Los Angeles Dodgers in trouble: a sad sight for Major League Baseball
The Los Angeles Dodgers and trouble are not a new alliance. Neither did their coupling begin any time this year only.
Going back in the history of the Dodgers’ to Peter O’Malley’s era, the last nine years from 1989-1998 ended without the club winning a playoff. Subsequently, he sold the Dodgers, his father’s legacy to Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation somewhere between
the $311 million and $350 million mark. Citing it to be an estate and tax planning move for the family, he relinquished the club presidency and Murdoch then appointed Fox Television’s executives to handle the club. Fox, not to forget is a NewsCorp Subsidiary.
2004 saw Frank and Jimmie McCourt strike a deal with NewsCorp for $430 million and the start of a new era for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The recent controversy surrounding the club has Frank McCourt and Fox in forefront. Fox have advanced McCourt money to meet payroll obligations, suggesting that McCourt in particular and Dodgers in general are out of money. Promising transparency at the
start of his tenure in 2004, McCourt has since avoided giving any comments on any issues pertaining to the Dodgers.
McCourt’s personal front has been one major constituent of the current liquidity crunch faced by the Dodgers, sprung off by perky personal spending and front office firings which could have been dealt by with otherwise. His divorce case has revealed facts
which otherwise weren’t in the forefront. Court papers reveal that he is more than $400 million in debt and adding long-term liabilities, the figure leaps up to an astounding $600 million.
In the court, Frank has filed to start a regional sports channel for the Dodgers and believes that if operative, it will be the perfect solution to the current financial woes. He has valid precedent from the other MLB clubs and believes that income will
increase manifold. For the start-up cost, he plans at taking a $400 million loan from Fox, who will in return take a stake in the channel and place McCourt’s total debt at the $1 billion mark.
One of the greatest franchises ever, Dodgers suffered a puff in the chin when Major League Baseball, represented by Bud Selig effectively took control of the LA Dodgers on April 20th. This was, without suspicion, a dark day in baseball history.
Fay Vincent, a former baseball commissioner, talking to reporters said, “This is one of the great franchises. It's hard to imagine a mess like this ever having happened. It's a very sad situation. I feel very bad for baseball and for Bud.”
The law-suits, financial crunch and dissolution of ownership were just not enough issues for the Dodgers to be digested before another piece of news caught the eye. The Dodger fans will be surprised rather than shocked when they find out that the once-disgraced
and now-retired slugger, Manny Ramirez, is owed bundles of dollars from the club in financial turmoil. This amount is owed as a result of the Los Angeles club absorbing a major part of the contract when they traded him to the Chicago White Sox. Ramirez hasn’t
represented the Dodgers since August last year and claims amounts of $8.33 million in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
Currently, only four Dodgers are earning a figure around the $8.33 million mark namely Andre Ethier, Hiroki Kuroda, Rafael Furcal and Ted Lilly. The only source of financing which seems ‘in-the-options’ is drawing advances against corporate sponsorship deals.
Advances against ticket money have already been availed and won’t be a viable option for either the financer or the club.
With some sort of settlement reached in the Frank and Jimmie McCourt’s divorce case, with Frank almost certain to buy-out his wife’s share for $100 million, it can be said that the woes, in the headlines for 20 months now, can be on some course of a resolution.
It is however still dependant on the outcome of a one-day trial scheduled in August.
The Dodgers need a quick fix to the never ending list of problems, a few of which have been brought to the limelight above. A solution will be better for the fans, MLB, Dodgers and baseball itself!
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