6-4-2 — an Angels/Dodgers double play blog

Awesome story by Dodger Divorce's Joshua Fisher at ESPN about what MLB special appointee J. Thomas Schieffer has to do now that he's a mole (and maybe more) in the Dodgers front office. I want to focus on this part, because Frank has been so damned insistent on trying to rebut it (all emphasis mine, as usual):

According to documents filed by Jamie McCourt in connection with the McCourt divorce last year, the sparring couple took at least $108.9 million out of the organization since purchasing the club in 2004. In an exhibit to the same filing, the family's banker once characterized Jamie McCourt's philosophy as "why have a family business but to support the family lifestyle?" Frank McCourt has recently blasted the $108.9 million figure as grossly inflated, claiming the McCourts have really taken only about $50 million of salary and distributions from the club. However, in his calculations, Frank does not include the Dodgers' de facto guarantee of a nearly $50 million dollar loan to the McCourts, which is secured by two parcels of land currently used as Dodger Stadium parking lots.

When an issue central to the divorce went to trial last fall, further evidence of how the McCourts viewed the Dodgers came into focus. At one point in the preceding years, the couple strategized about how to fund their $15 million-plus annual budget to support their lifestyle. Unable to set aside $250 million to invest for that purpose, Jamie McCourt took a note during a meeting with a financial adviser: "[R]ather, we will bake the annual number into our operating budget."

It is clear that the McCourts did not separate their personal finances from club operations, and figuring out how to keep Dodgers revenue inside the organization might be both Schieffer's most important and most difficult task. Potentially complicating his efforts are the numerous debt instruments encumbering various revenue streams, such as ticket sales.

It is for these reasons that I have for some time basically assumed that it would not be enough for MLB to take control of the team. MLB would also have to push the team into (and extract it from) bankruptcy, and then sell the team after all the various machinations had been unwound. And it is a very complex web; Fisher says that there were 22 separate entities as of last spring, assuming no new ones had been created hence.

I want to comment on Josh's point 5, "Be transparent":

For too long, Dodgers staffers and fans have dealt with uncertainty. Schieffer should -- within understandable limits, given a potential McCourt lawsuit against MLB -- be open and honest with the club's employees, fans, and media. He should also communicate to the greatest extent possible with Frank McCourt. This will improve the club's relationship with all stakeholders.

For their own reasons, this is not likely to happen entirely. I mainly believe that one of the few areas where Frank is largely correct is in his surmising the point of the MLB "investigation", namely, as a stalling tactic to find out which McCourt entity stops paying its bills first, and then to use that as a pretext for forcing the whole octopus (doicosapus?) into bankruptcy. They can't come out and say this, of course — this speaks to Joshua's point seven, "Have a disaster plan". Yes, they're planning on a disaster for Frank. That's the point. But they can't come out and say it.

Update: Bill Shaikin summarizes yesterday's whirlwind PR tour. More eventfully, McCourt has fired off a letter to MLB demanding they let the Fox deal proceed. This is going to be fun.

Update 2: Yahoo's Tim Brown reports that MLB executives, including Tom Schieffer, will meet in Milwaukee to discuss the Dodgers.

Update 3: MLB now says the Dodgers' woes are all due to Frank McCourt (duh!).

Fabforum "Any financial problems faced by the Los Angeles Dodgers are the result of decisions made by Mr. McCourt and his management team over a period of years," MLB executive vice president Rob Manfred said in a statement.

Oh, and Frank isn't playing nice:

"The pace of the commissioner's investigation has been adversely affected by the Dodgers' failure to produce documents in a timely manner and by the complexity of the financial structures surrounding the club," Manfred said. "The commissioner intends to complete the investigation promptly but will not accept less than a thorough investigation."

Jon Heyman:

Word also is that iconic former manager Joe Torre, a good friend of baseball commissioner Bud Selig and who was hired by MLB to be executive vice president of baseball operations, is one in the growing camp who lost faith in McCourt. Same apparently goes for ex-Dodgers executive Kim Ng, who was brought in to MLB by Torre. Torre is said to have been unhappy with McCourt not following through on promises to improve the team (which, as we now know, came at a time he was using money on himself).

Update 4: Bloomberg News has obtained the letter McCourt sent, and MLB's response.

“The commissioner’s continued delay and his conscious decision to put the Dodgers in this state of distress and make it a matter of public discussion is harming Mr. McCourt and the Dodgers,” according to one of the letters, which were reviewed by Bloomberg News. “Mr. McCourt reiterates his request that the commissioner immediately approve the Fox transaction.”

Update 5: The New York Times:

If baseball does not help McCourt — and he finds no other revenue source to pay his players — the players would be able to file notices of default with baseball. If McCourt does not pay within 10 days after May 31, they could become free agents.

Michael Weiner, the executive director of the Major League Players Association, said in an e-mail, “I am confident that all contractual obligations to players will be honored.”

It occurs to me that MLBPA might be the crowbar that Bud Selig uses to pry the Dodgers from McCourt. While Dodgers player salaries are right around $100M ($104M this year, $95M in 2010, $100M in 2009) in recent years, they're not keeping pace with the bigger spenders in the league. MLBPA certainly wouldn't mind if the Dodgers became another factor driving free agent salaries higher. A different owner might be more inclined to do that, especially one that isn't as encumbered with debt as Frank is. Both parties have their reasons for wanting Frank gone, and with ownership unified behind Selig, McCourt's exit is a fait accompli.

Labels: dodgers, mccourts