Joe Torre has resigned from his job with MLB to explore opportunities with a group that will pursue ownership of the Dodgers, according to a press release. Torre's group is headed by real estate magnate Rick Caruso, according to a statement. Richard Sandomir and Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times first reported Caruso's interest in Torre in November. Torre served as the Dodgers' manager from 2008-10 and was appointed the executive vice president of baseball operations for MLB in February last year. Joe Garagiola Jr., Kim Ng, and Peter Woodfork will assume Torre's responsibilities as MLB searches for a replacement.
According to Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times, the deadline to submit opening bids for the Dodgers was recently extended to January 23rd. Owner Frank McCourt and MLB reached an agreement last year for McCourt to identify a winning bidder by April 1st and complete a sale of the Dodgers by April 30th. The list of prospective bidders includes Steven Cohen, Magic Johnson, Mark Cuban, Dennis Gilbert, Tom Golisano, and Steve Garvey and Orel Hershiser, according to Shaikin and Bill Plaschke on December 2nd.
Who knew that was coming?
Interest from Rick Caruso? A lot of us figured that was coming. Torre joining this group is maybe a little unexpected but not surprising.
Isn’t Caruso also running for mayor?
Rumor had it, but nothing is official, and I’d imagine that running the Dodgers would be a lot more manageable and rewarding than running the City of Los Angeles.
I’m assuming part of an investment group…
I’m a little surprised, I was wondering if some people saw him as a potential replacement for Selig.
Interesting thought, you could do *a lot* worse.
Torre commissioner? Yikes. I guess Yogi is not available.
I would take Yogi over Selig, Yankee Bob or Torre any day of the week….
If only because he’s 86 years old. Leo Derocher would be even better but he’s dead.
Leo The Lip would be beautiful in this day and age..
it would take him about 1 day to run into trouble with current political correctness, then leo to tell the offender to take a flying leap in a mouthful of not censored words.
i would love it, but the majority of the baseball establishment would not care for it..
Another guy of the same mold and still around just like leo?? Earl Weaver.. Drag him out of retirement and give him full reign.. he would run Selig and his cronies out in 30 seconds flat.
*cough cough LaRussa cough*
The owners will never select a former player as commissioner. They want someone they can control and who will protect their interests above all else. Any former player (or manager) is suspect. It will be someone ‘corporate’ or otherwise from within the ownership clique. Look for Stan Kasten to get the nod if his group fails to win the Dodgers sweepstakes — or someone less well known.
Andy MacPhail perhaps
The commissioner is hired by and works for the owners, so by definition he is controlled by them. They all protect the owners’ interests. The only real difference between commissioners is that some have shown more leadership than others. I doubt many former players would be interested in the job, as it puts them squarely on the opposite side of the player/owner divide from where they had been for their entire career.
Awesome!
I wish someone would pursue purchase of the Orioles. Sigh.
orioles are awesome, just in the wrong division…
No, they’re legitimately one of the 3 worst teams in the majors, regardless of division.
They’d be a great AAA team.
Subtract a few “A”s
Finally people who care for baseball are now joining on purchasing teams just like nolan ryan for the rangers. Good direction for the dodgers…
Bodes well for the Mets
**crosses fingers**
so, McCourt is forced to sell by MLB, which Torre is party of, then Torre quits and joins a group to buy said Dodgers? how is that legal?
now, dont get me wrong, I think that anyone is better than McCourt but seriously if Torre’s group wins the bidding I call foul play here.
if I am Cuban and make a ridiculous bid and lose, I sue.
What evidence is there that Joe Torre was in anyway involved in the situation between the league and McCourt? The answer is none.
To us? None. But you can’t say for sure he wasn’t involved, just as easily as you can say he was. Truth is, there is no evidence for either case… at least not to the public.
I’m not making a case for Torre. I have no idea if he was involved and frankly I don’t care. My point is simply that if you’re going to go around hurling speculative claims maybe you ought sight some actual evidence.
I believe these are yours
Seriously, who cares? Frankenjamie are fully responsible for the mess they made of the Dodgers. If Torre had anything to do with getting the situation cleaned up, then more credit to him.
Hey I’m with you, I’m a Torre guy. I’m just saying we don’t know how involved Torre was in kicking McCourt out.
Yeah, but my point is, the McCourts got themselves kicked out and the main events occurred while Torre was still the manager. If he did anything to help grease the chute while he was working for MLB, I say, “thank you, Joe.”
Yeah but MY point is that…
j/k I hear ya haha
McCourt would probably know. If he has a grudge with Torre, he can simply go with another group’s bid.
There’s a good point, though I doubt that a grudge would get in the way of more money. If it hurts his pride he can always rub some cash on it.
I bet your attorneys love you
MLB is one of very few legal monopolies. The owners have to approve other owners. Cuban wasn’t approved in his purchase attempts. In any other industry, it would be illegal, but it isn’t in MLB.
While it’s true that MLB was exempted from antitrust laws by the Supreme Court (more than once), I don’t think this peculiarity has any impact on the ability of this or any other partnership/franchise business to choose who it allows to buy in. What the exemption really does is allow the owners to restrict the number and location of franchises, and was also used to enforce the reserve clause.
Everyone seems to be bidding, I am waiting for a group headed by Shaun Green and Gary Sheffield.
I’d take them over Garvey.
No matter who wins the bidding for the Dodgers, the new owners should hire Garvey and give him the position of Vice President in Charge of Smiling and Waving.
That should work out great, just so long as he isn’t allowed to say anything or push any buttons.
The Palin position..
You mean the missionary?
No way Orel because then Dan Shulman will need a new Partner on Sunday Nights.
Cuban would just move them to Dallas.
Torre is fine if he gets Tommy Lasorda and other former Dodgers as part of his Group.
I would like to see somebody purchase them and move them to Orlando then they would be close to Vero Beach.
“Cuban would just move them to Dallas.”
what
The Dodgers franchise is far more valuable located in Los Angeles than it would be anywhere else. The only teams less likely to relocate are the Yankees, Cubs, and Red Sox.
Why would anyone spend a $1BB on the Dodgers only to move them to a market that is barely bigger than Milwaukee; in a state that has two other franchises that have traditionally had a very hard time attracting fans to games? The answer is that they wouldn’t and the league would never approve it anyway.
I think he was joking. I hope.
Well I never say never because Cuban be offer eleventy billion dollars and sharks with laser beams to move them to dallas however why would he pay a premium price for a big market franchise(likely more than he bid for the Rangers) only to move them to Texas? That makes no sense at all. Part of the reason the dodgers are so sought after is not only because of their history but also because they are in LA.
Cuban lives in Newport Beach…
No thanks Joe. As Dodgers fans, we see far better options in the Gibert, Garvey/Orel, O’Malley, and Magic Johnson groups.
An owner with long ties to the region, a demonstrated ability to make big things happen, and hugely deep pockets, fronted by a player/manager with over 50 years of pro baseball experience. Yeah, that sounds like trouble to me. Somebody must be more qualified than that.
2 out of 4 ain’t bad. (Gilbert or Magic/Kasten FTW)
He owns the Mavericks and is he going to move them to California no. Jerry Jones can buy them and move them to his nice new Dome and the MB can expand and give back LA a team.
Give the Dodgers Magic Johnson
They’ll be rich
Dear Padres Ownership, can we please un-retire Garvey’s number and blow it off the batters eye?
That is some list of potential owners.Steve Cohen makes Bernie Madoff look like a piker.Mark Cuban wears a tin foil hat.Now good old Uncle Joe.Somebody should keep their hand on their wallet.Magic or Garvey and Hershiser would be good for the Dodgers so that probably rules them out.
Of the possibles so far, Cohen is my least favorite — but are you saying that he’s a criminal?
As long as Torre isn’t managing the bullpen, I’d happily welcome him back to L.A.