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Bud Selig and the Dodgers

Brush Caddy

Brush Caddy

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Ok, I'm a Pete Rose fan so I guess my opinion of Selig is tainted but regardless, I think he's got an agenda that's not being talked about.

Why did he reject the Fox deal? I read that it was because some of the money was going to be used for the McCourt divorce. If part of that $$$ is McCourts paycheck then does it really matter that he uses it for that? At the same time, isn't defending the ownership of your business a matter of company business and company funds could rightfully be used to defend it...? I don't want to see all the Fox money going to a divorce settlement but it is company business that must be solved (and paid for). I don't think McCourt is an angel but it looks like he's making an effort to pay the bills and Selig is just snuffing it.

I think he rejected the Fox deal because his agenda is to take over the Dodgers no matter what. I've also read that Selig has turned down all McCourts requests to meet and make a deal. What's up with that? Unfortunately, McCourt can't sue Selig because that would mean MLB takes the team without question. I'm sure Selig is fully aware of that.

Selig is a guy that has been given way too much power. IMHO Again, I don't like Selig to begin with but regardless, this just seems a bit shady to me..

your thoughts?
 
From what I have heard, McCourt has many times intermingled the teams finances with his own personal finances. I do not understand all the accounting legalities, but apparently the owners are not allowed to do that.

In this specific case, MLB I believe has to approve the selling of the media rights. They are concerned that McCourt is taking payments for future rights and applying them to his divorce settlement. The concern would be that he would be using a big portion of the money up front which then he or the new owners would not have in future years to apply to the team.
 
The best part about this whole thing is McCourt and the Dodgers blaming MLB for them having to file for bankruptcy....
 
@brush Caddy.
Mccord was trying to use future money to pay off past debt. Something that everyone agrees is bad business practices. Heck he owes Manny 21 million and whens the last time that guy got an RBI?
 
I hate to see this happen to baseball and even though I am a huge Cardinals fan the Dodgers are a great franchise. I hope they find a good future owner to bring this team in the right direction.
 
Who is going to want to buy them with all of that past debt? You know taking that on will be part of any deal.
 
This whole thing is just messy. But baseball teams (or their owners) filing for bankruptcy protection is the new, trendy thing. Those deferred compensation packages for players are fun to sign, but are a bi#^& when they come back to bite.


yorkem said:
Who is going to want to buy them with all of that past debt? You know taking that on will be part of any deal.
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Part of going through bankruptcy is, often, to sell the business free and clear of most of those iabilities (other than some pass-through liabilities and assumed contracts). As of right now, they have only indicated that they are intending on selling (or licensing) exclusive cable TV rights, but who knows what will happen in a few weeks.
 
interlooper said:
This whole thing is just messy. But baseball teams (or their owners) filing for bankruptcy protection is the new, trendy thing. Those deferred compensation packages for players are fun to sign, but are a bi#^& when they come back to bite.
Click to expand...

I heard on the radio today that the Dodgers owe more in deferred compensation this year (~40 million I think) than the Kansas City Royals entire payroll this year (~35 million). Just goes to show you that extreme's one way or the other usually don't turn out so well.
 
Buldwgs said:
Mark Cuban
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exactly. If the numbers are right, I think Cuban will be the new owner, assuming McCourt doesn't get a deal worked out.
 
Buldwgs said:
Mark Cuban
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That is what I was going to say but for the time-being they won't allow him as an owner. That dumbfounds me. I think he would be great for MLB. I believe Bud and the owners feel threatened by him and what he can bring to the table. Can you say "Yankees" of the west coast but even better facilities.
 
Man, Selig and McCourt delt the final death blow to the Dodgers. Need to clean the joint up, and get an owner that actually likes baseball, not a banker. I stopped going to games. It's just so damn dirty, drunkards, and gangsters. Not a good fun place anymore. oh well.
 
yorkem said:
Who is going to want to buy them with all of that past debt? You know taking that on will be part of any deal.
Click to expand...

I think most teams have debt like this... some more than others but I would guess it's pretty common.



After further thought... McCourts decision to bankrupt the Dodgers makes me think he's now doing what's best for himself... not the team. I liked the fact he got the Fox deal and was trying to move fwd but going BK seems like a blow to Selig rather than a smart business decision. I could be wrong on that...
 
I'm really stuck on the fence with this whole situation. The Dodgers fan inside of me wants a new owner, the business student inside of me says let McCourt find a way.

Ultimately, the cards are stacked: McCourt needs to sell the Dodgers.

On one hand, it doesn't really matter what McCourt does, he has lost the fans. He raised parking prices and the only real improvements to the park was the field level were the tickets are most expensive. While the team has done decently on the field, for the most part, he put short term profits before building a healthy organization from Single A up to the Majors. The fans saw the cracks long long ago, then the incident happened to start the year. The beating incident was the proverbial straw. None of those things amount to "The Dodger Way" as so many of us were brought up to believe.

I have been going to games in Chavez Ravine for all my life, however, a few years ago I stopped. What first drew my ire was how little McCourt seemed to care about the community. Then to exacerbate that, they spent money lavishly on themselves. Do you really need a Malibu mansion AND a mansion in Beverly Hills? Now are either of those two things big enough to matter? No, this is LA, rich people in LA do stupid things with their money. what the behavior did speak to in a certain tone-deafness to what the team meant to the community and the expectations of how the owner should behave? Yes, I think it did. And then the beating happened.

The SF Giants are the big rival, but the acrimony and nastiness that used to occur during those games also brought augmented security both in and outside the stadium. Once McCourt purchased the Dodgers, I felt less safe ... and I never get messed with. As you looked around the stadium there just weren't any extra cops or security guys around. In the parking lot? pshah! Nothing.

Ultimately these are the things Selig will use to say that McCourt was abusing a public trust by running the Dodgers poorly and unlike other teams with financial problems, having the Dodgers run like crap hurts all of MLB.

I don't think Mark Cuban will be the guy. First, I don't think Selig wants him to own a team. Two, I think the way McCourt structured all the Dodgers assets will make it a huge pain in the ass to buy the team. (The parking lot is a sub-corporation of the larger Dodgers organization, etc.) Cuban won't touch it unless MLB takes over and restructures it -- and then makes it a good deal. Mark Cuban is too saavy a business man, he wants to buy a franchise at the lowest cost possible. There are lots of rumors about LA-OC based potential buyers, we'll see what happens.

Back in the day when McCourt purchased the Dodgers, my friends in Boston who were in the know warned me. They warned me that we were getting a pariah, not a good guy. Frank and Jamie McCourt would eventually ruin the Dodgers and run afoul of generally accepted good practices and the good graces of MLB. Wow, were they right or what?
 
It is already clear that the Dodger's chapter 11 process is going to be very painful and contentious. One need look no further than who Bud Selig retained as an attorney to battle in the Dodger's chapter 11. He hired the same man that threatened to unwind Chrysler's restructuring and brought it all the way to the supreme court. Moreover, Selig is contesting the Dodger's proposed debt financing (the financing that will help pay the bills, including that huge deferred compensation payment due this month). Selig is actually proposing that the Board of Commissioners fund their reorganization. This obviously is a power play, because doing so would have Selig a significant amount of control over the restructuring. Moreover, it would eleminate the milestone that would require McCourt to make that TV deal immediately. Lastly, Selig is hinting that he may actually challenge whether the chapter 11 cases were properly filed (because it is an attempt to do what the MLB wont allow) and, more importantly, Selig may challenge whether McCourt should actually be in charge of the organization now that it is in bankruptcy.
 
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