After keeping quiet throughout the Dallas Mavericks' run to this year's NBA Championship, Mark Cuban can no longer be fairly called an attention seeker whose words shouldn't always be taken seriously. So when the billionaire owner mentions that he has a sincere interest in at least exploring the possibility of purchasing the Los Angeles Dodgers, it perhaps shouldn't be dismissed as hollow words. On Wednesday, Cuban confirmed his potential interest in buying the Dodgers an interview with TMZ.com.
"I have an interest in Major League Baseball for the right deal," Cuban said in an interview with TMZ.com. "But it's just such a mess, right? I can't imagine that it's not going to be such a mess that it's [not] going to make it hard to turn around."
Cuban of course is referring to the convoluted financial and legal status of the Dodgers, who are currently being operated by Major League Baseball while the team's finances are being analyzed. Cuban, a baseball fan growing up, has explored the possibility of purchasing both the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs when they recently were on the auction block. Nothing materialized on either front, and both those situations contained far fewer hoops to jump through than would working out a deal with the Dodgers.
"It's just so screwed up, that the pieces are so messed up, that it takes 20 years to fix. ... I mean, there's literally franchises out there that are just in such disarray and such a mess, in multiple leagues, that no one can fix them."
I'm not so sure that the Dodgers fall in that category, but there ceratinly are a number of factors that complicate any potential transfer in ownership, all of which relate to Frank McCourt's situation and how he has structured his investments in the organization.
"He's got his parking lots and he's got this and that -- all these sub-corporations. So who knows what's included."
Cuban also noted that MLB might just opt to remain in control of the organization and oversee the process itself before putting the franchise on the bidding block. From the sound of it, that might be what Cuban would prefer rather than having to embroil himself in all the legal and financial complications that would come with spearheading the process himself.
We'll see what happens, but for better or worse, answers and solutions to the Dodgers future don't look like they'll be presenting themselves clearly any time soon.