A divorce settlement, this isn’t; don’t expect MLB to approve Dodgers’ TV deal
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Snowball in hell, Jon Stewart-Sean Hannity love-fest, Simon Cowell bout of modesty, Major League Baseball approving the McCourts’ Fox deal.
Same chances.
So 20 tortuous months later, Frank and Jamie McCourt have reached a divorce settlement. Sort of, conditionally.
And all you really care about is, how this factors into MLB’s decision on whether to remove ownership from the McCourts.
Quick answer: It doesn’t.
Friday’s announcement amounts to a lot of nothing, save for some additional arrows in Frank’s quiver when he tries to sue baseball for taking the team from him.
Which I still absolutely believe is going to happen. The removal and the lawsuit.
PHOTOS: The Dodgers and the McCourts
MLB is nearing the end of its investigation. And Jamie’s attorney, Dennis Wasser, said Friday that baseball’s decision on whether to approve the desperate Fox TV deal could come early next week.
So if as expected, Commission Bud Selig turns down the deal, essentially there goes the settlement and its back to divorce court. No Fox deal, no divorce agreement, no Frank making payroll on June 30.
Frank and Jamie have agreed to a one-day trial Aug. 4 to determine whether the Dodgers are community property. If the Dodgers are, then to split assets evenly the McCourts would almost assuredly have to sell the team.
And why would MLB approve the TV deal in the interim if the Dodgers have to be sold, possibly sticking a new owner with a below-market deal?
Can’t imagine it.
The McCourts have created this financial quagmire and mortgaging the future yet again to pay for sins of the present is an old, tired, useless and weak endeavor.
It’s time for MLB to conclude its investigation, turn down the TV deal and officially seize the team. And no contingent divorce settlement should stop it from doing what’s right.
ALSO:
Frank and Jamie McCourt talk Dodgers future
McCourts reach settlement in Dodgers divorce case
-- Steve Dilbeck