Originally Posted by
cf-62
At first glance, this seemed a good move by baseball, with the soap opera playing out like it did.
But when you start peeling back the layers, Selig is on thin ground here. While all of these giant monetary figures seem exorbitant and outlandish, they are not out of line:
In fact, there are specific financial requirements for MLB teams - and, even with the oddity of taking a loan to make payroll, the Dodgers actually are within those specs. There are, however, several teams that do NOT meet those requirements.
And, as the team's owner, what he does with the team's money is HIS decision. It's not up to baseball to tell him what to do. Maybe McCourt is not upgrading the stadium because he wants a new one somewhere else, but doesn't have the political clout, yet. Raising peripheral pricing? Sounds like a business.
What this is all about is a "swinging" contest by Selig. He said "no" to the advance - which ticked off McCourt. Why? Because Selig allowed the Nolan Ryan group to take an advance on TV money to stave off the Mark Cuban bid for the Rangers last year. Double standard.
So McCourt went to his personal contacts and got the loan from Fox. Slap in the face to Selig.
Ultimately, Selig has the bigger - er - slap - and here we are. But to prevent McCourt from prevailing in the lawsuit, my guess is that MLB will have to prove they are planning to take over (if not actually take over) the teams that aren't meeting their financial obligations. I think ESPN said there were 4 of them - which would have baseball operating 16% of the franchises.