MLB: Los Angeles Dodgers Are Bankrupt and Another Step Closer to Being Sold

This morning, the Los Angeles Dodgers filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.  This was to be expected after Bud Selig denied the television deal between Frank McCourt and Fox Sports last week.

Frank McCourt is expected to try to use the bankruptcy as a way to force MLB and Bud Selig to approve the television deal, if Fox is still willing to do it that is.  However, the reason it was denied by Bud Selig was out of his fear that the $385 million they would get upfront would be used by the McCourts to further finance their divorce and that the deal wasn't the best deal the Dodgers could have gotten. So, McCourt may not have a leg to stand on in trying to convince the court to force the television deal to be approved.

All this truly does is hold off MLB from seizing the team when the Dodgers can't make their payroll obligations on June 30th.  It does not prevent MLB from doing so eventually.  After all, the Rangers were auctioned off last year while they were in bankruptcy.

The Dodgers will be put up for auction because I don't believe baseball can pick and choose who to sell the team to once it has declared bankrupt.  However, as they did with the Rangers last year, they can try to stack the deck against someone like Mark Cuban ever owning a team. 

Why doesn't Frank McCourt just realize what the writing on the wall is telling him and turn over the franchise to Major League Baseball similar to how Jeffrey Loria did with the Montreal Expos? 

Why is he holding on for dear life to a team that he simply used as his and his soon-to-be-ex-wife's personal ATM?  Being able to say "I'm the owner of the great and proud Los Angeles Dodgers" must be nice, but it's meaningless when the fans and baseball in general want you gone.

Here's hoping that this morning's bankruptcy filing actually speeds up the process of someone else buying the Dodgers.  Baseball and especially the Dodgers fans deserve it sooner than later.