Earlier today we learned that former Rangers president Tom Schieffer is expected to be appointed as Dodgers' trustee by MLB, a little less than a week after the league took over the team's financial operations. Here's a round up of news items surrounding the team…
- Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports spoke to a former MLB executive that calls Schieffer "an outstanding choice" (Twitter links). "[Schieffer] is bright, was a good operator and probably has no aspirations to pursue a continuing job or equity stake with the team," said the exec.
- Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports hears that Schieffer will take over all financial and day-to-day business operations of the team and will "presumably lead baseball’s investigation into [Frank McCourt]'s business practices."
- In a tweet, Brown says that billionare business magnate Ron Burkle would have interest in buying the team, but he has not joined former Dodgers' first baseman Steve Garvey in a venture to do so. We heard the opposite over the weekend.
- SI.com's Jon Heyman spoke to a person close to the team that said it was the IRS, not MLB's takeover that sent the Dodgers' office into a panic. The McCourts managed to take $100MM from the team but didn't pay taxes for seven years.
- Remember that 20-year, $3 billion television deal with FOX that McCourt tried to get approved by MLB? Joe Flint of The Los Angeles Times reports that it's really a 13-year deal valued at $1.6 billion.
Steve Garvey eh? Anything Garvey touches is either a financial mess or an STD.
I believe, it’s “Anything Garvey touches is either a financial mess or GETS an STD.”
Love Garvey but do not him running my Dodgers. But if it was Garvey or McCourt, Garvey would be the vote, but so would just about anyone else!
Heyman’s article is an excellent read.
Just finished reading it too. Agreed.
Dodgers fans, I am soooooo sorry to read about this mess, and the more I read about it, the more sympathy I have for all Dodgers fans everywhere. You should not have to deal with this garbage.
Thanks. This too shall pass, and the sooner the better.
If the IRS is involved, there is absolutely no way that McCourt & co. hold onto the team. The IRS is like the legalized mafia, and if you owe them money (especially taxes on $100 million [plus I’m sure]) there’s no way you don’t get shut down. I’ve seen it with small business. It’ll definitely happen with a company proposing to make a 2-3 billion dollar television deal.
McCourt can’t hold onto the team because he hasn’t got the money to buy out Jamie and service his outstanding debts. He probably can’t do either one alone, and certainly not both at the same time. Why the McCourts didn’t pay any taxes is a question yet to be answered, but one thing we do know is that wealthy people employ tax attorneys to find them all the loopholes in the tax laws. It may turn out to have been perfectly legal.