought up a possible — and horrific — scenario in which Frank McCourt would sell the team alone but continue as landlord of the stadium and parking lot. She also mentioned that a McCourt lawsuit could "force" MLB to open their books, but that Selig is willing to sustain "collateral damage" in order to get carpetbagger McCourt out of baseball.

The Knight segment starts at about the 7:30 mark. Listen here.

Update 3:  Open letter to McCourt  
Steve Dilbeck of the LA Times writes a open letter to Frank McCourt: "You say you love the Dodgers? Then do what’s best for the team and the franchise. Sell the club and move on." Read entire letter here.

Update 4: "Take the team. But I'll keep everything else."
The Wall Street Journal reports that people close to Frank McCourt are saying that he has long considered suing MLB in the event that Selig rejected Fox TV deal. The article also mentions that ol' carpetbagger will try to claim that the team is separate from the stadium and parking lot:

A person familiar with Mr. McCourt's thinking said he plans to argue that Major League Baseball can only make a claim on the team itself, and not on his other properties or companies connected to the franchise. However, while Major League Baseball signed off on these deals, including the $367 million loan against ticket sales, another person familiar with the agreements said all of the entities are subject to the governance of Major League Baseball, which can move to take control of each of them.

Read full story here.

Update 5: Don't expect any of that Stockholm Syndrome
From the LA Weekly, more on this underhanded strategy by McCourt to sell the team but hold the parking lot hostage:

McCourt seems to believe that MLB can seize just the Dodgers and Dodger Stadium, but it can't seize the other entities which collect revenue from Dodger tickets or parking fees. Clearly those are functions that are integral to the operation of a baseball team, but Frank believes that by spinning them off into separate entities, he's put them out of MLB's grasp. If that were true, it would be all but impossible to sell the team. 

Read full story here.

Update 6: Save us, Mark Cuban!
Closing the door on Frank McCourt and opening the door to Mark Cuban. The money wizards at Forbes write that Bud Selig would be a fool not to invite Cuban to buy the Dodgers. Here's one of the writer' stronger yet pretty obvious points:

Oh, and if you didn’t already know this, he’s liquid baby.  As in cash liquid, homey.  Financially, he’s as liquid as the ocean while Frank McCourt has been a desert as his resources are all dried up.

Makes complete sense to me, but the crusty old fogies at MLB headquarters don't see it that way. Read full story here.

Update 7: Sorry, Frank. But you agreed not to sue
Via 6-4-2, the MLB Constitution explicitly prohibits team owners from taking the league to court:

The Major League Clubs recognize that it is in the best interests of Baseball that all actions taken by the Commissioner under the authority of this Constitution, including, without limitation, Article II and this Article VI, be accepted and complied with by the Clubs, and that the Clubs not otherwise engage in any form of litigation between or among themselves or with any Major League Baseball entity, but resolve their differences pursuant to the provisions of this Constitution. In furtherance thereof, the Clubs (on their own behalf and including, without limitation, on behalf of their owners, officers, directors and employees) severally agree to be finally and unappealably bound by actions of the Commissioner and all other actions, decisions or interpretations taken or reached pursuant to the provisions of this Constitution and severally waive such right of recourse to the courts as would otherwise have existed in their favor. 

 Source material originally provided by The Biz of Baseball.

Frank and Jamie McCourt reach a settlement (updated)

I will make an effort to update this page throughout the day:

Fine reporting from Bill Shaikin of the LA Times. Here are the key points:

• The settlement is contingent upon MLB's approval of McCourt's $3 billion television contract with Fox.

• If Bud Selig were to reject the agreement, the settlement would be voided and divorce court proceedings would resume.

• If Selig were to approve the agreement, Jamie McCourt has agreed not to challenge the Fox contract.

• The McCourts agreed to a one-day trial so that the judge can determine whether the Dodgers belong solely to Frank or should be considered community property.

• If the judge rules that the Dodgers are community property, the McCourts would split their assets 50-50, which would most likely force a sale of the team.

• If the judge rules that the team belongs solely to Frank, then Jamie would receive "$100 million, keep the couple's homes and receive indemnity from tax liability."

Full story here.

Update 1: 

Molly Knight via Twitter posted the following in two successive tweets:

Source: Selig unlikely to approve Fox deal partly because if judge rules team is community property and orders sale on Aug 4 then . . . the new owner is saddled with potentially below market television deal that devalues the franchise.

Update 2:  
Via 6-4-2, reaction from Frank and Jamie McCourt following the settlement. Here's Frank being pollyannaish:

I fully expect MLB to approve the Fox transaction. MLB has taken the position that, before they approved the transaction, they wanted to see either a settlement of the divorce, or Jamie's consent, or an order from the judge. Today, they received all three. I fully expect that they will be good to their word, and they'll approve the transaction in a timely way.

Full story here. 

Update 3: 

In a follow up to his earlier report of a settlement between Frank and Jamie McCourt, Bill Shaikin writes that before Frank can secure ownership of the Dodgers, two things have to happen:

• MLB must approve the proposed TV deal between McCourt and Fox.  

• McCourt must establish that he is the sole owner of the Dodgers in a one-day trial on Aug. 4. If not, the settlement stipulates that the team must be sold. 

The rejection by Bud Selig of the Fox TV contract would cause unmitigated delight to the Dodger fanbase. But with the celebration comes a grim admonishment, per Shaikin:

The settlement announcement dramatically increases the likelihood of a confrontation between McCourt and Bud Selig, baseball's commissioner.

 Full story here.

Frank on a hot tin roof

Steve Dilbeck is confirming that Frank McCourt will meet the Dodgers' payroll obligations that are due Wednesday.

So far, I haven't found any reports indicating how he came up with the money. If I had to guess, he probably drew cash advances from future sponsorship deals like he did May 31.

Nonetheless, it appears highly unlikely ("no chance") that McCourt will meet the team's June 30 payroll, as reported yesterday by Bill Shaikin. That's when several deferred salaries become due, ballooning the payroll amount to $30 million — that's roughly triple the normal amount.

McCourt has often been likened to a feline, due to his nine lives. Maybe it's time to try a new cat metaphor, and with that I give you two lines of dialogue from the playwright Tennessee Williams:

Brick Pollitt: What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof?

Maggie Pollitt: Just staying on it I guess, long as she can. 

It's not a matter of if he'll lose the team, but when he'll lose the team. McCourt can keep dancing, but at some point — post June 30? — Bud Selig will take action that will force the roof to cave in.

Frank McCourt must pay $8.33 million to Manny Ramirez by June 30

You better cover your jewels, Frank. They'll come after those next.

Manny is still ramming it to Frank McCourt. Molly Knight of ESPN reports:

The cash-strapped Los Angeles Dodgers must pay Manny Ramirez $8.33 million by June 30....[Ramirez] is due the deferred money from the $42 million contract he signed with Los Angeles before the 2009 season.

I'm almost tempted to take back all the bad things I've said about Scott Boras. History, however, tells me not to pop the cork on the Champagne just yet. If McCourt has a strong suit, it's his cockroach-like resiliency. As the writer Knight noted earlier in a tweet, he's certainly not making it easy for Bud Selig to seize the team.

I'll add this last note: Blue Heaven blog makes a sobering observation about the collective glee Dodger fans feel whenever McCourt has a setback: "On a side note, how sad is it that I and many of my brethren seek this kind of ending, any kind of ending, for the current ownership of the team?"

The ungodly duo of Frank McCourt and Rev. John J. Hunter

Prior to yesterday, I knew almost nothing about Rev. John J. Hunter, senior minister of First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles and now clerical champion of Frank McCourt's struggle to persuade Commissioner Bud Selig to approve a $3 billion deal between McCourt and Fox Television.

Hunter doesn't have a household name like his predecessor Rev. Cecil M. Murray, the man credited with growing FAME's congregation from 250 to roughly 18,000 and a tireless voice of pacifism during the Rodney King riots in 1992.

When Hunter took over the helm of the church in 2004, he knew he had some big shoes to fill. So what did he do? He bought new shoes.

An IRS audit in 2008 revealed that the reverend used church credit cards to pay for "at least $122,000 in personal expenses over a three-year period, including jewelry, family vacations, clothing and auto supplies, according to documents and church sources." (Source: LA Times)

Stupid me. And here I thought the role of a spiritual leader was to comfort the sick, feed the poor, cloth the naked and organize bake sales.

Quiz time:

_________________ is basically a wolf disguised as a shepherd who used his organization like an ATM machine.

A. Rev. John J. Hunter
B. Frank McCourt
C. All of the above

But wait, Hunter's sins aren't only financial, allegedly. In a lawsuit filed against Hunter in 2009, a subordinate named Rev. Brenda Lamothe claimed that he pressured her to perform "on-demand sex" as a way to fulfill her church duties.  (Source: LA Weekly)

The following is an excerpt from Lamothe’s statement (courtesy of Mo’Kelly):

The time has now come for John Hunter to tell the truth. To reconcile with God and his congregation. John Hunter has said that I am lying about the things he’s done....I know that John Hunter has a 4-5 inch vertical scar on the right side of his buttocks and hip area.  It is a very clean scar, like fine brown line. I know this because of the abuse I have suffered, and it is the truth.

A mere few minutes on Google turned up quite a bit of dirt on Hunter. What I couldn't find were the results of Lamothe's lawsuit. But given that unsavory facts about Hunter are so readily available on the web, why would McCourt welcome his support? If you're a scoundrel, would you enlist a fellow scoundrel to publicly plead your case? Conversely, Hunter may now have to readdress inquiries into his checkered past as a result of his association with McCourt. Honor among thieves, they say; but don't expect us non-thieves to go along.

McCourt made the same blunder when he hired Steve Soboroff as his mouthpiece. As a guest on KPCC on May 5, an incoherent-sounding Soboroff claimed that MLB's investigation of McCourt's mishandling of the team had a predetermined outcome. You can listen to the full audio here.

It's a cliche, but you got to choose your friends wisely.

Rev. John J. Hunter's biography can be found here.

When Frank McCourt tells MLB he can meet payroll next week, do you believe him?

According to the LA Times, Frank McCourt has told MLB that he expects to meet the Dodgers' payroll obligations next week. McCourt needs about $9.8 million to meet the May 31 payroll; however, the amount will increase in June when more than $6 million in deferred compensation to Manny Ramirez becomes due. He's back!

If McCourt can meet the May 31 payroll deadline, it will buy him approximately two weeks with MLB to accelerate efforts to settle his divorce and secure approval of the Fox television contract that's buried under dust and a pile of bratwurst casings on Bud Selig's desk. Sadly for McCourt, sources close to Selig seemingly have this little habit of issuing statements that run somewhat contrary to the team owner's ultimate ambition of retaining ownership. The Times reports:

Commissioner Bud Selig is "not anxious to get embroiled in a marital dispute," according to a person familiar with his thinking. The person also said that Fox's plan not to move forward with the contract unless Jamie McCourt agrees not to challenge it has left Selig with the belief he has no deal to consider. "As of right now, there's nothing for him to do," the person said. 

With all the cards stacked against him, McCourt pushes on.

Suspect identified in lineup:
In the Bryan Stow beating investigation, the Daily News reports that suspect Giovanni Ramirez was identified in a photo lineup and that LAPD says it was "satisfied with the results" of the live lineup.