By Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY
Commissioner Bud Selig, angry and frustrated by the Los Angeles Dodgers' grave financial woes, stripped the team Wednesday from owner Frank McCourt and announced that Major League Baseball will seize immediate control of the franchise.
By Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images
Frank McCourt will relinquish control of the Dodgers to Major League Baseball.
By Kevork Djansezian, Getty Images
Frank McCourt will relinquish control of the Dodgers to Major League Baseball.
"I have taken this action because of my deep concerns regarding the finances and operations of the Dodgers and to protect the best interests of the club," Selig said in a statement. " ? We owe it to their legion of loyal fans to ensure that this club is being operated properly now and guided appropriately in the future."
McCourt is preparing a lawsuit against MLB, according to the Associated Press.
"Major League Baseball sets strict financial guidelines which all 30 teams must follow. The Dodgers are in compliance with these guidelines. On this basis, it is hard to understand the Commissioner's action (Wednesday)," McCourt said in a statement.
The club still has not been placed for sale.
McCourt, under financial duress since 2009, was told by Selig and MLB lawyers in early April that he could no longer seek loans to fund the Dodgers. Yet, McCourt defied Selig when he received a $30 million personal loan last week from Fox to meet the April 15 payroll, according to two MLB owners not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Selig said that he will appoint a representative to oversee the business and day-to-day operations. McCourt, who purchased the team from Fox in 2004 for $430 million, also will be investigated about possible ownership violations.
McCourt has debts exceeding $600 million, according to court records. McCourt's divorce from his wife, Jamie, was finalized in October, but he has not reached an agreement to divide their assets. A 2004 post-nuptial agreement that would have established Frank McCourt as sole owner of the team was invalidated.
Selig's statement on Dodgers
"As the 50% owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, I welcome the commissioner's actions to provide the necessary transparency, guidance and direction for the franchise," Jamie McCourt said in a statement.
The news came as a shock to those at Dodger Stadium, who hosted the Atlanta Braves Wednesday night.
Ned Colletti, the Dodgers general manager, was asked on the field before the game if he was in charge.
"I don't know," he said.
Well, who is your boss?
"I don't know."
Baseball fans have seen the commissioner's office get involved in running the Montreal Expos in the past..
But the Dodgers?
"It's hard to imagine it happening to someone like the Dodgers," said first-year manager Don Mattingly, the former New York Yankees star who was groomed for his current job by former Yankees and Dodgers manager Joe Torre.
"But there's crazy stuff going on everywhere. .. major banks going down."
When the news hit, Dodgers fans flooded the radio talk shows, with some fans calling it a dark day and some saying that the worst was over and that, with the McCourts no longer in control, the Dodgers could find a new owner and get on with the business of winning.
Colletti, who said he hadn't heard yet from anyone at MLB and hadn't talked to McCourt, was uncertain how things would work in the coming days.
Mattingly met with the Dodgers players and basically said what Torre had said last summer when the McCourts' divorce was making headlines.
"This has no effect on what we do," he said. "From our standpoint, it has to be business as usual. From my standpoint, the biggest thing we could do is go out and win."
That continues to be an issue. After losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS in both 2008 and '09, the Dodgers slipped to mediocrity, going 80-82 last season and starting off 8-10 this season.
Contributing: David Leon Moore in Los Angeles
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