Dodgers web musings: Ever-changing cast of would-be owners

Keep those scorecards handy, your favorite to become the next Dodgers owner could change which each exhale.

A few hours after Sports Illustrated’s Jon Heyman wrote that former Dodgers trustee Tom Schieffer was a potential bidder, The Times Bill Shaikin spoke to Schieffer, who quickly shot down the report.

"I don't anticipate bidding on the Dodgers," he said.

Heyman also said Hollywood producer Burt Sugarman and a "mystery New York moneyman" were also interested in pursuing the Dodgers. Sugarman has produced films ("Children of a Lesser God") and TV shows ("The Midnight Special") and is married to Mary Hart of "Entertainment Tonight" fame.

If true, you’d have to add these names to a swelling list: Peter O’Malley, Fred Claire, Steve Garvey, Orel Hershiser, Dennis Gilbert, Magic Johnson, Mark Cuban, Ron Burkle, Eli Broad, Alec Gores, Alan Casden, Joe Torre, Larry King, Oscar De La Hoya, Donald Trump, Casey Wasserman, Tom Golisano, Time-Warner, Fox, the public, the two guys in suits having lunch in the next booth and the still-hanging-in-there Dilbeck Investment Group.

If you live in Los Angeles and don’t personally know someone who wants to buy the Dodgers, you don’t know anybody.

Also on the web:

-- ESPN/LA’s Ramona Shelburne thinks those interested in buying the team with ties to the team -- O’Malley, Claire, Garvey and Hershiser -– would be better served merging. And she adds this painful thought: "Bidding against each other serves only Frank McCourt and his creditors."

-- The South Bay Daily Breeze’s Larry Altman profiles Gilbert, a former Gardena High star, by talking to some lifelong area friends.

-- Hall of Fame baseball writer Ross Newhan, who previously came out in support of Gilbert’s bid, said he also welcomes O’Malley’s entry. Newhan wrote: "It can be said with a degree of certainty that one of his investment partners will be the renowned Eli Broad."

-- Here's a link to a Bloomberg News interview with Sal Galatioto, president of GPS Capital, which brokers deals for professional sports teams, saying he expects there to be 16-18 groups initially making a bid on the Dodgers.

-- The Register’s Howard Cole is miffed that Times writers have written disparagingly about the condition of Dodger Stadium. Cole, however, did email to say he would add his Honda Civic to the Dilbeck Investment group’s bid.

-- Fox Sports’ Joe McDonnell thinks Matt Kemp is the frontrunner for National League most valuable player. I think not.

-- Yahoo Sports’ Tim Brown doesn’t have the Dodgers on his list of teams interested in Cuban outfielder Yoennis Cespedes.

-- Mike Petriello of Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness doesn’t want to hear any talk of the Dodgers trading for the New York Mets’ David Wright.

-- For you stat wonks who can never get enough, Chad Moriyama at True Blue L.A. has a value that compares the salaries of the Dodgers versus how they produced. (Hint: Rafael Furcal wasn’t worth $12 million.)

-- Roberto Baly has a sneak preview of the patch the Dodgers will wear this year in celebration of their 50th anniversary of Dodger Stadium, even though next season will be its 51st season.

-- And just in case you were wondering, Jamie McCourt apparently still has a heart for sports, a mind for business and a voice for the community. Says so right on her website.

-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo: Potential Dodgers bidder Burt Sugarman is flanked by son A.J., left, and Rabbi Marvin Hier as well as wife Mary Hart, right, at a Director's Guild of America event. Credit: David Livington / Getty Images

Frank McCourt looks like a guy leaving L.A. behind

Going, going … gone?

It appears Frank McCourt (pictured above) really is on his way out. Out of the Dodgers, out of his Los Angeles homes and even out of Los Angeles.

Less than two days after agreeing to sell the Dodgers, McCourt officially gave up his claim to his Los Angeles homes. Then The Times' Bill Shaikin learned he had put up his other Los Angeles endeavor, the L.A. Marathon, up for sale.

Sounds like a guy heading out of town. Save the pitchforks and torches.

McCourt surrendered the two side-by-side Malibu properties to ex-wife Jamie McCourt, as well as their remaining home in Holmby Hills and their condo in Vail, Colo., in the divorce settlement.

Fear not, he will not be left homeless. It’s not like they didn’t own a couple pieces of property. He gets their two homes back in Massachusetts.

They have already sold one Holmby Hills home, one mansion in Massachusetts, and I believe their property in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. There’s also an exclusive parcel in Montana, but you can’t expect me to be on top of all their land holdings. I’m a sports writer, not an escrow agent.

Meanwhile, Frank has lived the last two years in a Beverly Hills hotel. If they’d only bought one more mansion.

Relinquishing claim to his L.A. properties, selling the Dodgers and now the L.A. Marathon all seems prelude to a man planning on going home to Massachusetts.

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-- Steve Dilbeck

Photo credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Hey, Mayor, new owner gets points being from L.A. but not required

Well, guess Mark Cuban’s out.

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has mailed -- and faxed -- a letter to Commissioner Bud Selig asking that the next Dodgers owner be from Los Angeles. You know, sort of like Walter O’Malley.

Now this seems a curious political move, given that Villaraigosa had no problems constantly buddying up to Frank and Jamie McCourt  while the Boston carpetbaggers were parading around Dodger Stadium. They practically walked around holding hands.

When the McCourts first arrived they weren’t exactly embraced, but at the time everyone was so fed up with Fox they tried to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Now everyone is convinced the problem was the McCourts weren’t from Los Angeles. The problem was they were bad owners, ultimately more interested in playing the part of the nouveau riche than playing the best team they could afford.

McCourt divorce settlement: Frank gives up all L.A. homes

Within 48 hours of surrendering his claim to the Dodgers, outgoing team owner Frank McCourt officially surrendered his claim to what had been his Los Angeles homes.

Under a divorce settlement filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Jamie McCourt kept four homes -- two in Malibu, one in Holmby Hills and one in Vail, Colo. Frank McCourt kept two homes, both in Massachusetts. The McCourts sold a second Holmby Hills home in August.

Representatives for Frank McCourt did not immediately return messages asking whether he intended to move back to Massachusetts, where his family is deeply rooted. After the McCourts separated in 2009, he moved into a Beverly Hills hotel, eventually failing to persuade the court that the Dodgers should be his and the homes should be hers.

Jamie McCourt has said she would "never" leave Los Angeles.

The financial terms of the settlement call for Frank to pay $131 million to Jamie by April 30, 2012, with Frank getting a discount of $1 million per month for early payment. Major League Baseball hopes the Dodgers can be sold by opening day, scheduled for April 5.

Jamie gets the first $131 million of net sale proceeds, unless Frank has otherwise has fulfilled his payment obligation. Until then, Jamie remains entitled to $225,000 a month in spousal support.

The Times reported last month that the McCourts had agreed on the terms of a settlement. By knowing how much he would owe Jamie, Frank could negotiate an agreement to sell the Dodgers, confident that an auction of the team would generate enough money to satisfy his debt and tax liability and leave him with a profit as well. That could require the Dodgers to sell for $1 billion or more, based on court records in California and Delaware. 

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-- Bill Shaikin

Photo: Frank and Jamie McCourt. Credit: Kevork Djansezian /Getty Images; Nick Ut / Associated Press

What becomes of Frank McCourt after selling the Dodgers?

I feel like that long-bearded cartoon character standing on a street corner with the sign that reads, "The End Is Near!"

Only in this case, you hope that Frank and Jamie McCourts’ troubled Dodgers saga truly is nearing its end after The Times’ Bill Shaikin reported that Frank is finally nearing a bankruptcy agreement with Major League Baseball to sell the team.

I’ll pause here for the requisite sigh.

Two bloody years after the McCourts announced their divorce, Frank is apparently close to facing the music that has been blaring so loudly for so long, it left you wonder if he hadn’t gone completely deaf.

Why he did not identify this inevitable end at least a year ago is not easy to fathom. I asked someone in his inner circle back in April why he couldn't recognize the outcome that surely awaited and just sell the Dodgers, and he said: "What else is he going to do?"

What does become of McCourt once he finally sells the team?

McCourt divorce settlement set for court approval

The divorce settlement between Frank and Jamie McCourt will be presented for court approval Nov. 14, attorneys for both sides agreed Thursday.

The settlement calls for Jamie McCourt to receive $131 million, in exchange for relinquishing her claim to an ownership share of the Dodgers. The settlement has no contingencies, attorneys confirmed Thursday, so the deal would not be affected if Frank McCourt agrees to sell the Dodgers before the Nov. 14 hearing.

Frank McCourt met this week with officials from Major League Baseball to discuss a possible Bankruptcy Court settlement in which he would agree to sell the team. In the absence of a settlement, McCourt and MLB would meet in a Bankruptcy Court trial starting Nov. 29.

From the day the McCourts initiated divorce proceedings -- on this day two years ago -- Frank McCourt has insisted he never would sell the Dodgers.

Ryan Kirkpatrick, an attorney for Frank McCourt, declined to confirm that McCourt might now consider selling.

Dennis Wasser, an attorney for Jamie McCourt, said he looked forward to approval of the divorce settlement for the good of "the team and the city."

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-- Bill Shaikin

Photo: Jamie and Frank McCourt in 2006. Credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times

Dodgers Web musings: Don Mattingly doubts big bat is coming

Say this for Don Mattingly: He usually does not try to snow you. He might, understandably, favor the company line, but he is a straight shooter.

That was on display again this week during a radio interview with 710 AM's "Mason and Ireland," when Mattingly first stated the obvious -– that the Dodgers most need an impact bat -- but then acknowledged he was not counting on that happening.

"I can't say I'm confident that we're going to be able to do it," he said. "We've talked about different things. ... You hear Prince [Fielder], you hear Albert [Pujols]. Those are nice thoughts; there's a lot of teams talking about those type of guys ... but you got to have a Plan B, a Plan C. How do we put offense together if we can't do something like that? That's the biggest thing.

"And obviously, I don't know where we're going to be as far as what we're going to be able to do. Are we going to go backward with the budget, are we going to go forward? ... It's hard to know right now."

Got that right. Hard to know the budget when you can’t be sure who will own the team come next spring.

So, the former CEO of the Dodgers walks into a bar ...

Ho, ho, ho. I can’t stop laughing. So hard to type with the tears in my eyes.

Jamie McCourt said she settled her divorce from Frank McCourt and relinquished her claim to half the team because it was in the best interest of the Dodgers.

Oh, stop it, you’re killing me. Ha, ha, ha. No, really, my side is in serious pain.

We’ve known Jamie to be a lot of things around here — self-proclaimed face of the team, famous backyard swimmer, UCLA visiting professor, future presidential candidate — but comedian breaks new ground.

Guess Jamie was channeling her inner Daniel Tosh with her announcement Monday she had finally reached a divorce agreement with Frank in "the best interests of her family and the Dodgers' fans, players and organization."

Coming next: Jamie does stand-up!

Now it’s in the team’s best interest? After all those personal revelations about her and Frank have been dragged through the courts and media? After Major League Baseball came to seize the team? After the team floundered the past two seasons in fourth and third place? After attendance fell to an embarrassing level? After the McCourts became baseball’s prime examples of greed and mismanagement?

Now she’s going to reach an agreement for the good of the team and its fans?

That Jamie, such a kidder. This has always been primarily about two things — money and ego. The unhappy couple didn’t have enough of the former and couldn’t recognize they had way too much of the latter.

So, in the best interest of the team, we’re down one McCourt.

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— Steve Dilbeck

Twitter.com/stevedilbeck

Photo: Frank and Jamie McCourt. Credit: Los Angeles Times

Jamie McCourt: Divorce settlement is in best interests of Dodgers

Within a half-hour of Frank McCourt's publicists issuing a joint statement from Frank and Jamie McCourt confirming a divorce settlement, Jamie McCourt's publicist issued a statement on her behalf.

The statement follows:

"Jamie is pleased that this matter has been fairly resolved in the best interests of her family and the Dodgers' fans, players and organization. From the beginning, Jamie has consistently expressed her willingness to accept a settlement, even if it required her to give up her interest in the Dodgers, the team she loves, if a fair resolution were possible. That has now been achieved through the cooperation of everyone involved and Jamie looks forward to moving on and focusing on new opportunities."

 -- Bill Shaikin

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Photo: Jamie McCourt. Credit: Jason Redmond / Associated Press

Frank and Jamie McCourt confirm divorce settlement

Frank and Jamie McCourt confirmed in a joint statement Monday that they have settled their divorce, as The Times reported earlier in the day. The McCourts disclosed no terms other than that Jamie McCourt would withdraw her Bankruptcy Court opposition to the Dodgers' proposed sale of television rights and would now support that sale. Major League Baseball and Fox Sports remain opposed.

The statement, which includes no quotes from either of the McCourts, was issued by the office of a spokesman for Frank McCourt:

"Frank McCourt and Jamie McCourt are pleased to announce that they have settled their divorce case. The terms of the settlement, which are already in effect, will remain private. Jamie will be withdrawing her opposition to the Dodgers proposed sale of media rights and instead will be filing papers in support of the process proposed by the Dodgers."

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Jamie McCourt: Divorce settlement is in best interest of Dodgers

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-- Bill Shaikin

Photo: Jamie and Frank McCourt in 2006. Credit: Spencer Weiner / Los Angeles Times