Is Bud Selig one step closer to his ultimate goal for the Los Angeles Dodgers: pushing out their owner Frank McCourt? For the sake of the Dodger employees, I certainly hope so.
In the latest twist in the ongoing drama, TMZ revealed that the Dodgers have bounced some checks to their employees. Not to their players, of course, because the players’ union would never stand for that. But the team apparently has no problem bouncing checks to the good people who do all the behind-the-scenes work to prepare for a baseball game every day.
No doubt Selig will use this latest incident as ammunition to finally rid Major League Baseball of Frank McCourt once and for all. McCourt tried to undercut baseball’s efforts to take control of the team by filing for bankruptcy protection. The Dodgers owner was forced to turn to the courts after Selig put the kibosh on McCourt’s television deal, something the commissioner will likely try to do again in court. McCourt seemed to have delayed the inevitable by securing a loan to allow him to make payroll at the end of June. But the fact that his organization is bouncing checks of such small size demonstrates that they have no control over their finances and should not have control of a Major League Baseball franchise.
McCourt is probably right in arguing that MLB’s offer of a loan was probably part of its ultimate plan to take over the team. He may also be right when he accused Selig of harboring ill feelings toward him. Selig probably wants more than anything to push McCourt out of baseball and his lawyers are trying to do just that by painting McCourt as a greedy, uncontrollable owner who siphoned off millions from his baseball team to pay for his personal expenses.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that Selig wants to put the Dodgers in more capable hands before the end of his tenure next year. I hope the commissioner succeeds because the Dodger employees and the fans that bleed blue don’t deserve this drama.
In the latest twist in the ongoing drama, TMZ revealed that the Dodgers have bounced some checks to their employees. Not to their players, of course, because the players’ union would never stand for that. But the team apparently has no problem bouncing checks to the good people who do all the behind-the-scenes work to prepare for a baseball game every day.
No doubt Selig will use this latest incident as ammunition to finally rid Major League Baseball of Frank McCourt once and for all. McCourt tried to undercut baseball’s efforts to take control of the team by filing for bankruptcy protection. The Dodgers owner was forced to turn to the courts after Selig put the kibosh on McCourt’s television deal, something the commissioner will likely try to do again in court. McCourt seemed to have delayed the inevitable by securing a loan to allow him to make payroll at the end of June. But the fact that his organization is bouncing checks of such small size demonstrates that they have no control over their finances and should not have control of a Major League Baseball franchise.
McCourt is probably right in arguing that MLB’s offer of a loan was probably part of its ultimate plan to take over the team. He may also be right when he accused Selig of harboring ill feelings toward him. Selig probably wants more than anything to push McCourt out of baseball and his lawyers are trying to do just that by painting McCourt as a greedy, uncontrollable owner who siphoned off millions from his baseball team to pay for his personal expenses.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that Selig wants to put the Dodgers in more capable hands before the end of his tenure next year. I hope the commissioner succeeds because the Dodger employees and the fans that bleed blue don’t deserve this drama.
Thanks to Major League Baseball via Wikipedia for the photo.
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