[h1]Mark Cuban says he'd be interested in buying the Dodgers[/h1] [h2]Cuban says he'd base a decision on his ability to buy a controlling share as part of an ownership group. The Dodgers are not for sale, but the McCourt divorce raises questions about team's future. [/h2]
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Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he's heard from Dodger fans who want him to buy the team. (Derick E. Hingle / US Presswire / November 5, 2009)
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By Bill Shaikin
November 9, 2009 | 1:20 p.m.
Mark Cuban, the high-profile owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, said today he would consider adding the Dodgers to his portfolio.
As the unusually public Dodgers' divorce saga plays out, Cuban said he has heard from many Dodgers fans appealing to him to buy the team.
"More than I can count," Cuban wrote in an e-mail.
Frank McCourt contends he is the sole owner of the Dodgers and insists the team is not for sale. Jamie McCourt contends she is a co-owner, and her lawyer has said she has lined up financing for a possible bid to buy out her estranged husband.
Cuban bid unsuccessfully to buy the Chicago Cubs and has expressed interest in buying his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates. He said his interest in the Dodgers would be conditional on the ability to buy a controlling share as part of an ownership group.
"I'm not a fan of debt-driven acquisitions," Cuban wrote. "If a unique situation came up where I could contribute capital to buy out a majority shareholder and gain control, with existing shareholders or note holders staying in place, I would consider it."
That situation is not currently available with the Dodgers. There are no shareholders outside the McCourt family, according to court documents.
When San Diego Padres owner John Moores and his wife, Becky, entered divorce proceedings, John Moores said he would remain the owner of the team. In order to generate the money to satisfy the divorce settlement, he had to sell the team.
Jeff Moorad led an investment group that agreed last spring to buy the Padres. Moorad has served as chief executive officer since the deal closed in March, although his group initially bought a minority stake. Moores retains majority ownership, and Moorad's group has up to five years to buy out Moores in full, according to news reports.
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Casey Blake is a great player, I'm a big fan of his.
wait what?
Like I said, the whole reasoning for this trade was because of our All-Star catcher being the foundation for years to come, for that moment intime we NEEDED a third baseman.
Josh Bell between two different AA leagues in 2009: .295/.376/.516 448 ABs, 35 2Bs, 20 HR. And numerous scouting reports this year praising him for his improved defense.
Keep in mind our current 3B is 36. And our bullpen is great. And Sherrill is due to make $5 Million the next year.
Makes absolutely no sense. Going after Sherrill is not what I'm mad at. Sherrill has performed well and I think he's a decent reliever. Colletti just so happened to get hosed. Bell and Johnson is an incredibly steep price to pay, and Bell would have been an absolutley perfect fit in our lineup after Blake. Now we have absolutely no 3B prospects, and an old 3B who had nagging injuries all year. Stupid !%$!#$! trade.
Bro, Josh Bell could be the next Andy LaRoche (who we've argued in the past about) for all we know.
When you know ODog isn't coming back.
And Tony Abreu hits so well in AAA.
For a guy who doesn't even pitch in the playoffs.
Makes no !%$!#$! sense.
Fire this man.
That ain't Garland's fault for not pitching in the playoffs, I blame this on Torre's mental lapse on choosing Kuroda / Bills over him.
Now that makes no %!*%%$@ sense.
We had the best bullpen ERA in the Majors in 2009
I'm pretty sure that qualifies as great.
That don't mean a damn thing when we got a soft !%$ closer.
I hope Troncoso doesn't end up being the next Cory Wade
now they sound familiar, the whole compton city college rang a bell.
[h2]Window shopping the 2010 Free Agent Class[/h2]
by Phil Gurnee on Nov 9, 2009 11:52 AM PST230 comments
Below is the table of most of the available free agents, I've added a column of interest. I have no idea who Ned may be targeting. We know we need a 2nd baseman to replace Hudson/Bellaird, someone in the rotation to replace Wolf, possibly a bullpen piece.
Tepid interest for me means that I'd like to have that player on the Dodgers, but that I expect the price to be more then I would like the Dodgers to commit to. Many of the players I said No to, are good players but are not players we need at the position they play.
Plenty of 2nd base options abound with Hudson(Arb), Belliard(Arb), Polanco, Lopez, DeRosa, even possibly Chone Figgins. Our internal options at the moment are DeWitt and DeJesus. No way Ned stays with that scenario. Figgins will be to expensive as will Polanco. I'd target DeRosa and Belliard, while hoping DeJesus can take the job away sooner then later. My expectation is that we either sign Belliard to share the job with DeWitt or we trade for a 2nd baseman. I don't believe for a 2nd the rumor of AJ Ellis for Alberto Callaspo but I'd make that trade in heartbeat.
The rotation is tricky, I'd love to take chances on the great arms of Bedard, Harden, or Sheets but after the Schmidt fiasco I can't picture Ned going that route. When healthy they offer the biggest bang but they have all proven to be extremely brittle pitchers with no guarantee's of health going forward. I don't think we need much bullpen help but I sure wouldn't mind adding the fragile arms of Soriano or Gonzalez for the right price. Given the expected budget I don't see how we can add a quality relief pitcher and we probably don't need to.
Could we trade Loney for a 2nd baseman or pitcher and sign Nick Johnson or Carlos Delgado? We could, but we won't so I'm didn't bother with scenarios like that. Maybe later.
When speculating on who we can afford I'd stay within a $100 Million budget until we see some proof that the McCourts will go above that. That is what we started 2009 at and I don't expect much of or any increase. Eric has updated the payroll and we are already at 94 Million when you take into account his expected arbitration raises. Not much room for improvement unless Ned sheds some current salary (Pierre, Sherril, Martin). Part of the problem is the large amount of money being paid to players no longer on the team. Teams on a budget will always pay the price when those future obligations come due.
In the previous thread there was talk of trading one of our arbitration eligible players. If I had to bet on anyone it would be Martin. Eric has him pegged for $6 Million this year.
Let's bring DeRosa on board.
I don't know bout trading Loney for a 2B cause I think him and Martin could be dealt for that vato down south
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