Tuesday, June 28, 2011 |
News From Delaware As Frank Gets To Use His Own DIP Financing
Apparently, this means that MLB's line that the Dodgers didn't have authority to file bankruptcy is a non-starter, or at least that MLB is rescinding that line of attack. MLB's initial response was a fireball; as Jon pointed out on Twitter, the founding of Dodger Divorce can be seen on page 8, point 18.
Bill Shaikin has a fuller account at the LAT's Dodger blog.
It shocked me to realized that I haven't updated the list of firings since 2005. Mike Petriello of MSTI asked about it earlier in the day and, well, wow.
Steve Dilbeck is just wrong. Angelenos are very forgiving; it starts with winning.
MLB will move within days to have its monitors -- Schieffer and Allen -- re-installed at Dodger Stadium. Also, will request a trustee...As I estimated. The important thing was to hack off another avenue where Frank might get future revenues so he could further indebt the team.Sources: MLB very happy with events today in Delaware. Most important thing to delete media rights auction. Figure out rest in 3 weeks.
Update 2: Frank will only get $60M of the $150M DIP financing. MLB plans on filing additional motions to control the team by restoring the monitors.
Update 3: Keep this It's About The Money post handy in another tab while re-reading which entities are generating revenue, versus the list at Dodger Divorce which are going into bankruptcy. Los Angeles Dodgers, LA Holdco, LA Real Estate Holding Company, LA Real Estate, and Los Angeles Dodgers Holding Company (all LLCs -- omitted for the sake of clarity) are all entities filing for bankruptcy protection. Yet according to the IATM post, the money-generating parts of the McCourt empire are Blue LandCo, LA Real Estate, and Dodgers Tickets LLCs. We know that the McCourts heavily indebted Dodgers Tickets to get the mansions, but why is Blue LandCo not part of the bankruptcy filing? Could it be that Frank is paying himself first while keeping the team, its former trading partners, and Vin Scully hanging?
Update 4: MLB is likely to file a motion to terminate the Dodgers' franchise within days.
Monday, June 27, 2011 |
Dodgers Declare Bankruptcy, Nobody Surprised
Mike Scioscia's Tragic Illness has a great deal more on the topic, including a link to a fine Craig Calcaterra piece about what all this means. Calcaterra reported that Fox seems uninterested in bucking MLB if the latter thinks continued McCourt ownership is a bad idea. However, as a commenter there points out, in a bankruptcy proceeding, it is not what is best for the corporate entity that is the primary concern, but what is best for the creditors. That is, so long as Jonathan Broxton and Manny Ramirez may get paid, the bankruptcy court may not especially care what the commissioner thinks is in the best interests of the team. One hopes MLB's attorneys are all over kicking this fraudster to the curb. After all, it's the least Bud can do, having foisted this charlatan on us.
Dodger Divorce has the bankruptcy filing and press release. Also of note: one of the unsecured creditors is one Vincent E. Scully, as well as the Chicago White Sox. I wonder if that'll make teams chary of trading with the Dodgers in the future when large contracts change hands.
Update: Frank's debtor-in-possession loan might as well come from a loan shark, with an interest rate of 10% — higher than even drain-spiraling business Borders got when it hit the bankruptcy circuit.
Update 2: Bud Selig's statement: "The action taken today by Mr. McCourt does nothing but inflict further harm to this historic franchise."
Catching up on my belated tweets, Bill Shaikin writes that Jamie is expected to contest the bankruptcy debtor-in-possession filing because it will further devalue the franchise. (Now you're worried about that?)
Update 3: Ex-mayor Riordan says the team needs new ownership.
Update 4: Maury Brown currently on KSPN. The difference between the Tom Hicks situation in Texas and the Dodgers is mainly that the McCourts are trying to hold on to the team, where Hicks wanted out after recognizing he didn't have the wherewithal to keep operating the team — i.e., hubris.
Update 5: Bill Shaikin tweets that MLB is prepared to offer better financing under more favorable terms tomorrow in bankruptcy court.
Update 6: Molly Knight:
Can we talk about how mortifying it is for a man as private as Vin Scully to have his salary plastered across the Internet? #wortheverypennySteve Lopez: it's all about McCourt's greed and ego.
Tomorrow's bankruptcy proceeding will, at least temporarily, push the power into McCourt's corner as the bankruptcy judge will have the say in his courtroom.
Update 7: Tim Brown reports MLB monitors Tom Shieffer and John Allen were kicked out of the Dodgers offices minutes after the bankruptcy filing.
Saturday, June 25, 2011 |
Steve Soboroff Resigns
No kidding, there is a park in Los Angeles named after the man. I was there myself a few days ago.
Labels: dodgers, front office
Friday, June 24, 2011 |
Jay Jaffe On Mark Cuban And The Dodgers
But it's hard to shake the image of Commissioner Bud Selig holding Cuban's application by his thumb and index finger, and at arm's length, as if he were holding a rat by the tail. That's probably unfair to Cuban, who runs a successful NBA franchise, but it seems to sum up baseball's general estimation of him.Yet, for all this, I begin to think that maybe time has softened both Cuban and Selig; as Jaffe notes, the former has kept his mouth shut through the Mavericks' title run, and Selig surely isn't looking at a long list of potential suitors for the Dodgers. Certainly, the proposed Steve Garvey group would be another undercapitalized disaster, especially given Garvey's own profligate past; warts and all, Cuban might be the best deal MLB has going at the moment.
Labels: dodgers, mccourts, owners
Thursday, June 23, 2011 |
Fox Won't Back Frank If Bankruptcy Strikes, And More Dodger Charity Malfeasance
The Fox position would "severely complicate" any plans McCourt might have to file bankruptcy as a way to retain control of the Dodgers, said Rob Kampfner of White and Case, the firm that represented the incoming owners of the Texas Rangers through that club's bankruptcy proceedings last year.Today, we find more shady Dodger charity dealings, with the McCourts being forced to return $100,000 to the Dodger Dream Foundation that were principally used for the benefit of Jamie McCourt after the state attorney general found out. Sucks to be you, Frank!...
A bankruptcy judge could overrule Selig and order approval of the Fox contract — one McCourt says could be worth $3 billion — to ensure the Dodgers' creditors are paid in full. Fox would respond that it is not bound to the agreement since a contract has not been executed and it would not support the Dodgers' owner should he ask a bankruptcy judge to implement the deal, said one of the people familiar with the matter who is not authorized to speak publicly because of the sensitivity of the circumstances.
Labels: dodgers, mccourts, stupid ideas
The Re-Legalization Of The Spitball
Labels: rules
Snerk! A Couple Funnies From The Day's News
- Apparently upset that he wasn't extended through at least 2012, and minutes after his Nationals beat the Twins 1-0 in interleague to go over .500, Jim Riggleman resigned as Washington's manager. Sam Miller: "This is the first time in Jim Riggleman's career that anybody has noticed him."
- Peter Gammons: "McCourt turned in Whitey Bulger for the reward money".
Labels: dodgers, funny, managers, nationals
Wednesday, June 22, 2011 |
Bryan Stow Moves His Hand, Condition Downgraded To Serious
Monday, June 20, 2011 |
Angels Call Up Michael Kohn, Option Andrew Romine
Labels: angels, transactions
A Couple More On The McCourts; UPDATE: FOX DEAL REJECTED
It's All About The Money has a great piece entitled "Frank McCourt Must Go" outlining why Bud Selig should boot Frank to the curb. One especially interesting graf:
But the Fox deal is not a good one for the Dodgers. As Maury Brown pointed out over at bizofbaseball.com, the model Fox TV deal is the one Selig approved last year with the Texas Rangers, with a cash up-front payment that the Rangers used exclusively to sign ballplayers and fund capital improvements. McCourt’s deal with Fox is a different animal. Brown states it simply: under the proposed deal with Fox, “money that should be going to the Dodgers funnels into the divorce.” That is, unless Selig blocks the Fox deal, as he should do.Update 1:28 PM: Bill Shaikin now tweets that the Fox TV deal rejection is official.
Update 1:45 PM: Full story at the Times. At this point, it appears as though the endgame is within reach for Dodger fans hoping for Frank's ouster. He claims he can still meet the June 30 payroll, "but a person familiar with his finances said he had "no chance" without the television money." Frank will certainly countersue now. Also, "McCourt's other options could include the sale of a minority share of the Dodgers in the hope that would satisfy MLB, although such a sale would be subject to league approval", approval that cannot possibly be forthcoming.
Update 2:07 PM: Tim Brown tweets from Selig's statement that "It is my conclusion that this proposed transaction with FOX would not be in the best interests of the ... Dodgers franchise" because "Critically, the transaction is structured to facilitate the further diversion of Dodgers assets for the personal needs of McCourt."
Update 2:28 PM: Full statement from Bud Selig. Craig Calcaterra summarizes the proposed settlement as a further "looting of the team" by the McCourts.
...[I]t’s now being reported that even if Major League Baseball seized the Dodgers, McCourt would still own the parking lots and all manner of ancillary income. McCourt is clearly using this as a buffer against MLB action, saying in effect,”if you take my team, I’ll be your new owner’s landlord.” Which could certainly serve to depress buyer interest in the club.Update 3:35 PM: McCourt attorney Sue Sussman claims the rejection is "potentially destructive to the Los Angeles Dodgers", and that it would make the Dodgers "one of the best capitalized teams in Major League Baseball." Clearly, Frank and his attorneys confuse cash on hand with actual equity. If there's a clearer example of why Frank needs to be booted from control of the team and all its assets, I haven't seen it.
Here's the complete statement from Sussman.
Update 5:56 PM: Maury Brown excerpts an interesting graf from MLB's constitution:
The Major League Clubs recognize that it is in the best interests of Baseball that all actions taken by the Commissioner under the authority of this Constitution, including, without limitation, Article II and this Article VI, be accepted and complied with by the Clubs, and that the Clubs not otherwise engage in any form of litigation between or among themselves or with any Major League Baseball entity, but resolve their differences pursuant to the provisions of this Constitution. In furtherance thereof, the Clubs (on their own behalf and including, without limitation, on behalf of their owners, officers, directors and employees) severally agree to be finally and unappealably bound by actions of the Commissioner and all other actions, decisions or interpretations taken or reached pursuant to the provisions of this Constitution and severally waive such right of recourse to the courts as would otherwise have existed in their favor.Shorter: Frank, you're doomed.
Update 6:47 PM: Josh Fisher at ESPN.
Sunday, June 19, 2011 |
Tom Verducci On The Dodgers, Bud, And Frank
What a sad sight to see Dodger Stadium so empty for a midweek game against Cincinnati. The Dodgers' attendance is down 18 percent so far, the biggest drop in baseball. Given the way the McCourts have harmed the brand and given the sorry state of this team, it will get worse.(How could a Dodgers team rank 13th in ERA with that park as its home? Last time it happened? Never.)
The clock may be ticking on McCourt's hold of the team. Thanks to deferred payments that are due, including $8.33 million to Manny Ramirez, McCourt's obligation for his June 30 payroll is "more than $30 million," according to a baseball source. That would be more than triple his usual payrolls.
Meanwhile, Selig continues to investigate McCourt's stewardship of the team, including issues with stadium operations, security and hirings and firings. MLB can wrap that investigation before June 30 and act on those findings or it can choose to leave the investigation open to see if McCourt misses his June 30 financial obligations, which would force MLB to step in.
Overall attendance in baseball is down 2.2 percent, but that's largely because of problems with the NL franchises in the biggest markets: New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Baseball had lost 672,654 paid fans through Wednesday, but 78 percent of the decline was attributable solely to the Mets, Dodgers and Cubs.
Friday, June 17, 2011 |
McCourts Announce A Settlement
The settlement is contingent upon Major League Baseball's approval of a long-term television contract with Fox. Would he sue if MLB rejects the contract?I hope and trust he is wrong, and MLB crushes the contract, as ESPN's Molly Knight has suggested:"I fully expect MLB to approve the Fox transaction. MLB has taken the position that, before they approved the transaction, they wanted to see either a settlement of the divorce, or Jamie's consent, or an order from the judge. Today, they received all three. I fully expect that they will be good to their word, and they'll approve the transaction in a timely way."
But it's highly unlikely MLB would approve the TV deal, a source told Knight, in part because Gordon could force a sale of the team and saddle a new owner with what could be a below-market television contract in the future.
Labels: blecch, dodgers, mccourts
Thursday, June 16, 2011 |
Arte Tells Tony, My Wallet Is Closed
Labels: angels
Angels Release Scott Kazmir
Update: Tony Reagins says he has no regrets about the Kazmir trade.
Fire. Him. Now.
Labels: angels, transactions
Tuesday, June 14, 2011 |
Frank To Meet Payroll Again, Dammit
Wednesday, June 08, 2011 |
Meta: Absentia
Labels: meta
Time For Sterner Action From MLB: McCourt Will Make The Next Payroll, Too
Monday, June 06, 2011 |
Draft Notes
- The Angels picked University of Utah first baseman C.J. Cron, a right-handed slugger who hit .434 with 15 HR and 59 RBIs. He went 17th overall.
Update: Cron has announced his intention to sign quickly; his advisor is former Angels pitcher Scott Sanderson. It's probably for the best, because apparently he played through a shoulder tear this year. Nice.
His pro debut will likely be delayed until 2012, according to Bill Plunkett.
- The Dodgers got lefty Chris Reed from Stanford with the 16th overall pick. He could be a conversion project, as some people think he may be a second or third starter once stretched out.
Labels: angels, dodgers, draft
Dodgers Call Up Dee Gordon, DFA Castro, Gibbons
Also, the Dodgers DFA'd Jay Gibbons.
Labels: dodgers, transactions
Angels Doomed By LOBsters: Yankees 5, Angels 3
The Angels looked their best offensively in the third, when they tied things against Yankees revivified starter and ex-Angel Bartolo Colon. (Remember when the Angels actually won bids on the services of good free agents? Me neither.) But the Angels kept stranding baserunners, as the limitations of smallball became increasingly evident. In all, the Halos stranded ten, two more of which would have sufficed to tie the game.
During the course of the game, the radio team — I think it was Terry Smith — suggested that the Halos lack a true cleanup hitter. It was all I could do to keep from screaming into the afternoon air, "Mark Trumbo"! Even if you believe in Mike Scioscia's ancient religion, Trumbo is outhitting Hunter, and not by a little: .256/.346/.488 including three home runs, where Hunter has an anemic .225/.337/.268 with two extra-base hits of any variety (a double and a triple). While I do not claim that the broadcasters are necessarily close to the understanding of the people helming the team, they do get a chance to talk with them on a daily basis and are thus infused with some of it. I do not for a second doubt that Scioscia doesn't feel Trumbo is sufficiently advanced at this point to take over batting fourth, but at this point, what could he possibly lose by moving him up, say, to fifth in the order? Indeed, Hunter led the team yesterday with a -.411 WPA, capping a ridiculous afternoon with a GIDP to end the game while the tying runs were at first and third.
Finally, one comment about this violation of rules 7.06(a) and 7.06(b):
Basepath obstruction: it's not just for home plate anymore! Of course, the Rev informed me on Facebook that Bobby Grich used to do this with impunity and was never called for it. You want to end those kinds of collisions at the plate, calling this and plate-blocking what it is — a clear violation of the rules — and you've made a big step to preventing the kinds of injuries sustained by Buster Posey.
Labels: angels, blecch, ex-angels, recaps, yankees
Saturday, June 04, 2011 |
Seven Tries Later, Weaver Gets His Seventh Win: Angels 3, Yankees 2
Last night started with an explosion, Weaver locked against Jeter in a 15-pitch at-bat that saw the Yankees captain foul off 9 straight. I haven't seen such a battle in person since Alex Cora's 18-pitch at bat against Matt Clement. Unlike the general ennui filling the crowd in the seventh inning of that game (the Dodgers were ahead 2-0 in the seventh and the Wave was going on during this taut battle), Angels fans were very much into it. Fortunately, the thing ended with a fly ball out to center, but after that one at-bat, Weaver's future in the game was immediately called into question.
Two batters later, and things looked even worse, as he left the first inning with 27 pitches on the odometer. I steeled myself for another bullpen loss; this pen just doesn't have what it takes to get through the Yankees for more than a couple innings, and asking them to come in in, say, the fourth or fifth and finish a game is begging for trouble. After Weav threw 26 pitches in the second, and gave up a run doing it, I was utterly convinced this was going to get ugly around the fifth or sixth.
Yet, it never happened. Weaver got out of the third on ten pitches, and though it took him another 26 to escape the fourth (while letting the lead slip from his fingers), he never again needed more than 20 pitches to get through a frame.
In that, the Yankees had some of their own woes exposed. Derek Jeter's 2011 has a lot of 0-fers, and his .327 OBP is the lowest of any season with more than 200 plate appearances. In fact, Weaver kept all of the Yankees' top three hitters off the basepaths entirely, save for a walk to Jeter in the fifth.
The Angels offense did a good enough job against Ivan Nova, one of surprisingly only six Yankee starters used by the team this year. For all their pitching woes have been advertised, they are fourth in the league in starter's ERA, behind Seattle, Oakland, and the Angels. The Halos got to him immediately in the first for a couple of runs on Bobby Abreu's RBI double and Alberto Callaspo's scoring groundout. Again in the fourth, the Angels loaded the bases with one out, and Peter Bourjos drove in what proved to be the winning run. But everyone else, Bourjos included, was stranded after Nova struck out Izturis and got Aybar to fly out to left.
Weaver ran his pitch count up to an absurd 119 tosses, sparing the Angels having to use Rich Thompson against the bottom of the Yankees order, a move that seemed to me to be a bad idea given that group's relative scuffling. Bourjos came in again to save the day with a fine running catch to nab Jorge Posada's second consecutive hard-hit ball of the game. As Kevin Goldstein tweeted during the game last night,
Whenever they show Peter Bourjos running I think they've sped up the video.I like those legs working for our pitchers.
Before I go, I should mention Russell Martin, who had a rare Bill Dwyre piece written about him yesterday. While I'm happy for Martin that he's doing well in New York, I have to wonder how long he'll keep up that .452 slugging average, over a hundred points higher than anything he posted in the last two years. I'm betting he doesn't.
Labels: angels, recaps, yankees
Friday, June 03, 2011 |
Jayson Stark On The Wisdom Of 154
Labels: rules
Rockin' Post By Sam Miller About Catcher's ERA And How Experience Can Be A Bad Thing
Labels: analysis, angels, sabermetrics
Thursday, June 02, 2011 |
Nine Teams Violate MLB's Debt Service Rule, Frank Wonders Why Everyone Picks On Him
MLB Investigation Of Dodgers Nearing An End
Wednesday, June 01, 2011 |
Things That Happened While I Was Out
- The Angels took a series, albeit from the lowly Twins, who I confess looked like they were gonna run away with the division on paper before the season started. They're trailing the division and look like it, too.
In more recent news, the Angels split the first two games of the series with the Royals, winning the first 10-8 and losing yesterday's game 7-3, Joel Pineiro embarrassing himself with his own fielding. Once again, the Angels can't quite get above .500 (one game over now), and Rich Lederer asks why the Halos are paying $140 million in salary for mediocrity. In short, it's time Reagins were shown to the door, and if Mike Scioscia's contract extension has allowed him to act as a shadow GM, perhaps it's time he were ousted, too.
- The Dodgers unexpectedly beat the Marlins two out of three, the only sour note being a total collapse by the otherwise very steady Hiroki Kuroda. Or at least, so goes the advertisements; Kuroda actually has had four non-quality starts lately, and that included his prior one May 22 against the White Sox.
With back-to-back wins against the Rockies, the Dodgers have won five of their last seven and three consecutive, the latter a feat they have only accomplished twice this year. As seems normal this year, the Dodger Stadium stands are mighty empty these days, and the reasons aren't hard to discern. A bad team, nonexistent stadium security in the first week, and disgust with the profligate McCourts are all part of the reasons why, according to Chris Erskine of the Times, with the McCourts being the prime reason. Sadly, Frank made the May 31 payroll by hitting up vendors for up-front checks, so we can only hope that, win or lose, McCourt will really, truly run out of money in June.
Labels: angels, dodgers, mccourts, recaps, royals, twins
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