Thursday, September 30, 2010 |
Logan White On His Way Out? UPDATE: Nope
More on this from MSTI.
Update: BA's Jim Callis relays word from White that he's still with the team.
Labels: dodgers, front office
Wednesday, September 29, 2010 |
Report: Angels Release Scouting Director Eddie Bane
Update: The Times confirms it, with no comment (yet) from the organization.
Labels: angels
Monday, September 27, 2010 |
Andew Gallo Convicted Of Murder
He is eligible to be sentenced to up to 50 years when the sentencing phase of the trial resumes on December 10.
Labels: nick adenhart
Saturday, September 25, 2010 |
Who Is Steve Soboroff? Why Is He Publicly Kissing Frank's Ass?
Excerpt:
The Times reported this month that the Dodgers are $433 million in debt and that at least three parties had rebuffed McCourt last year in efforts for additional financing. In 2004, Fox sold the Dodgers to McCourt for $430 million, in a deal into which he put "not a penny of cash in," according to his lawyer, Steve Susman.So oily only another MLB owner — or maybe a prospective one — would publish it. It reopens the question, of course: if not Frank, who? We could be dealing with somebody even greasier and more venal than Frank here. Recall also that Walter O'Malley was a late addition to the team's ownership structure, but eventually successfully forced out all others."He is far from broke," the letter read. "Despite what some may say, the Dodgers are worth at least $300 million more than all the debt everyone seems so excited about. …
"The naysayers are spreading rumors, lining up to snatch the team at some fire sale. Fox had the fire sale. McCourt has the equity and created real value."
The letter saluted McCourt for the Dodgers' on-field performance — four playoff berths in seven seasons of ownership — for spending $150 million on Dodger Stadium renovations, for his decision to move spring training "closer to home," to the new Camelback Ranch facility in Glendale, Ariz., and for his "continued commitment to spend among the highest amounts in baseball to field a competitive team."
Update: Soboroff's Wikipedia page: mover and shaker, perhaps second only to Eli Broad as the "greatest [living] Angeleno".
Labels: blecch, dodgers, mccourts
Friday, September 24, 2010 |
Elimination: White Sox 2, Angels 1
And Fernando Rodney to provide the ultimate punchline.
Adding insult to injury, the grill back of home plate changed their menu again! The gal working the stand said it was the fourth time this season, leaving me once again without a favorite dish at the park.
So many reasons to hate this season, and none to think that, even with Kendry next year, they'll contend. Too many holes in too many places. It's just joyless coming to the park. The official attendance was 41,046, but if 30,000 were there I'd eat my Angels cap.
I wonder when they start asking for season ticket renewals.
Labels: angels, recaps, suck, white sox
Worst-Case Scenario Appearing In The McCourt Divorce
- As has been pointed out multiple times already, a settlement will result in Frank McCourt retaining the Dodgers. Sadly.
- He can't pay for anything now, and no bank will give him a loan to satify Team Jamie. So what to do?
"They're going to have to give up some of their equity to a third party," Boies said.
The bad news there is that, as Molly Knight pointed out in a recent tweet, the Dodgers would then be in thrall to Fox for even longer than the remaining three years on their deal, precluding the creation of a Dodgers-only TV network a la NESN (Red Sox) and YES (Yankees). This would mean negotiating in the worst possible market (a down economy) with a bad team (possibly the first losing Dodgers team since the losing 2005 team, and only the fourth losing team in the last two decades. Worst of all, the negotiating team on the other side of the table that knows Team Frank is talking under duress. This can only have bad repercussions for the sort of contract they can get.However, Frank could keep the Dodgers all in his family and pay off Jamie by negotiating a front-loaded extension of the team's television contract with Fox.
"You may have figured out our deal," Susman said, smiling.
Update: I posted at True Blue LA that the Dodgers might end up with an $80M payroll next year. This apparently is quite low, as Eric Stephen has already estimated that the team will have a baseline, including arbitration awards, of around $87M. But I wonder: with James Loney really not that good, Jonathan Broxton's meltdown, an injury-plagued season for Russell Martin (about whose future MSTI recently had a fine post) — well, is it really so unreasonable to assume one or more of these guys will be non-tendered, most likely Loney, and that payroll really will be closer to $80M than $100M?
Tuesday, September 21, 2010 |
Report: Kevin Towers "A Done Deal" In Arizona
Labels: diamondbacks, front office
Report: Frankenjamie To Settle By Week's End
- Larry Silverstein, architect of the contested Marital Property Agreement, testifies he did not notify Jamie McCourt of the changes to Exhibit A that gave Frank exclusive ownership of the Dodgers, claiming he "just miswrote" the document.
- Frank's attorney went into damage control mode, trying to minimize the importance of the change in the document:
“By failing to go to the clients with this innocent mistake, as he calls it, he deprived both parties of the opportunity to clarify what they wanted,” said Bruce Cooperman, one of Jamie’s attorneys.
So neither version of the agreement should be honored: “Both contracts should be both thrown out,” said her attorney Dennis Wasser.
- MLB's attorney won't be required to testify.
- Update: More from Bill Shaikin:
In any settlement, Frank would be expected to retain control of the Dodgers and Jamie would be expected to bow out. The McCourts had negotiated before the divorce trial began Aug. 30, but they were hundreds of millions of dollars apart.
No. Please, God, no.
Best Comment In Recent Memory On Any LAT Sports Story
Comment:
We would like to know if this is a trick question.Posted by: Mike Scioscia and Tim Wallach | September 21, 2010 at 10:04 AM
Labels: dodgers, funny, haha, managers, newspapers
Another Bombshell In The McCourt Case: Silverstein Testifies "OK" To Change Notarized, Signed Documents
In a sense, this is tremendous good news, as it dramatically weakens Frank's case as to the validity of the MPA. According to Joshua Fisher, the judge is asking a lot of follow-up questions and is "serious".
Saturday, September 18, 2010 |
Sofa King We Todd Did Dep't
... how can anyone look at "McDonald and Lambo for a player to be named" and still be happy with this front office?I wasn't happy with this front office before this idiotic trade. (To be said with the "I was into band X before they were cool!" voice.)
Labels: dodgers
Dodgers Trade Octavio Dotel To Colorado
Friday, September 17, 2010 |
Don Mattingly To Replace Joe Torre
Labels: dodgers, managers, stupid ideas
Thursday, September 16, 2010 |
Peter O'Malley Tells Frank To Sell The Dodgers
Peter O'Malley on Thursday called upon Frank McCourt to sell the Dodgers, saying "the current Dodger ownership has lost all credibility throughout the city" and that local investors are needed to restore the luster of the city's cherished baseball team.Update: Bill Plaschke goes for the jugular:"In my judgment," O'Malley said, "it would be best for the franchise and the city if there was new ownership."
...
He said he is not interested in returning to ownership but would be willing to smooth the transition for potential new owners on what he called a "short-term" basis.
...
"The Dodgers are a jewel and earned that reputation not just based on winning games," O'Malley said, "but on how the franchise was managed."
"For many years, the Dodgers have been one of the most prestigious institutions in our city and throughout professional sports," O'Malley told Shaikin. "Sadly, that is not the case today."It's a rare day when I agree with anything T.J. Simers writes, and rarer still when I agree with Plaschke. Time to do a self-sanity-check.If perception-deaf McCourt still doesn't understand, these words can be translated into a succinct message that will hopefully bring him to his senses.
Frank, you are now alone.
... And Frank Drinks Too Much, And Jamie Smells Funny: Bob Schaefer Writes His Career Suicide Note
- Joe Torre isn't coming back
- Don Mattingly turned down managerial positions to stay in LA (from whom, and at what level?)
- Manny-steroids=no superman
- And most damningly, the Dodgers "will have to pull a rabbit out of the hat ... to contend next year".
Labels: coaches, dodgers, stupid ideas
David Brown Interviews Vin Scully
DB: So, you will not use the washroom after the game starts?VS: No, no.
DB: Even though there's two or three minutes between innings?
VS: No, in fact the one time [I get up] — they all kid me about it — in the seventh inning at Dodger Stadium, the crowd all stands for "God Bless America" and "Take Me Out To The Ball Game." And I use that time to walk the length of the hallway, because I sit for a long, long time. I mean, I'm in the car, I get to the ballpark, I sit and prepare, I go in and eat and I sit. I come back and sit. By the seventh inning, I've been sitting a long, long time. So I like to use the time just to walk up and down the hallway. So where it's the "Seventh Inning Stretch" for most, it's the "Seventh Inning Walk" for me [laughs].
Labels: broadcasters, dodgers
Wednesday, September 15, 2010 |
Clayton Kershaw Now Officially Da Man: Dodgers 1, Giants 0
In a wholly forgettable season, I'll take that.
The Dodgers have relegated themselves to playing spoiler, even on their own TV broadcast bumper ads, and they managed that on a night in which the Padres beat the Rockies 7-6 in a perilous game that had the Rockies with the tying run in scoring position with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
So the Pad People are back to a game and a half ahead of the Giants. It's not elimination, but it at least is saying the Dodgers ain't wholly dead, either. Congratulations, Clayton, you've done a man's work, sir.
Update: Via Jon Weisman on Twitter, Aaron Gleeman notes that Kershaw's record is historic, there being only two pitchers in history to strike out more than a batter an inning while recording 75 games or more before age 23, the other being "Sudden" Sam McDowell, the Cleveland ace of the 60's. Impressive company.
Labels: dodgers, giants, padres, recaps, rockies
Manslaughter Vs. Murder In The Adenhart Trial
[Gallo's attorney Jacqueline] Goodman is also employing a subtheme, one that got her in a little trouble: Gallo, an unemployed 22-year-old from San Gabriel, was a poor nobody; the victims were somebodies. Twice, Goodman pointed out the successful lives of the people in the car that Gallo hit on April 9, 2009: "the Angels pitcher, the cheerleader, the aspiring sports agent, the baseball star."Eyewitness testimony from Esteban A. Quiroz, whose car was also involved in the accident, said that Gallo's van didn't appear to slow down as he ran the red light.She went too far when she tried to slip why she thinks the victims' social status is relevant. "Within hours" of the accident, she said, "the district attorney gave a press confer—" Price couldn't object fast enough; Judge Richard Toohey sustained. Moments later, Goodman referred to "politics and popularity" as the driving the charges against Gallo. Price again got it stricken.
Labels: nick adenhart
K-Rod And Restraining Orders
Labels: ex-angels, mets, stupid ideas
Monday, September 13, 2010 |
Robothal: Diamondbacks To Interview Eddie Bane UPDATE: And Logan White
Update: MSTI passes on the news that Logan White is also on the list.
Labels: angels, diamondbacks, front office
Thursday, September 02, 2010 |
The McCourts Near The End Of Their Rope?
One thing is clear, however, and that is that the Dodgers are deeply in debt, so much so that no fewer than three entities — Citibank, and two private syndicates — refused Frank cash to continue operations. The McCourts have operated the Dodgers like a sort of ATM, to be perfectly blunt about it, extracting as much present value for as little of their own operating capital as possible. As we have seen, the Dodgers have spent very little internationally since at least 2007, and only recently spent even mid-pack in domestic draft bonuses (9th overall in 2010). In short, the problems I worried about with the McCourts when they first came to town have actually come true.
If anything at all is clear from this disaster of a shamockery, it's
- Frank and Jamie McCourt were never going to be good owners.
- Any doubts about their ability to operate the team over the long term have been utterly erased.
- Both need to be removed as soon as possible for the good of the team.
Labels: dodgers, mccourts, stupid ideas
Wednesday, September 01, 2010 |
Angels Get Loek Van Mil To Complete Fuentes Trade; Bulger, Stokes Activated
Related update: Jason Bulger and Brian Stokes were activated from the 15-day DL.
Labels: angels, minors, transactions, twins
Dodger Dream Foundation Under Investigation
There have been plenty of organizational mistakes made the last few years, but this one feels just plain sleazy. This one has earned an investigation.Yeah. The McCourts are playing games, and not on the field.
Labels: dodgers, stupid ideas
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