Frank McCourt's Dodgers Mess Means MLB Has No Choice but To Bring in Mark Cuban

Once upon a time, Major League Baseball granted Frank McCourt the right to own the Los Angeles Dodgers. We now know that this particular story does not have a happy ending.

While the farce is still being played out, we have only to retrace steps to see what went wrong and how it all can be remedied in the land of Dodger blue.

In 2004, Bud Selig allowed Frank McCourt to buy the prized jewel of the majors. The same team that took manifest destiny and put a ball cap on it was going to McCourt, a man that could only pony up $9 million in cash at the time.

It's strange to think about considering Eli Broad had the necessary $430 million at the time to buy the Dodgers. Instead, Selig decided to give the flagship franchise of integration to a man obviously stretched too thin financially.

Bud Selig messed up. There is no way around it. When you have a mess this big, there is nothing to do but smack the man on his hand and tell him to apologize.

After that, it is time to make good on much-deserved favors. Dodgers fans are not greedy. We don't want the world—just one that does not continue to see the Dodgers as fodder for the masses

The solution is simple: Mark Cuban. The man's man, and fan's owner, wants to own a baseball team in the worst way. He may not show it with his arrogant grin, but he does.

The fact is Selig and MLB would rather clone Frank McCourt and sell the Dodgers to him again than give Cuban a franchise. The last thing they want is an owner that will buy players at such a cost as to price other teams out.

Cuban can be certain to do what is necessary to field a winning ball club. That is what makes Dodgers fans' collective hearts skip a beat when his name is mentioned.

The other nuisance is the temperament of Cuban. Selig winces at the thought of Cuban at Chavez Ravine riding the umpires all nine innings. I need to pause...I just had to smile at the thought.

Well, the time for what Bud and his crew want is over.

In 2004, Selig did Fox a favor by allowing it to dump a failing team onto any bidder. Now we have a mess that will take a decade or so to wrangle out of. This is the perfect storm for Cuban to get his team, and baseball needs to allow it.

They may not think Cuban is a perfect owner. He is not a suit-and-tie, good ol' boy. But you know what? He has money and a passion to win.

From where I sit, those are the first two criteria that should be considered before allowing a purchase of a franchise.

Bud Selig allowed the scourge of Frank McCourt to spread and nearly kill this proud franchise. It is now time for the antidote.

Mark Cuban will be the next owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. If Selig doesn't want his legacy to be tied to how he helped kill the Dodgers, he will allow such a thing.

For now, we hope. Dem Bums are bankrupt, not of soul, or even of talent, but of money. The best part about that is that it can be fixed. The easiest way is to sell the team to the man with money—just as it should have been from the start.