Dodgers File For Bankruptcy

"The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court Monday, blaming Major League Baseball for refusing to approve a multibillion-dollar TV deal that owner Frank McCourt was counting on to keep the troubled team afloat.

The Chapter 11 financing permits the Dodgers to use $150 million for daily operations and buys time for the team to seek a media deal and ensure the team's long-term financial stability, the Dodgers said in a news release. A judge would need to approve use of the money and a hearing is set for Tuesday (Sportsline)."

This is the first step in McCourt trying to fight the MLB and keep his team. I don't think in the long run he will be able to hold on, especially if half the expenses that were rumored before are true. I wish they would just let a good owner come in, but with the way this is going it's going to take years to straighten it all out. What also makes it tough is that there are a ton of companies involved (one owns parking lot, ect). It's just a mess, and it's sucks for LA fans, because until this is all fixed they are going to be terrible.

Cuban Looking To Buy Dodgers

This is the "God I hope this is true" story of the day. Mark Cuban is interested in buying the Dodgers once MLB takes control of them, which seems inevitable at this point. His exact quote was "if they're fixable and the deal is right, then I'm very interested." Mr. Cuban you are a billionaire, everything is fixable in baseball with money.

Yet, there are still at lot of hurdles. Frank McCourt (Dodgers current owner) is going to fight tooth and nail to keep this team. He is also going to sue the MLB if he looses it. That could make such a mess of things that it might not be worth it for Cuban.

Beyond that there have been rumors the MLB wants no part of Cuban in the MLB. They don't like how outspoken he is, and would rather not deal with. This is the stupidest thing I have ever heard. There is a billionaire that wants to own a team. At a time when 10 of your MLB teams are in debt, they should be begging him to join. Plus, he is a celebrity, and would bring some much needed press to the sport that has been lacking, since the NFL and NBA exploded on the scene. Shit, even the NHL is starting to get good numbers.

The MLB needs Mark Cuban. I know I have said it a million times, but owners like him do a couple things. They bring interest to the game, they will do everything to win, and to get a city like Los Angeles to have interest in baseball should be on the top of things to do in the MLB.

Manny Screws The Dodgers One More Time

Frank McCourt, owner of the Dodgers, is expected to be able to make his payroll for June 15th, but there are reports that there is no way that he will be able to make payroll for June 30th. A big reason for that is that Manny Ramirez being due $8.33 million of deferred salary, which brings the grand total to somewhere around $30 million (June 15th's was only $10 million). Once McCourt fails to pay his payroll the MLB will officially take over the Dodgers.

This is going to be a growing issue throughout baseball and I doubt the Dodgers will be the last team to be taken over by the MLB. The bottom line is that salaries are completely out of control, and at some point there is going to be a lockout and serious restructuring. McCourt didn't manage his money well from a lot of reports, so it may have been his own fault, but when you read there are 10 MLB teams with huge amounts of debt you know something it wrong.