Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has announced today that MLB is overseeing all day-to-day operations of the Los Angeles Dodgers, meaning all trades and major expenses must be approved by whomever is appointed by MLB. Reaction has been swift throughout baseball regarding this turn of events, and the overwhelming sentiment seems to be good riddance to Dodgers' owner Frank McCourt.
McCourt met with MLB a few weeks ago with a proposal for future finances, as he tries to buyout his ex-wife Jamie, with whom he is locked in a bitter, and public, divorce battle. A Los Angeles court ruled this winter that Jamie is in fact entitled to half of the Dodgers, per California marriage law, which complicates the highly-leveraged Frank's plans to continue as sole owner. Per Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated:
While Selig hasn't ruled on McCourt's proposal, there is no evidence he has any inclination to do anything to help McCourt keep the soap opera going. The bottom line: Baseball doesn't want to see McCourt take future monies to pay off non-baseball expenses. And frankly, it surely doesn't want to see him around anymore.
New York Daily News writer Jesse Spector, referring to the once-MLB-owned Montreal Expos, who moved to Washington DC under Selig's watch, joked in a tweet, "If there's justice in the world, MLB will move the Dodgers to Montreal.
It is yet unknown who will be appointed to oversee the Dodgers, but it could be any number of people. Both Joe Torre and Kim Ng, who were with the Dodgers last year, now work for MLB but they seem like long shots for that role. Former owner Peter O'Malley would be an immensely popular choice, but Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times tweeted that nobody from MLB has contacted O'Malley.
What we do know is that this move likely means the beginning of the end of Frank McCourt ownership of the Dodgers. The only question now is how long until McCourt is gone?
For more Dodgers news and information, be sure to read the SB Nation blog True Blue LA.