Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness: Arguing for patience and perspective regarding Yasiel Puig.

I know he looks awfully impressive (dude looks like he could be on your fantasy football team), and I’ve liked what I’ve seen as well, but I really do believe people are getting way ahead of themselves.

Baseball Prospectus: The Dodgers might have a platoon partner for Andre Ethier internally in Jerry Hairston Jr.

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Eye On Baseball: Fox Sports mistook Hyun Jin Ryu for Jae Kuk Ryu. Swell.

But hey, at least they got it to within the same ethnicity! Progress!

Los Angeles Times: Guggenheim Partners is being investigated by the SEC due to their relationship with Michael Milken.

Doesn’t appear to be anything to get spooked about just yet, but geez, that’s the last thing this franchise would need.

—–

FanGraphs: Umpires are actually getting a lot better.

Granted, it won’t stop me from complaining, but it’s better than regression.

MLB Trade Rumors: Want to be an MLB GM? Here are general managers giving you advice.

The Dodgers television contract will total between $6 billion and $7 billion over a 25-year span, thus potentially tripling the sale price of the team, according to Deadline‘s Nikki Finke.

Insiders tell me that Fox Sports is close to clinching the exclusive TV rights for the Los Angeles Dodgers by paying between $6 billion and $7 billion over 25 years to put the team on its regional sports network in Southern California and of course its national Fox Broadcasting Company. Fox already shows the games on its Prime Ticket local cable channel but also has Fox Sports West here.

So for those counting, just by taking the middle ground of that estimate, it puts the Dodgers television revenue at $260 million per year or $220 million more per year than they had been receiving annually ($40 million).

If true, that sort of makes a mockery of all the people who were borderline outraged at the $2.15 billion price tag of the team when it was awarded to Guggenheim Partners.

—–

The deal is still at risk of not getting done though, as FOX has apparently set a deadline.

I’m told a deal came “very close” to being done about a week ago “and then it went a little bit south”. To rattle Guggenheim’s cages, Fox Sports delivered an ultimatum that a deal had to be done by the end of this month or else it would stop negotiating. (Terms like “It’s dead” and “We’re out” were used.) The Fox Sports gambit worked. Because it would have left Guggenheim in a terrible situation without multiple bidders and with little leverage for next-in-line Time Warner Cable since CBS, Comcast/NBC, ABC/ESPN and even the MSG Network (controlled by the owners of Cablevision) never materialized. Of course, Guggenheim could have opted for the Dodgers to start its own network, as the Mets and Yankees have done. But big rewards come with big risks.

While I’m not sure the situation would be as bleak as Finke tries to paint it, it certainly seems a tad insane to be paying the rumored price, and I doubt they could get that kind of a money from anybody else, so FOX probably does have the leverage to make the demand in question.

—–

With that said, while I realize Finke is Deadline’s editor-in-chief, I have no idea how credible she is, but stuff like this makes me more skeptical than I want to be:

But the sheer greed of Guggenheim’s ask on this new deal is staggering, especially when you consider it will all get passed down to the cable systems, advertisers, and ultimately consumers. The alternative for Guggenheim included higher ticket prices which would serve to only further alienate fans. Plus the new owners claim to need the money to bribe talented players to come to the mediocre Dodgers. And then there’s the sad fact that Major League Baseball teams are shifting from broadcast TV to cable networks – so fewer games will be available on free TV. Fox Sports expects to broadcast only one or two Major League Baseball games a week for the national audience next season.

The amount of editorializing in that news story is … weird. She has a point, sure, but it’s not as if this is a new trend started by the Dodgers with FOX or something, as Mike Petriello pointed out in his own writings on the subject.

Heck, she points out as much in her own story:

Freer really knows this business – he ran the Fox regional sports networks for nearly half a decade – and knows not to overpay. He’s not when you consider that the Dodgers will play 162 games when the season starts in April. And yet TV rights to the Lakers who play 82 games just sold to Time Warner Cable for $3B over 20 years. And Fox just paid $3B for 49% of the YES Network which owns TV rights to the New York Yankees for 20 years. Considering that Fox also has the right to own 80% of YES (and will surely exercise that option), then $6B-$7B for this Dodgers deal sounds about about right given the hyper-inflated finances of sports TV rights. In the era of DVR, Hulu, Netflix and other ways to watch TV, sports viewers (overwhelmingly male) watch live and therefore don’t always skip through ads.

So I’m not seeing the reason for outrage at this specific deal.

—–

As far as the team goes, this would go a long way to assuaging any doubt or apprehension about the team’s payroll both now and in the future. The Dodgers would be setup to spend and spend big for a long while, and when the ink hits the paper, it’ll truly mark the beginning of a new era.

Up until now, people have just been doing a lot of optimistic assuming, but if this story holds up, it looks like all that optimism will finally be justified.

Click To Enlarge

That comment on Dodger Thoughts from Terry Pruett on the ownership situation basically sums up exactly what I feel about the recent controversy.

I must be the only one who couldn’t care less whether the Dodgers owners reveal their whole involvement with McCourt.

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) May 16, 2012

Far more concerned with the trading deadline, what the front office looks like, and 2013 payroll.

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) May 16, 2012

As far as what they do with their own money? It’s up to them.

I’ll criticize if they fail to do what it takes to make Dodger Stadium better, to make the other facilities better, and to make the team better.

They don’t owe me (or us) anything beyond that.

Via Vin Scully Is My Homeboy

With the Dodgers finalizing the transfer of ownership from Frank McCourt to Guggenheim Partners yesterday, the new owners held a press conference today to answer questions and make statements about the state of the team.

It went well.

“We’re not going to gouge the fans just because we paid a nice sum for this franchise,” Johnson said, disclosing that general parking would come down from $15 to $10. “We don’t want the fans to think because we wrote a big check [$2 billion], we’re going to stop writing checks for talent. We don’t want people to think we’re short on money now. That’s not the case.”

In what is a solid public relations move, Magic Johnson announced that the team would reduce parking prices.

Most importantly though, he says that they will pay for talent. Will they just throw money at the situation though?

No, says Stan Kasten.

“We have to make a [scouting and development] commitment nationally and, more importantly, internationally.”

Stan Kasten on the Dodgers payroll: “Can’t give you a number, but we’ll be in on every major free agent.”

— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) May 2, 2012

How about concerns that Mark Walter will meddle in personnel decisions like Frank McCourt did from time to time?

Walter on Stan Kasten: “It would be incredibly stupid of me to tell him how to run a baseball team.” #dodgers

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) May 3, 2012

How about the team’s image with fans and the public?

“I especially liked what Magic said about not having to reinvent the wheel, and what Kasten said about [players] interacting with fans. Fred Claire, when he was in charge of public relations, used to send us out in uniform to do clinics in places like Pasadena, Compton, the San Fernando Valley — all over Southern California. The fans here love baseball and proved it over the years.”

“Mr. O’Malley, you put pride in the Dodgers,” Johnson said, asking the former owner to stand. “What we want to do is bring the pride back to the city and organization. We want to win on the field and make sure the fans have the best experience they’ve ever had. We want to make sure it’s fan-friendly and safe.”

But wait, doesn’t Frank McCourt still get a share of the parking lot revenue?

In response to repeated questions about McCourt possibly capitalizing on parking revenue, Johnson and Walter quashed that possibility — Magic firmly so, in no uncertain terms.

“We own it 100 percent,” Johnson said. “He won’t get a dime for the parking.”

Walter stressed that McCourt can profit only from future development, adding, “We don’t have any current plans for development. Nothing can be developed unless we think it’s good for us.”

Thankfully, there was no “there’s a new sheriff in town” moment, nor was there a sign of impending disaster.

I have to say that they got their reign off to a great start by holding a near flawless introductory press conference.

Why not completely flawless?

Kasten will work alongside general manager Ned Colletti in personnel matters in an effort to return the Dodgers to a place of consistent excellence.

Makes it sound like Ned Colletti will be sticking around or something. Ugh.

I’ve expressed my concern with that before, but I’ve also said that if Stan Kasten thinks keeping him on board is the right move, then I’ll try to evaluate him as a different GM under the new regime.

In Stan we trust, right?

We’ll see, but Colletti is now easily the part of the organization that I’m most concerned about.

—–

Magic Johnson and Mark Walter both took parting shots at Frank McCourt, even if they weren’t direct.

Magic: “Let’s move forward. Frank is not here. He is not part of the Dodgers any more. We should be clapping for that.”

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) May 2, 2012

New #Dodgers owner Mark Walter, who lives in Chicago: “I do plan to get a residence here. Just one residence.”

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) May 2, 2012

Glorious.

After having the sale delayed by a day, the Los Angeles Dodgers are finally, and thankfully, free from the clutches of Frank McCourt.

Source: #Dodgers sale has closed. McCourt era has ended.

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) May 1, 2012

With that done, now the Dodgers are going to win every World Series for the next decade, right? Well, not quite.

As bad as Frank McCourt was, the product that has been run out on the field in recent years is not all his doing, as not only Ned Colletti, but everybody in the front office has their hands on that. Despite the fast start to 2012, Stan Kasten and company have a long road ahead to rebuild the farm system, the team’s international presence, and reputation as a perennial contender.

Then there’s the owners, Guggenheim Partners, who have been quiet for a while now, sans Magic Johnson occasionally sending out basic public relations tweets. Well, now that they’re officially owners of the team, there will rightfully be questions about how they will go about their business. They now need to be able to provide the answers to those questions, because we’ve been waiting for a long time.

The situation that they’ve stumbled into is an ideal one for ownership.

Just don’t screw it up.

Gross approves #Dodgers sale.

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) April 14, 2012

Of course, it didn’t go off without a hitch, because … MLB.

Bottom line: MLB tried a Hail Mary to get around the settlement terms to which it agreed, and to which other owners subsequently dissented.

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) April 14, 2012

Get around the provisions that they agreed to? They wouldn’t do that!

Hearing over. The #Dodgers should have new owners April 30.

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) April 14, 2012

It’s … overrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Finally.

—–

At least the judge had a sense of humor about the situation, managing to work in a Cole Hamels joke.

Gross: “I was looking in the order for language that says they can’t sign Cole Hamels. I couldn’t find it, but I may still insert it.”

— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) April 14, 2012

Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times recently wrote an article about the new owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and it wasn’t exactly flattering.

Mr. Walter, along with his colleague Todd Boehly, Guggenheim’s president, appear to be living out a childhood fantasy using other people’s money, some of whom may not even realize it.

In addition to their own cash, Mr. Walter plans to use money from Guggenheim subsidiaries that are insurance companies — some state-regulated — to pay for a big chunk of his purchase of the Dodgers. Guggenheim controls Guggenheim Life, a life insurer, and Security Benefit, which manages some $30 billion, among others.

So basically, the inference is that they are taking money from other people and spending it for themselves.

Josh Koblin of Deadspin joins in as well, saying it’s all too good to be true.

Did it seem too good to be true when news hit that Magic Johnson and a series of investors had $2 billion to pay for the Dodgers, to rescue the team from financial ruin? Yup. Two weeks later, it looks too good to be true.

Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated says others have concerns as well.

Major League Baseball officials have expressed concern that Guggenheim Baseball Management, the winning bidders for the Los Angeles Dodgers, has been slow to produce the details of the bid and the structure of its management team, according to several sources familiar with the sale process.

Several individual owners have joined baseball officials in questioning why the Guggenheim group, led by Mark Walter, Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson, has not filed a more detailed Purchase and Sale Agreement more than a week after the group was selected from among three finalists by Frank McCourt, the outgoing owner who is selling the club through U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Not good, right?

Well, according to the New York Times, what is the major malfunction?

Using insurance money — which is typically supposed to be invested in simple, safe assets — to buy a baseball team, the ultimate toy for the ultrarich, seems like a lawsuit waiting to happen. Mr. Walters has been somewhat open in acknowledging that Guggenheim’s companies will be tapped, but the investor group has not disclosed how much of the purchase price is coming from individuals.

A lawsuit … why?

How is a baseball team not a simple and safe asset anyway? The only reason Frank McCourt was forced to sell to begin with was because of his divorce, and even then, he ACTUALLY DID steal from Dodgers fans for his own personal use, got away with it, declared bankruptcy, and is now a billionaire. Is there any way to try HARDER to lose everything in a baseball franchise and still not do it?

Yet I’m supposed to panic about the new owners tapping an insurance company under their control for funds, as if the Dodgers are going to go belly up and screw over all those insured by the company under the Guggenheim Partners umbrella?

In fairness, many insurance companies use their premiums to make investments, including private equity and real estate deals, a slice of which can sometimes even be speculative. As long as the insurance companies meet minimum capital requirements as determined by various regulators, they do not run afoul of the law.

Oh, so the big deal here is surely that they haven’t gotten cleared by the regulators, right?

People involved in the process who are close to Guggenheim said that while the company was using its insurance companies to pay for the Dodgers, it was a very good, prudent deal for its investors and policyholders. As long-term investors, these people said, the new owners could afford to be patient to see a return.

One person involved in the deal, as a point of comparison, noted that MetLife had paid $400 million for the naming rights to Giants Stadium. “This is a much better deal,” this person said. As for MetLife, “They don’t own anything.”

In a statement, one of Guggenheim’s regulators, Stephen W. Robertson, the Indiana commissioner of insurance, said: “Guggenheim’s past dealings with the Indiana Department of Insurance have demonstrated to us that the company and its representatives are of the highest integrity, and we have not taken exception to any interest Guggenheim may have in the Los Angeles Dodgers, nor do we plan to do so.”

So the regulators don’t see the problem either. Wait, what am I supposed to be pissed about again?

I’m seriously not trying to be an apologist here. If anything, I’m even more cautious about owners now, which is the only reason I’m even addressing this, but it just seems to me like there’s not even smoke here, just a bunch of people yelling fire.

Los Angeles Times: Bill Plaschke (barf) talks to the key figures in the new Los Angeles Dodgers ownership.

For now, as the initial celebration fades and the close examination begins, Dodger fans need to see proof that this dream team won’t just turn into another nightmare.

“You know I’m going to do this right,” promised Johnson. “I would not be putting millions of my dollars into this if we weren’t going to do it right.”

The questioning started here with Johnson. Will he be more than just a new Dodger face and voice? Will he have the freedom to help run the Dodgers with his considerable business acumen and competitive spirit?

“You want to know Magic’s title? It’s owner,” Kasten said.

Johnson confirmed that he has already picked out a Dodger Stadium office and that, while he still has other business interests, this will be his main job and focus.

“I take, very seriously, the honor of being a minority owner in an organization where Jackie Robinson played,” Johnson said. “I’ll be there every day, fans will see me every day, I’ll be working hard to spread the word about how we’re going to make this a great franchise again.”

I think we’ve known all along that he was a figurehead, but he’s an awesome figurehead, so whatever.

Walter said he will remain in the background of the club’s daily operations, allowing Kasten to oversee baseball and business matters while Johnson is the caretaker of the image.

“I’m a baseball fan, but I’m not qualified to make baseball decisions, and I don’t want to pretend to be,” said Walter. “I’m here to support and help my people as much as I can. I’m here to cheer as loud as I can.”

But since he still controls the purse strings, the bucks still stop with him, no? Will he give Kasten the freedom to spend them? How does he view the idea of paying the sort of big money for the sort of big free agents that the Dodgers have avoided signing during most of their 14-year championship drought?

“Stan has a very proven formula for building a team that doesn’t win one year, but wins 12 years in a row [Atlanta Braves], so for me to tell him how you build that is completely inappropriate,” said Walter. “But having said that, we really want to win, and it’s OK if, while we’re producing the best players in the world, we also have the best players in the world on our field.”

In other words, said Johnson, “We are going to have all the resources available to us to put a championship team on the field.”

Oh dear, I think I’m in love.

“We understand what we just bought, we understand what it needs to be,” said Kasten. “We make more money when we win. We are real cognizant of that. While we want to build a long-term plan, we want to have a winner now.”

To understand Kasten’s baseball philosophy, check out his Atlanta Braves team that won the 1995 World Series. His front office was led by powerful General Manager John Schuerholz. His starting rotation was led by a high-priced free agent, Greg Maddux. His everyday lineup was filled with homegrown stars like Chipper Jones, Ryan Klesko and David Justice.

“I believe in scouting and player development, and a starting rotation,” Kasten said. “With both, anything is possible. Without both, nothing is possible.”

It’s just words, and I prefer actions, but they are saying literally everything right so far.

Haven’t been this excited about the team since they swept the Chicago Cubs in the 2008 NLDS.

Los Angeles Times: Walter Hamilton takes a look at the Guggenheim Partners.

Guggenheim Partners is connected to the family of Meyer Guggenheim, who came to the U.S. in the 1840s and made a fortune in mining. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is named after the family.

Peter Lawson Johnston II, a great-grandson of the Guggenheim’s patriarch, launched the financial services company in 2000. The company is run day to day by chief executive Mark Walter and executive chairman Alan Schwartz, the former CEO of Bear Stearns & Co.

The firm is a full-fledged investment bank in the mold of Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Guggenheim has become a big player in commercial real estate debt, managing the type of investments that tripped up so many big Wall Street firms during the global financial crisis.

Guggenheim has varied holdings, including being a co-owner of the company that operates the Hollywood Reporter.

It has a large investment operation in Santa Monica, with more than 200 of its 1,700 employees based there. The firm manages about $125 billion in assets.

Mining, huh? It’s like they’re trolling Josh Macciello.

MLB.com: Richard Justice with a nice profile on Kasten.

He has some unshakeable core beliefs about running a baseball team. He believes the fan experience should be pleasant, that teams must be accountable to their customers. And he believes teams should be built from the inside through scouting and player development.

If he’s approved, he’ll surely use the work done by Cox and Schuerholz with the Braves as a blueprint for how to run the Dodgers.

He’s also a student of the game’s history and will almost certainly both understand and tap into the things that have made the Dodgers special, from the former players who created the team’s aura to the ballpark that is one of the signature destinations in Major League Baseball.

In both Atlanta and Washington, he told his employees that there really was no magic formula to succeeding. It was a matter of doing things right and getting better every single day.

Awesome.

Fox Sports: Ken Rosenthal believes Kasten will be the difference maker for the product on the field as well.

Wall Street Journal: Scott Austin has short blurbs on all those involved in the new ownership of the Dodgers.

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ESPN Los Angeles: Jon Weisman has a to-do list for the new owners.

The bottom line is, you can’t expect perfection, but you can demand excellence. Every effort must be made at making the best possible decision a thousand times over.

The new owners might fail. But, finally, Dodgers fans can at least say there’s hope.

Word.

Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness: Mike Petriello gives 19 random thoughts on the new ownership of the team.

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Dodgers Now: Dodgers players give their thoughts on the new owners, including Juan Rivera and Juan Uribe, who hadn’t heard of the deal until Dylan Hernandez told them.

Dodgers Now: What do Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol think about Magic Johnson‘s involvement with the Dodgers?

The question reminded me of this:

As the excitement from getting out from under Frank McCourt‘s reign dies down a bit, we’ll have to start analyzing exactly what the hell just happened, both good and bad. Well, in an effort to do exactly that, Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles talked to economists about the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he found that the $2 billion price tag has them skeptical about the deal.

“It was an extraordinary and surprising price,” said Andrew Zimbalist, a professor of economics at Smith College. “I rarely admit to not anticipating these things but I did not anticipate a $2 billion price. Keep in mind, in addition to the price, the new ownership group will have to invest something in the neighborhood of $300 million to refurbishing Dodger Stadium and that price does not include $150 million for the surrounding real estate. At the end of the day, you have to question this deal.”

“It’s the craziest deal ever; it makes no sense. That’s why you saw so many groups drop out,” said Mark Rosentraub, a University of Michigan sports management professor. “I don’t get it. The numbers just don’t work. It doesn’t make business sense. Nobody came up with this number. Under the most favorable circumstance you broke $1.1 billion with $1.4 billion getting crazy. Now you’re up in the $2 billion range, which is over $800 million more than what pencils out for a profitable investment for a baseball team. If making money doesn’t count, this is a great move. But now we’re into buying art and I can’t value art. I can just run the model numbers and this doesn’t make sense.”

Johnson, however, still can’t make all the numbers of the record sale of the team add up for many economists, who are skeptical that this deal will prove to be a success in the end.

“If they can figure out a way to put a basket above the pitcher’s mound maybe it will be a great match,” Zimbalist said. “Look, Magic is an icon in L.A. It creates a new energy that will be positive for the club, but this group has a big challenge ahead of them and it remains to be seen if the price they paid for the club was a good choice or not.”

The thing that jumped out at me right away is that they are primarily talking about whether it’s a smart business deal. As in, whether or not Mark Walter and Guggenheim Partners make money off this transaction.

Personally, I think that’s a moot point for fans. In the end, I don’t actually care whether the owners are making a profit hand over fist or are breaking even or are in the red, all I care about is whether the Dodgers will be a better team on the field with them in charge.

Of course, to an extent, there’s a legitimate argument that profitability would be tied to the amount of money they would spend on players, so the question is whether the bid total will affect the amount of money they can inject into the roster.

“One of the things that commissioner Selig was trying to avoid when he did not authorize the contract between McCourt and Fox was he thought McCourt would take the money and pocket it instead of using it to build the Dodgers,” Zimbalist said. “That indirectly will happen anyway because McCourt is going to get his money and the new ownership will have to use a good chunk of the television money to pay off their asset purchase.”

Unlike the Angels and Texas Rangers, which signed a similar 20-year, $3 billion deal with Fox, the Dodgers’ new television deal won’t simply be a nice influx of cash used to upgrade the roster. It will likely be used to pay for the team, pay for improvements to the stadium and pay for developing the land surrounding the stadium.

Maybe there’s a point there, that the Dodgers won’t be able to spend all of the rumored $3 billion to $4 billion that they’re supposed to make through the television deal on roster improvements, but I’m skeptical about Andrew Zimbalist‘s skepticism regarding how the deal with affect what the franchise spends on the payroll.

Basically, I just can’t see how they’d be willing to drop so much money, bank so much on the value of television rights and the fans coming back in droves, and yet fail to take advantage of all that momentum by not investing in the product on the field.

Maybe it’s just me, but it sounds awful farfetched that they would do all of this just to let the team continue to lose.

Oh, and about those parking lots, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times says that Magic Johnson‘s group will control them.

Parking lots will be controlled by Magic’s group.

#Dodgers deal allows Magic group to control parking lots for games, Magic and McCourt to jointly pursue any development of lots.

Clarification on joint venture in parking lots: Magic and McCourt would have to agree on any development. Magic can veto any plans.

Besides, the thing that jumped off the page to me is Zimbalist’s overt bitterness towards McCourt getting paid.

“It’s problematic,” Zimbalist said. “He was looking for some kind of ongoing income stream and he got it. Here’s a guy who borrowed practically all the money to buy the team for $430 million and now he’s selling it for $2.15 billion and he’s coming out with a healthy capital gain — it’s repulsive. This is someone who doesn’t deserve to walk away with a healthy profit after eight years of running the Dodgers in the most egregious, the most inefficient, the most self-interested, and the most vainglorious, idiotic way possible. It really is repulsive that he will still be making a profit in some way.”

Not many have been as publicly pissed off at McCourt as me, but even I think this little rant makes him appear anything but objective. The emotion in it just makes him and the rest of the story come off as a bunch of angry economists who are pissed that McCourt is getting paid off for his bullshit actions.

It’s not like I’m saying Dodgers fans should be happy about McCourt cashing in, but why should we concern ourselves with the morality of him getting paid? McCourt had a valuable asset and profited from it. No shocker there, and it’s irrelevant to why we enjoy sports and watching the team.

In that same vein, are you honestly going to care whether or not Walter and Magic make billions of dollars in profit if the product on the field is quality?

I won’t care one bit and I don’t think you should either.

Matthew Futterman (tee hee) of the Wall Street Journal has details on Magic Johnson‘s group’s winning bid on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

With a bid of $2.15 billion, including the surrounding land, Mr. Johnson, controlling partner Mark Walter and partners Peter Guber, Stan Kasten, Bobby Patton and Todd Boehly beat out a group of some of the wealthiest businessmen in the country to land a team that is one of Major League Baseball’s flagship franchises. The sales figure shatters the previous record sales price for a U.S. sports franchise, Steve Ross’s purchase of the Miami Dolphins for $1.1 billion three years ago.

But buying the Dodgers now comes with a unique opportunity to launch a potentially lucrative regional sports network in the country’s second-largest market, or sign a new local broadcast deal with the current broadcaster, News Corp.’s Fox unit, which has already offered the team a 17-year extension valued at nearly $3 billion. (News Corp. also owns The Wall Street Journal).

$3 billion is a ton, but David Wharton of the Los Angeles Times speculates that the price could be even higher, as much as $4 billion.

With Time Warner, Fox and others expected to show interest, estimates for the total value of the deal have risen as high as $4 billion.

“None of this is lost on the new owners of the Dodgers,” said Neal Pilson, former president of CBS Sports. “They have an opportunity to create a bidding war.”

So along with that surprisingly high $2 billion bid that had some people concerned are individuals who apparently knew what they were doing … unsurprisingly.

—–

The story of how Magic Johnson’s group won is rather amusing, as it basically amounts to making it rain cash on Frank McCourt.

According to a person involved with the process, the auction had been expected to take place Wednesday. Blackstone had asked the parties to submit sale contracts last week and deliver their initial offers by Tuesday morning, since approval of the bidders from Major League Baseball was expected to come easily on Tuesday afternoon. When the offers arrived, the bid from the Johnson-Walter group was so much higher than the competing offers, it essentially took the franchise off the block almost instantly.

The person said the other offers, which were perceived as opening bids, were in the range of $1.5 billion, some 25% less than the Johnson-Walter bid. As a result, the other bidders were never given a chance to match, and the deal was wrapped up by Tuesday evening.

The bid was described as a “100% cash offer.” Mr. Walter is making a significant personal contribution to the purchase price, with Guggenheim Partners, of which he is chief executive, playing a substantial role in financial contribution.

The deal is preliminary and still has to go through a complicated closing process and receive approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. However, Mr. McCourt is under pressure to complete the deal by April 30, one day before he owes his ex-wife a $131 million payment as part of their divorce settlement.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times confirms that it was indeed a 100% cash bid and adds that it should not run into any difficulty, specifically because of the cash nature of the bid.

In my mind, I’m going to imagine that the group walked up to Frank McCourt and said, “Straight cash, homie.”

“What’s two billion dollars? To me?“

With the Los Angeles Dodgers in the news for the impending bidding war over the ownership of the team, I thought this would be as appropriate a time as ever to run through the publicly declared bidders, as the deadline for submission has come and gone.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times breaks down the specifics of the bidding process in nice and tidy parts.

If McCourt has the final say on the new owner, what role does Major League Baseball play in the process?

MLB has agreed to approve up to 10 bidders. Yet Blackstone is unlikely to clear even that many bidders for MLB consideration, given the time needed for the league to investigate the structure and financing of each potential ownership group. To cover the costs of the investigation, MLB will charge $25,000 to each bidder cleared by Blackstone.

If MLB rejects a prospective bidder cleared by Blackstone, does McCourt have any recourse?

Yes. He can appeal to the mediator who brokered his settlement with MLB.

Do the other MLB owners have a say?

Yes. They can approve or reject any bidder that passes the MLB investigation. However, once the league informs Blackstone of which prospective buyers have been approved by MLB owners, McCourt conducts the final round of bidding and determines the winner. If the winning bidder’s final offer is dramatically higher than the initial offer, MLB reserves the right to review the financing.

When will this happen?

There is no set date, but the calendar suggests the end of March. McCourt has agreed to select the winning bidder by April 1 and disclose the winner to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court by April 6.

Outstanding stuff, as always.

Regarding the bidders themselves though, who are the groups and what good or bad traits do they bring to the table?

Let’s find out.

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Mark Cuban

The Good: A charismatic fan favorite of an owner, basically the exact opposite of Frank McCourt. His tenure as the Dallas Mavericks owner has obviously been a successful one, as he turned a joke of a franchise into a perennial contender. While his money has often been cited as the reason for the change, he has proven that he will explore any avenue that could potentially give his franchise an advantage. As such, he is unlikely to be as sabermetrics averse as the current Dodgers front office, as evidenced by his implementation of analytics in basketball to score his first NBA Championship.

The Bad: I’m not convinced he’s that legit of a threat to win. He’s not an idiot and he’s unlikely to go over whatever he has the Dodgers valued at, as he showed in the bidding for the Texas Rangers. While I’m confident he would find quality baseball men to run the franchise, he’s not going into the process with anybody in place.

My Take: I would love for him to be owner, as his history suggests he would make winning a priority and would explore the most efficient ways to do so. Unfortunately, I think it’s a long shot.

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Magic Johnson/Stan Kasten/Mark Walters

The Good: Magic Johnson instantly becomes the face of the ownership and it should go over extremely well with fans. Stan Kasten employs his experience with the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals to run the baseball operations. Mark Walters could use his eleventy trillion dollars to supplement the payroll and buy elite players. Seriously, Guggenheim Partners has over $100 billion in assets and he’s the CEO.

The Bad: Uh…none?

My Take: My current preference to win the bidding. I can’t see a better combination.

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Steven Cohen/Steve Greenberg/Arn Tellem

The Good: Founder of SAC Capital Advisors and a hedge fund manager, Steven Cohen is worth over $8 billion. The group’s baseball experience will come from Steve Greenberg, who served as a deputy commissioner of baseball, and Arn Tellem, who is a player agent for the Wasserman Media Group. Get to use puns on Arn Tellem’s name.

The Bad: In today’s political environment, it’s not exactly ideal in the public relations department to have a hedge fund manager as an owner, and especially not one whose company is under investigation by the SEC. Went through an ugly divorce that led to lawsuits. Sound familiar?

My Take: Do. Not. Want. I don’t want to deal with yet another owner with baggage. Haven’t Bud Selig and the other owners learned their lesson yet? Yes, other ownership groups could have drama, but this one has already been confirmed to have been involved in messes before, so why bother? My fear is that the Blackstone Group, which is in control of the sale, is a significant investor in SAC Capital Advisors, and that could give the latter a gigantic advantage.

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Rick Caruso/Joe Torre/Byron Trott

The Good: Joe Torre becomes the face of the franchise and has a ton of baseball experience. Despite his tenure with the Dodgers, I get the feeling that fans love him, and given that he just left a position with the MLB, he and Bud Selig should have a solid working relationship. Byron Trott, named by Warren Buffett as the only banker he trusts, heads BDT Capital Partners and was previously the vice chairman for Goldman Sachs. I would have the same concerns with him as I do with Steven Cohen, but he has no legal issues with his comapny and Buffett’s word carries weight. Rick Caruso is a local developer who is worth around $1.7 billion and has tons of local popularity.

The Bad: Honestly? Torre as the baseball man frightens me. A lot. He’s not progressive with his thinking at all and he never seemed to have a problem with Ned Colletti, leading me to believe he just might keep him around. Disastrous.

My Take: I don’t necessarily have a problem with the group, but the risk that Torre could regress the Dodgers to decades old thinking and retain Colletti is too much for me to bear. Out.

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Dennis Gilbert/Larry King/Jason Reese/Randy Wooster

The Good: Both Larry King and Dennis Gilbert are Dodgers fans, which is always a plus. King’s name carries weight, though I’m not sure he has any name value as a sports personality. Gilbert has extensive baseball experience as a former player agent, former player, and current special assistant to Jerry Reinsdorf, who owns the Chicago White Sox. Jason Reese and Randy Wooster are Chairman/CEO and President of Imperial Capital, a Los Angeles area investment bank, and the two will be providing the financial thump in the group.

The Bad: Not much public motivation, honestly. No idea if they actually have the money to compete.

My Take: If they have the money to spend competitively, then I have no issue with the group, but as of now, that’s a big unknown. There are rumors that they might have to hook up with Fox or Time Warner to get the finances to work. Ugh.

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Leo Hindery/Marc Utay

The Good: Leo Hindery is a Managing Partner at private equity fund InterMedia Partners, and he founded the YES Network for the New York Yankees and served as Chairman & CEO until 2004. Marc Utay is a Managing Partner at private equity firm Clarion Capital Partners. The pair of them tried to buy the Chicago Cubs back in 2009, so there’s a history there.

The Bad: They’ve been under the radar, and as a result not much has been revealed as to their finances or plans, so the biggest downside right now is the uncertainty.

My Take: Hard to judge what you know little about, so I can’t provide much positive or negative feedback until more is revealed.

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Steve Garvey/Orel Hershiser

The Good: Their resume in baseball speaks for itself, though little is known about their actual qualifications as executives. They certainly figure to have local support and can become the faces of the franchise.

The Bad: They don’t seem to have funding. Last time they spoke on the Dodgers, they were still looking for investors and it’s unknown who they found.

My Take: Not enough information to endorse two former players with unknown finances and unknown executive experience.

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Josh Macciello

The Good: He’s not a hedge fund manager or a banker or an executive, he’s a regular guy like you or me. He’s the CEO of ArmItal Sports and plans to use the gold mines he owns, which are valued in the tens of billions, as collateral for the purchase, so he says he has the financial backing.

The Bad: He’s a regular guy like you or me. The lack of baseball connections, the lack of executive experience, the lack of community support, and the legitimate questions about whether he would even be taken seriously by the commissioner and fellow owners. All of those are negatives.

My Take: I understand why fans might want to side with him, but I just can’t. It has little to do with his looks or his spelling or whatever else. It has more to do with the lack of experience in everything that I think an owner should be about.

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Stan Kroenke

The Good: Stan Kroenke is the largest shareholder in Arsenal F.C., owns the St. Louis Rams, Colorado Mammoth, and Colorado Rapids, and he formerly owned the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche, and Colorado Crush, all of which he transferred to his son to comply with NFL ownership rules. Needless to say, he has experience with this sort of thing and his teams have generally performed well under his tenure in charge.

The Bad: Perhaps his money will be spread a bit thin and I’m wondering if this has more to do with trying to move the Rams to Los Angeles than actually caring about the Dodgers. No idea about the baseball side of things.

My Take: I’m okay with this in theory, but I’m going to hold off on endorsing the move until more is revealed. We know a lot about him as an owner, but not a lot about his interest in the Dodgers.

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Potential Mergers And/Or Group Joiners

Peter O’Malley: Submitted an ownership bid himself, but has been rumored to be in discussions to link up with the bid of Stanley Gold & Roy Disney’s Family and/or Tony Ressler. A throwback to the good old days of Dodgers family ownership, but it’s probably not gonna help that he was talking about how terrible McCourt was as an owner considering McCourt will hold the ultimate decision.

Stanley Gold/Roy Disney’s Family: Submitted an ownership bid as their own group, but have been rumored to be linking up with Peter O’Malley and/or Tony Ressler. Gold is the President & CEO of Shamrock Holdings and has local popularity, but his financial clout is not known. Not much is known about what Roy Disney’s Family brings to the table either, I assume it’s money but nobody knows. Group is short on baseball experience.

Tony Ressler: Rumored to be linking up with either Stanley Gold & Roy Disney’s Family or Peter O’Malley or either or both. Co-founder of local investment firm Ares Capital, which has in excess of $40 billion in assets.

Tom Barrack: Chairman & CEO of investment firm Colony Capital has a net worth over $1 billion. Has been rumored to join several groups, but no specifics have popped up yet.

Fox: Seriously? No. Please no.

Time Warner Cable: They haven’t actually done anything wrong, but why get involved in this type of ownership situation again? Fool me once…

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Rumored Bidders

Alan Casden: A real estate developer worth over $1 billion, he might have more interest in the property the Dodgers own more than the team itself, which is disconcerting. Remember, this is the guy who tried to buy the team last time around and had plans to move Dodger Stadium to a different location. MLB didn’t want him last time because of an investigation into illegal campaign contributions to local politicians. Why deal with the headache?

Ron Burkle: Worth over $3 billion dollars, he is the current co-owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins. While no baseball people are rumored to be on board yet, he seems to carry a lot of weight locally. Divorce was…uh…messy.

Fred Claire/Andy Dolich/Ben Hwang: Fred Claire has experience as an executive with the Los Angeles Dodgers and Andy Dolich has experience as an executive with the Oakland Athletics. Ben Hwang, former executive at Life Technologies, will provide the finances for the group. The question mark revolves around money and whether they have enough of it.

Tom Golisano: Founder of Paychex is worth $1.4 billion and is the former owner of the Buffalo Sabres. Was preparing a bid, but it’s unknown whether he followed through or not. Worth noting is that Sabres fans criticized his lack of spending, and he’s on record as saying that the biggest payroll doesn’t lead to championships, which is correct in theory, but seems like code for not wanting to spend much.