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Or that’s what you would say if you believed in jinxes and what not.

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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.

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.

—–

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.

—–

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?“

The richest man in Los Angeles, Patrick Soon Shiong, has joined up with Steven Cohen‘s Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group.

Patrick Soon-Shiong, the richest man in Los Angeles, has joined the Dodgers bid group led by hedge-fund billionaire Steven Cohen.

The alliance is the strongest indication yet of Cohen’s intention to present outgoing owner Frank McCourt with a final bid that reflects prominent local support rather than just overwhelming East Coast money.

If McCourt were to accept the Cohen bid, he would be rejecting one led by local icon Magic Johnson. Soon-Shiong has held several meetings with McCourt since the Dodgers were put up for sale in November, according to people familiar with the process.

Soon-Shiong had been widely expected to join the bid group led by Johnson, from whom he bought a minority share in the Lakers two years ago. Soon-Shiong’s decision to join Cohen was confirmed Sunday by two people familiar with the sale process but not authorized to comment.

That’s a gigantic win for Cohen, not only because of the money Soon Shiong brings, but because of Soon Shiong’s local roots, which was a significant criticism of Cohen’s group.

So while Dodgers fans are apparently dancing with visions of being the West Coast version of the New York Yankees, here’s some potentially terrible news about Cohen’s group’s involvement with Tony La Russa.

There’s just one problem with Tony La Russa becoming a key decision-maker for the Los Angeles Dodgers if Steve Cohen succeeds in buying the club.

La Russa is such a strong personality, his presence might diminish the Dodgers’ chances of hiring one of the top current general managers, according to rival executives.

The next owner of the club could retain GM Ned Colletti and give him the chance to operate with a payroll greater than $90 million, the Dodgers’ figure this season. But if the owner wants his own man, an incoming GM might balk at working for La Russa, who has zero front-office experience.

All of this is speculation; the bidding is not nearly complete. But, as rival execs see it, a GM such as the Tampa Bay Rays’ Andrew Friedman or Arizona Diamondbacks’ Kevin Towers likely would not leave their current situations for limited autonomy in L.A.

Yeah … barf.

Ned Colletti already had his chance with a payroll of more than $90 million dollars, and I think we all remember what he did with it.

La Russa being an obstacle to somebody like Andrew Friedman coming to the Dodgers just says it all. Money is great, but I prefer the correct baseball people being put in place over most everything else. I’d rather have Friedman with a $125 million payroll than Colletti with a $200 million one, that’s for sure.

—–

With Cohen’s addition of Soon Shiong, it’s widely accepted that they are now the favorites, and Maury Brown has an awesome detailed breakdown of the four remaining groups at Baseball Prospectus.

Basically, as has been previously covered, the Magic Johnson/Stan Kasten group is the best fit in terms of overall monetary bid, front office experience, and local ties, but the amount of cash equity is unknown. Cohen’s group offers a ton of cash equity and he solved the local ties problem with the addition of Soon Shiong. However, his company’s insider trading investigations is a red flag and what they seem to be planning to do on the baseball side of things is horrifying.

Both have their pluses and minuses, and it’s becoming increasingly apparent that they are the main players.

The race is really coming down to two groups in Magic/Kasten and Cohen. The distance for the other two, along with cross-ownership concerns, is likely enough to move Kroenke and Heisley/Ressler out of the picture. As a result, it seems as though it’s going to boil down to the bankruptcy court and Frank McCourt.

McCourt has a chance to go out a winner in selecting the Magic/Kasten group. While the cash piece is critical, unless it is so far out of skew as to not be competitive, it would be smart to take the goodwill and operational excellence that comes with Magic/Kasten, which is head and shoulders above the others in this regard. By the same token, if the deal is structured closely to Cohen’s, MLB needs to push for the same. There’s every reason to want the Magic/Kasten group in place, and who knows? If the Mets continue to slide into the abyss, the league might be able to have their cake and eat it too. Magic/Kasten could own the Dodgers and Cohen could land his more favored Mets.

Taking everything into consideration, an ever so slight edge is going to Cohen winning the day. While it may not be the best ownership group at the moment, the group does seem the most likely to be destined for a win. In that, Magic/Kasten could have by far the best winning—yet losing—group in the mix.

Not the best or the smartest, but the one with the most money.

Not the start I would want.

As if there weren’t already enough reasons to not want Steven Cohen to win the Los Angeles Dodgers franchise, Tony La Russa might now be involved with his bid.

Tony La Russa could play a major role in revitalizing the Dodgers if Steven Cohen buys the team.

La Russa met with Cohen last weekend in Arizona, according to two people familiar with the sale process but not authorized to comment. The two men discussed how La Russa might fit with the Dodgers, the people said, but no agreement was reached and La Russa has made no commitment.

Cohen, the hedge-fund billionaire, has aligned with longtime agent Arn Tellem. If Cohen wins the Dodgers, he is expected to appoint Tellem as team president.

La Russa, who retired after managing the St. Louis Cardinals to the World Series championship last fall, could consider overseeing the Dodgers’ baseball operations, much as former manager Joe Torre could have done had his bid with Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso been successful.

Do. Not. Want.

Of course, I expect casual fan to stump for this, probably under the guise that TLR is a winner or some crap like that.

Great.

—–

In happier news, Peter Guber, who is currently the co-owner of the NBA‘s Golden State Warriors, has joined Magic Johnson‘s bidding group for the team.

Guber would be a minority investor in the group. Johnson is an investor in the Dayton Dragons, one of several minor league baseball franchises owned and operated by Guber’s Mandalay Sports. The Dragons have sold out 844 consecutive games, an ongoing record for a North American professional sports franchise.

Guber and Johnson also have been partners in the entertainment business. When he was chief executive at Sony Entertainment, Guber helped Johnson launch his chain of movie theaters.

Guber declined to comment. His decision to join the Johnson bid group was confirmed by two people familiar with the Dodgers sale process but not authorized to comment publicly.

I hope this puts Magic’s group over the top, because TLR … ugh.

In related news, the best thing I read all of yesterday was Buster Olney reporting that the feeling among some executives is that Magic is the front-runner.

With miles to go before the end of the process, some baseball execs believe Magic Johnson’s group is the current front-runner to buy LAD.

I seriously hope I’m not getting my hopes up for nothing.

Alan Casden will not be the next owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, as he had his ownership bid rejected by Major League Baseball.

Casden, a Beverly Hills real estate developer, was not invited to Monday’s meetings between Dodgers bidders and two committees of major league owners.

The six bidding groups at the meetings: hedge-fund billionaire Steven Cohen and longtime agent Arn Tellem; St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke; Memphis Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley and Los Angeles investor Tony Ressler; Los Angeles civic leader and investor Stanley Gold; New York media executive Leo Hindery; and veteran baseball executive Stan Kasten and Guggenheim Partners Chief Executive Mark Walter. Magic Johnson, who is a partner with Kasten and Guggenheim, was unable to attend because of a scheduling conflict.

So it’s down to six, but three clear favorites have emerged.

Cohen is widely considered one of three favorites to buy the team, along with St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke and a group led by Magic Johnson and veteran baseball executive Stan Kasten.

Steven Cohen appears to clearly be in the lead, but why?

There are several bidders offering $1.5 billion for the Dodgers. But who has the cash? Remember when Rick Caruso bailed? That wasn’t about the parking lots not being included, as Caruso so meekly claimed (how many teams own their own parking lots?). It was about Caruso not having the cash. MLB kicked out Jared Kushner because he didn’t have the cash either. He wanted to buy the Dodgers with too much debt. Been there, done that.

As expected, all of this comes down to money. Not so much total money bid, but who can give Frank McCourt the most money right now. As such, it appears that the three with the most are Cohen, Stan Kroenke, and Magic Johnson/Stan Kasten.

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Now I was going to write about the ownership situation in further detail, but Mike Petriello has already said a lot of the things I wanted to say.

I’ve been pretty apprehensive about Cohen since the first time we talked about him, arguing that a hedge fund guy under investigation from the SEC who’s had his own nightmare divorce which stretched over two decades isn’t exactly the ideal owner to follow up Frank McCourt. Besides, while it doesn’t bother me so much, I know the idea of another East Coast import (a Mets fan and recent buyer of a minority share in the club, Cohen currently lives in Connecticut) who has reportedly never even been to Dodger Stadium won’t sit well with any of us.

Yup. Do not want.

Then there’s Kroenke, who has some appeal. He’s clearly got a ton of experience in sports ownership, having owned parts or all of the St. Louis Rams, English soccer club Arsenal, and basically every professional Colorado sports club that isn’t the Rockies or Broncos, including the Nuggets (NBA), Avalanche (NHL), Mammoth (NLL), Rapids (MLS), and Crush (AFL). Beyond the teams themselves, his groups own the Pepsi Center in Denver and launched Altitude (a regional sports network which carries his Colorado teams) & TicketHorse, a ticketing agency for all of his teams.

He wrote a lot more on Kroenke, including finding an article from 2010 which talks about Kroenke’s management style, most of which paints him in a positive light.

Of course, the primary worry with him is that the Dodgers might be secondary to getting an NFL team in Los Angeles, as I mentioned previously.

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So basically, Magic Johnson’s group is still my favorite, but I’m starting to realize that Stan Kroenke brings a ton to the table as well. The worry is Steven Cohen because of a few black marks on his personal record, because I’m not convinced he’s actually interested in the team, and because he resembles Dr. Evil from “Austin Powers“.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported earlier today that the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership sweepstakes is down to seven contestants.

I would have wrote about this earlier but napping was of greater importance.

Of the nine parties still in contention last week, the two eliminated Monday were Michael Heisley, owner of the NBA’s Memphis Grizzlies; and Tony Ressler, a minority investor in the Milwaukee Brewers and co-founder of Los Angeles-based Ares Management.

The remaining bidders include groups led by Johnson and veteran baseball executive Stan Kasten; Connecticut investment king Steven Cohen and longtime Los Angeles agent Arn Tellem; Stanley Gold and the family of the late Roy Disney; and New York media executive Leo Hindery in partnership with Tom Barrack, chairman of Santa Monica-based Colony Capital.

St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke, Beverly Hills-based real estate developer Alan Casden and Jared Kushner, owner and publisher of the New York Observer and son-in-law of Donald Trump, also remain in contention.

I honestly don’t care much about the two eliminated, maybe I would if I had any time to get an impression of them, but I didn’t.

It does worry me though that out of the seven groups there are three I don’t want (Steven Cohen/Jared Kushner/Stan Kroenke), three I don’t care about (Stanley Gold/Leo Hindery/Alan Casden), and one I want (Magic Johnson).

The remaining bidders proceed to a multilayered review by Major League Baseball, including consideration by two committees of owners. Each bidder then will be subject to a vote of all owners, with three-fourths approval required.

While we can hope that they eliminate the owners who allow Frank McCourt to keep the parking lots, it won’t happen, since it was Bud Selig who agreed to allow him to negotiate those terms to begin with.

Honestly though, how many Dodgers fans are going to be happy if the new owner starts off his era by letting McCourt keep the parking lots?

Not understanding why one would drop so much money on a franchise and get off to a bad start with the fans.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times writes that Patrick Soon Shiong, long speculated to eventually attach himself to an ownership group, will indeed be involved in the process.

Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, who could sway the balance of financial power in the Dodgers’ ownership derby, will “absolutely participate” in a bid for the team, his representative said Tuesday.

Soon-Shiong, the richest man in Los Angeles, soon could emerge as a major player in the local sports scene. He owns a small share of the Lakers, might soon own a large share of the Dodgers and is interested in ownership possibilities should the NFL return to Los Angeles.

Soon-Shiong is a doctor, biotech investor and philanthropist. Forbes estimated his net worth at $7 billion in September.

The big question though is who he will eventually link up with.

His endorsement has the potential to make any group the front runner, but it could mean that other groups who already have lesser financial means are basically left in the dust.

On the surface, his ties with Magic Johnson would appear to make that group the favorite for his services. Personally, there’s nothing I would like more.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times recently revealed that Donald Trump‘s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is in the running for ownership of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Jared Kushner, born into a prominent New York real estate family and son-in-law of Donald Trump, has emerged as a candidate in the bidding for the Dodgers.

The Kushner bid is one of at least nine to advance to the second round of the Dodgers’ ownership sweepstakes. The bid has not previously surfaced publicly and was confirmed by a person familiar with the sale process but not authorized to discuss it.

Being associated with Donald Trump is a black mark already.

The person familiar with the sale process said Kushner is working with UBS Vice Chairman Aryeh Bourkoff, whose expertise includes investment banking in media and technology.

Bourkoff has worked on deals involving such parties as Comcast, Charter Communications and Time Warner Cable, all of which have been mentioned as potential backers of a Dodgers-owned regional sports network.

Caring about the media rights more than the team is strike two.

The bid does not include Kushner’s father, Charles, the person familiar with the sale process said. In 2005, the elder Kushner was sentenced to two years in prison for illegal campaign contributions, tax evasion and witness tampering, according to news reports.

Strike three.

All it took was a brief overview and I would already rather not have the Dodgers be involved with all this for the same reason I don’t like Steven Cohen.

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Dear Magic Johnson,

Please bid eleventy trillion dollars.

Love,

Chad Moriyama

According to the Los Angeles Times, at least eight bidders were selected to move on to the second round of the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership sweepstakes.

Two groups who will not be included in that round are Mark Cuban and Dennis Gilbert.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and local baseball executive Dennis Gilbert did not advance to the second round of the Dodgers’ ownership bidding, according to two people familiar with the process but not authorized to discuss it publicly.

So who is confirmed to have made it?

Bill Shaikin reports that groups led by Magic Johnson, Joe Torre, and Steven Cohen were in.

#Dodgers ownership finalists include Magic’s group, Caruso/Torre, Steven Cohen. Not sure who else.

Later he updated to include groups led by Stanley Gold, Peter O’Malley, and Stan Kroenke.

Gold/Disney, O’Malley, Kroenke also into second round. Gold and O’Malley have NOT merged. #dodgers

So that’s six out of eight, but who’s left?

According to the Wall Street Journal, Leo Hindrey and Marc Utay are through as well.

So that leaves one candidate left, and underdog bidder Josh Macciello left this not so cryptic message on his Twitter earlier.

love That Pearl Jam song “I’m still alive”

That makes eight interesting candidates with Magic Johnson and Steven Cohen probably at the head of the pack.

I wrote up all the mentioned names here, so go check it out if you like.

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Correction: There are not only eight bidders who passed, there are at least eight bidders who passed. Story amended.

MSTI: Mike Petriello asks how good Matt Kemp‘s contract looks in light of other long term deals. Pretty awesome, I’d say.

Grantland: Bill James goes through the best pitcher duels of 2011 and the Dodgers land on the list 10 times.

3. July 20, 2011, Dodgers at San Francisco, Clayton Kershaw against Tim Lincecum

5. September 9, 2011, Dodgers in San Francisco again, Kershaw and Lincecum rematch

23. June 26, Angels at Dodger Stadium, Jered Weaver against Clayton Kershaw

31. August 2, Dodgers in San Diego, Mat Latos against Hiroki Kuroda

32. March 31 (season opener), San Francisco in Los Angeles, Lincecum against Kershaw

35. June 8, Dodgers in Philadelphia, Hiroki Kuroda against Cole Hamels

36. July 9, Dodgers in San Diego, Rubby de la Rosa against Aaron Harang

42. June 19, Houston in L.A., Bud Norris against Hiroki Kuroda

60. September 14, Arizona in L.A., Daniel Hudson against Clayton Kershaw

82. July 8, San Diego in Los Angeles, Mat Latos against Chad Billingsley

No surprise to see Clayton Kershaw there five times. Hiroki Kuroda being there three times goes to show how effective he was and how the team gave him no support. Interesting cameos by both Rubby De La Rosa and Chad Billingsley in games that I didn’t remember.

Minor League Ball: John Sickels has the Dodgers farm system ranked in the bottom third.

22) Los Angeles Dodgers: Some intriguing pitching depth, much of it fairly close to the majors, but not much hitting.

Not sure if I agree or not yet, but my instinct is to concur.

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ESPN: Jayson Stark relays the thoughts of one executive who thinks the Dodgers are going to be huge spenders next off-season.

As Buster Olney has mentioned recently, if Hamels does reach free agency, the Dodgers will be perfectly positioned to make it worth his while. It’s amazing, in fact, how much other teams fear the Dodgers’ potential spending power once their new owner is in place. Remember, L.A. has only TWO players on the roster signed beyond 2013 — Matt Kemp and Chad Billingsley.

“Next year this time,” said an exec of one team, “the Dodgers will be THE team calling up every marquee free agent. They’re going to have serious money. They’ll be the Yankees West. They can just look at that free-agent list and cherry-pick whoever they want. And why would anyone not want to go there? They’ll be the sleeping giant in free agency next year.”

Makes sense.

ESPN: Andre Ethier doesn’t understand why the Dodgers can’t be signing Prince Fielder.

The ownership limbo seemingly affected the Dodgers’ ability to deal in free agency this offseason, with general manager Ned Colletti saying earlier this month the team was essentially done with its offseason acquisitions because “we’re at our payroll.” So when news broke Tuesday of the Detroit Tigers nearing a deal with marquee free agent Prince Fielder, it wasn’t lost on Ethier.

“Why can’t the Dodgers be doing that? Look at the markets those two teams are, and the stability you see through the front office and the team being able to operate … on the level it should be,” he said, adding, “you don’t try to think of it too much as a player, but obviously if you’re not going after the big fish like other teams are, like our partners are down there to the south of us, the Angels [who acquired Albert Pujols], it’s tough to go out there and keep competing year after year if you’re not going out there and making your team better every year. “I think that’s the situation we’ve been in. Obviously it’s going to get better from here on out because of the sell and getting new people in there.”

Oops.

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Dodgers Now: Patrick Soon Shiong, the richest man in Los Angeles, will not bid on the Dodgers, but may join a bid.

The richest man in Los Angeles has not bid for the Dodgers.

However, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong could join the Dodgers sweepstakes soon — not by bidding on his own, but by joining one of the groups already in the running to buy the team. Soon-Shiong has met with several prospective bidders, and he had dinner recently with outgoing Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.

If he links up with the Magic Johnson group, this could get good.

CBS Sports: Jon Heyman said on Twitter that Steven Cohen is the biggest threat to win the Dodgers. Ugh.

I recapped all the Dodgers bidders here, so go find out why I don’t want him.

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.

Joe Torre, former manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees, resigned as executive vice president for baseball operations of Major League Baseball in order to submit a bid on the Dodgers with Los Angeles based developer Rick Caruso.

Torre will join prominent Los Angeles shopping center developer Rick Caruso, the president and CEO of Caruso Affiliated. A possible Caruso/Torre partnership was first reported by The New York Times in November.

“I have great confidence in Rick Caruso’s unique qualifications and his ability to lead a successful bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Torre said in a statement. “In Rick I found a partner who understands consumers and fully appreciates that the Dodgers are a treasured L.A. institution. Since moving to Los Angeles, I have seen firsthand Rick’s dedication to business and people in Los Angeles. I am very excited about this new opportunity.”

I wasn’t fond of him as manager, for what I believe was good reason, but nobody honestly knows what he’d do as owner. It’s unfair to judge him based on his history as a manager, both good and bad, but the comparisons are inevitable because it’s all we know about him. Hell, I already see fans who are absolutely elated at this news because they think of him as a wonderful baseball mind. Seriously.

The main concern that I have revolves around him serving as a reminder of the past related to Frank McCourt and Ned Colletti, something I would like to forget in every way possible. Within that fear lies the lurking possibility that Colletti would actually be retained, thus killing basically all hope that the Dodgers would be able to move forward from a player personnel standpoint.

As such, my preference is still for the Magic Johnson group. If nothing else, than for the clean break from everything about the past decade or so.

—–

In related news, the Dodgers extended the deadline to bid on the team by ten days.

Mike Petriello had the same concerns I did, but was a bit gentler.

Los Angeles Times: Magic Johnson will front a group that is saying all the right things.

In searching for the right fit for his Dodgers dreams, Johnson researched six prospective bidders, then interviewed each of them, beginning each session with one question.

“I asked them, ‘What is your play here; do you want this team for the baseball or the real estate?’” Johnson said. “I wasn’t interested in anybody who wasn’t going to make baseball the priority.”

If they answered the first question correctly, Johnson asked a second question.

“I would then ask them, ‘OK, once you buy it, do you have enough money to turn them into champions?’” he said. “There are groups that will spend everything just to buy the team, and I didn’t want that.”

When Johnson met Mark Walter, Guggenheim’s CEO, he was convinced.

“The first thing I asked Walter was, ‘Do you want to win, and do you want to put money in?’” Johnson said. “He said, ‘Absolutely.’”

That passage makes even a skeptic like me optimistic about the group and I think that’s partially because of the money backing the partnership and because of the presence of a solid baseball operations person, but mainly due to the way Magic Johnson goes about instilling confidence and excitement.

Should be interesting, to say the least.

Los Angeles Times: Mark Cuban states that he still has interest in buying the Dodgers.

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt subsequently agreed with Major League Baseball on a deal in which he would sell the team and its stadium but keep the surrounding parking lots, subject to a lease that would guarantee the new owner could use the lots on game days.

As part of his due diligence, Cuban said, he would explore whether the exclusion of the parking lots might reduce the purchase price of the team.

He “will take a look and determine if one impacts the other,” Cuban wrote.

Honestly? He doesn’t seem too serious about it yet, probably just probing to see if the price comes down because Frank McCourt maintains the parking lots.

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MLB: Dodgers declined to offer arbitration to any free agents. I didn’t run a post about it because none of it was a surprise at all.

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MLB Trade Rumors: Reliever Wil Ledezma will apparently sign with the Dodgers. It’s only a minor league deal, so whatever, but he has a career ERA of 5.40 and hasn’t had an ERA below 6.75 since 2009.

MLB Trade Rumors: Middle infielder Luis Cruz inked a minor league deal with the Dodgers. He is…not so good, so this is probably AAA depth.