Who Owns The Dodgers?

At the same time the Dodgers on-the-field future looks as bright as it has in decades — with a young team just four wins away from the World Series — its off-the-field future is getting dark and cloudy.

Just 24 hours after news that Frank and Jamie McCourt were headed for divorce court, the battle over team ownership has begun.
 

"I firmly believe each of them is going to try to keep the team," a high-ranking baseball source said today, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation.

"I think it's going to be pretty ugly…."

Marshall Grossman, the attorney for Frank McCourt, told The Times Wednesday night that McCourt is the sole owner of the Dodgers.

"We disagree with his conclusion," said Dennis Wasser, the attorney for Jamie McCourt. "We are confident that, if the ownership issue must be adjudicated, the Dodgers will be determined to be community property, owned 50% by each of the McCourts."

Right now, the players are fairly insulated from this growing mess, but it won’t take long for the issues to filter down to the field. Manny Ramirez can opt out after this season — if he does who decides how much to spend to try to retain him (or if he should be retained)?

Then this winter deals need to be struck with Matt Kemp, James Loney and Chad Billingsley, just to name three. None of them are free agents, but a deal has to be made or they go to arbitration (which can be an ugly process). Who decides how much? Who decides what the total Dodgers payroll can be?

If you don’t think ownership matters, you need only look at the two NBA teams in Los Angeles. Jerry Buss is not nearly as wealthy as Donald Sterling, but Buss has a firm hand in guiding the Lakers and setting the policy. He hires good people and pays them well. Sterling is a disinterested wild card who only wants to keep costs down and the checks rolling in. It’s not an accident one team is constantly near the top of the league and one consistently in the lottery.

Or, just look down the 405 Freeway at the San Diego Padres, where the divorce of owner John Moores forced him to sell parts of the team and has left the front office in turmoil for a couple years.

The McCourts, for all the trepidation when they bought the team, have turned into owners willing to spend to win. They are involved owners. But if the divorce spills out of the courthouse and into the Dodgers front office — and there are some signs based on resignations of staff it already has — the divorce might not be the only thing that becomes ugly.

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