Uncertainty of What’s Next for Dodgers
Danny Moloshok/Associated Press
Fans in the top deck of Dodger Stadium during Thursday's game.
By RICHARD SANDOMIR
Published: April 21, 2011
A day after Commissioner Bud Selig moved to take control of the Los Angeles Dodgers, a raft of questions remain unanswered about the future of one of baseball’s elite franchises.
Related
Baseball Taking Control of Dodgers’ Operations (April 21, 2011)
Times Topic: Los Angeles Dodgers
Major League Baseball
Yankees
Mets
Nick Ut/Associated Press
Groundskeepers tend to the infield at Dodger Stadium before a game Wednesday.
¶Who will serve as Selig’s trustee, the person put in charge of daily operations of the club?
¶Would his or her powers be as broad as if he were the owner — to approve trades, sign free agents, make long-term business deals and reduce the team’s debt of more than $430 million?
¶Would Frank McCourt, the Dodgers’ owner, be removed from any decision-making?
¶Will Major League Baseball be able to withstand the legal challenge that McCourt appears to be planning?
Selig, asked any number of these questions at baseball’s headquarters in New York on Thursday, declined to answer. But when asked if owners are allowed to sue M.L.B. or the commissioner, Selig said, “It is true that when people come into baseball they sign that they will not sue baseball.” Some still have, but “they’ve lost,” he said.
Robert Boland, a labor lawyer who teaches sports management at New York University, said that McCourt, should he choose to go to court, has little chance of winning. Selig invoked his “best interests of baseball” powers, which entitle him to take actions to preserve the integrity and financial viability of the sport and its teams.
“The ‘best interests’ give him the power to act, and baseball’s immunity from antitrust laws prohibit owners from mounting a successful lawsuit,” Boland said. He added that by taking over the franchise, “I don’t think McCourt has any power; Selig has effectively taken the keys away.”
Selig’s broad powers under baseball’s constitution allow him to terminate a franchise for failing or refusing to comply “with any requirement of the commissioner.”
McCourt is clearly upset with Selig’s action, insisting late Wednesday in a statement that the Dodgers had violated none of baseball’s financial rules or requirements. “On this basis,” he said, “it is hard to understand the commissioner’s action today.”
McCourt’s vice chairman, Steve Soboroff, told reporters Wednesday that Selig’s action was “irresponsible” and that McCourt’s finances would be fine if the commissioner would approve a 20-year, $3 billion extension of the team’s local cable TV deal with Fox. “There’s a predetermined campaign to blow him out of town,” Soboroff said about Selig’s move against McCourt.
Selig’s statement announcing that he will name a trustee to run the franchise did not say if McCourt could return to run the team after a certain period of time. McCourt is embroiled in an angry divorce from his wife, Jamie, who herself asserts that the team is community property, and that she, as a result, owns half of it.
Selig is strongly considering forcing McCourt to sell the Dodgers, according to two people with knowledge of his thinking. But the fight between the McCourts over who owns what part of the team could take months to resolve, complicating any sale — one forced by Selig or undertaken voluntarily by McCourt.
In the meantime, the Dodgers will be operated by someone other than McCourt, and most likely an executive Selig is comfortable with, like Stan Kasten, the former president of theWashington Nationals. Kasten declined to comment on the possibility when asked Thursday.
Baseball will almost certainly control the team’s budget.
Selig could also give approval to the Fox television deal that he has withheld from McCourt.
Under McCourt, the Dodgers (10-10) have had five winning seasons but lost the league division series in 2004 and 2006 and the league championship series in 2008 and 2009. After three seasons under Manager Joe Torre, McCourt named Don Mattingly as his replacement last September.
Selig’s decision to take control of the Dodgers is an extreme version of actions taken in other crises.
When the N.B.A. bought the New Orleans Hornets last year from George Shinn, who could not cover his losses, it installed Jac Sperling, a hockey executive, as chairman. The N.H.L. acquired the Phoenix Coyotes out of bankruptcy court and still oversees its operations as it seeks a buyer; the league took control of the Buffalo Sabres after its owners were arrested, and ran them until they were formally bought by a new owner.
Bill Daly, the N.H.L.’s deputy commissioner, said the league tried to keep existing management and let them operate within “approved parameters.” He said by e-mail, “The role of the league in these situations is to be a caretaker of the ‘asset,’ protect its value, and where appropriate transition it to new ownership.”
Baseball pushed Marge Schott out as the Cincinnati Reds owner in 1999 for her barbed racial and ethnic comments. But it did not take over the franchise and let her sell her shares.
In 2002, M.L.B. bought the Montreal Expos from Jeffrey Loria. Baseball then installed Tony Tavares as president of the Expos, and Omar Minaya as general manager. The team ultimately moved to Washington and then sold to Ted Lerner.
Recently the N.H.L. ushered Tavares into the interim presidency of the Dallas Stars, to prepare the team to be sold by its owner, Thomas O. Hicks.
No comments:
Post a Comment