The haggle for ownership of the Dodgers between Frank and Jamie McCourt began today during their divorce proceeding in a Los Angeles courtroom.

(Funny, had her pegged for Secretary of Grate)

At issue is a document signed by the couple in 2004 that Frank claims gave him full ownership control of the Dodgers and Jamie ownership of the couple’s homes. Meanwhile Jamie claims that she never signed anything that would allow Frank to cut her out of an ownership interest in the team.

The next week a judge will hear arguments from both sides on the subject as Frank’s lawyers claim Jamie knew what she was signing while Jamie’s attorneys claim Frank actually switched out a page in the document to screw her out of the team.

Much more interesting though are some of the bizarro details of the lifestyle and largesse enjoyed by the couple -at the direct expense of Dodger fans. Read more…

TMZ.com reports today the latest divorce sordids between Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt and estranged wife Jamie.

Fired Los Angeles Dodgers CEO Jamie McCourt claims Frank McCourt and his lawyer, Lawrence Silverstein, fraudulently altered documents in an effort to strip her of the ownership of the team.

Frank claims in 2004, when they bought the Dodgers, Jamie signed over complete ownership of the team to him. In their bitter divorce case, Frank has submitted an agreement signed by Jamie, which includes an “Exhibit” that gives him complete ownership of the Dodgers.

But in new legal papers filed today by Dennis Wasser, Jamie’s lawyer … Wasser claims there was another “Exhibit” that was the final word on ownership of the Dodgers, which preserved Jamie’s rights to the team.

Wasser now says, after the document was signed, Frank and his lawyer pulled a switcheroo, by substituting the old “Exhibit” for the new one — thereby cutting Jamie out. Read more…

While the McCourt divorce may seem mind-numbingly complicated as it pertains to the future of the Dodgers, it really isn’t. To understand why, you must go back to how the McCourts were somehow allowed to *buy* the team in the first place.

In 2004, the Dodgers were sold to the McCourts. Excerpt from the press release:

McCourt said he invested in excess of $200 million cash into the $430 million purchase, the most ever paid for a Major League franchise.

Where did Frank McCourt get the $200 million “cash“? From a Bank of America loan.

The rest of the purchase price came from a loan from Fox, which owned the very team McCourt was buying.

Those loans were largely collateralized by future club revenue, parking lots owned by McCourt and - most importantly  - the good faith and credit of Major League Baseball.

In other words, McCourt bought the Dodgers without a dime of his own money. (Not that he had any in his checking account anyway.)

So why would MLB foster such an insane arrangement?

Because it wanted to keep the payroll of the team in MLB’s second-largest market artificially low. With the Dodgers’ payroll currently hovering at around $85 million, less than half of what the Yankees pay their players, I’d say Bud Selig and hatchet man Jerry Reinsdorf succeeded rather infamously in that endeavor.

B & J most recently pulled off the same scam in tapping hyper-leveraged Tom Ricketts to take over the Chicago Cubs. Meanwhile Cubs bidder Mark Cuban, swimming in liquidity and ownership experience compared to Ricketts, never received serious consideration.

So what does all that have to do with the McCourt divorce and the Dodgers?

Everything.

Read more…

In an interview with Jon Weisman of ESPN’s Dodger Thoughts Molly Knight, who recently published a lengthy piece in ESPN The Magazine about the McCourts divorce, reported why the Dodgers allegedly hired Ned Colletti as GM and how Jeff Kent landed a “shocking” two-year contract extension with the Dodgers in 2006 worth over $22 million at age 38.

(”You want me to teach women to play baseball? That’ll be $22 million”)

Weisman: “What was her (Jamie McCourt) biggest impact on the organization?”

Knight: “I still have no idea. Oh, maybe the hiring of Ned Colletti. I’ve heard stories that she became close friends with Jeff Kent after he volunteered to help domestic violence victims as part of her WIN Initiative.

“Both she and Frank respected Kent’s willingness to serve the community. Jeff mentioned Ned Colletti to Jamie because he knew they were looking for a GM. Jamie suggested it to Frank.

“Ned killed in his interview because he didn’t ask how much money he’d have to play with. A few former execs told me all this, so take it with a grain of salt. But it starts to make sense that Kent was responsible for Colletti when you see the contract extension he was rewarded with after Colletti got there.”

So because Kent showed up for Jamie McCourt’s community projects, he was able to get Colletti’s foot in the door. The same Colletti who later handed the 38-year-old Kent an outrageous, two-year, $22 million contract.

But at least Kent was injury prone and hated by his teammates!

In a post titled, “Didn’t See That Coming: Dodgers Extend Kent’s Contract,” Weisman wrote of the deal at the time: Read more…

Recently Jon Weinbach of AOL FANHOUSE took a well-deserved whack at the pinata that is the McCourt’s ownership of the Dodgers.

(Speaking of money for nothing …) 

Weinbach, bless his heart, further unraveled the McCourt’s dubious financial dealings with the Dodgers by exposing money-for-nothing schemes involving the McCourt’s two sons and various shell companies designed to funnel money to a “slush fund” set up for Frank’s personal use.

Over the past 18 months, the Los Angeles Dodgers paid nearly $4 million in “consulting services” to an entity that has done virtually nothing for the club, even as the team has made a concerted effort to raise ticket prices, trim payroll and acquire players on the cheap.

Moreover, the club paid two of Frank and Jamie McCourt’s adult sons large salaries — $400,000 and $200,000 per year, respectively — for services that are undefined and could not be described by either Frank or Jamie McCourt, according to court documents filed in the couple’s divorce case.

The official club duties of Drew and Travis McCourt couldn’t be described by their parents because, from what I’ve been told by anonymous Dodger staffers, they have no formal duties with the franchise. As noted by Weinbach, “neither of the McCourts’ sons is listed on the team’s staff directory.”

I have a sneaking feeling that Drew attending business school at Stanford and Travis working at Goldman Sachs in New York might have something to do with that.

Weinbach also notes Frank’s creative way of getting around his supposedly-capped $5 million per year club salary. Read more…

Jon Lovitz is being sued by the Dodgers for failure to pay for $100,000 in season ticket costs.

(Looking for his cash? Start at The Mansion)

Dude has been researching role as Lasorda at Jumbo’s Clown Room and this is what he gets?

Read more…

Carla Hall and Victoria Kim of the LOS ANGELES TIMES reported last Friday that L.A. County Superior Court Judge Scott Gordon ordered Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt pay $225,000 a month in temporary spousal support to his estranged wife, Jamie, and an additional $412,159 a month in costs associated with the seven residences in her name.

(Fees don’t account for Lasorda’s porn per diem)

Jamie McCourt had asked for $988,845 a month to “maintain her homes and her lifestyle.”

If you thought that was jaw-dropping, then you missed this graf in the same story:

He (Judge Gordon) also ordered that an eighth property — land in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico — be sold and the proceeds split between the two McCourts for their legal fees. Jamie had requested about $9 million in legal fees.

Jamie McCourt filed for divorce on Oct. 27, 2009. Roughly six months ago. Read more…

Thanks to a pitching staff in absolute shambles, the Dodgers are currently in last place in the pedestrian National League West and owner of MLB’s second-worst record (8-13). 21 games into the season, three of the Dodgers five-man starting pitching rotation have an ERA over 5.00 and two of those hurlers, Vincente Padilla and Charlie Haeger, have earned run averages over 7.

(Colletti gave Kemp a piece of his mind)

With the team five games under .500, highlighting the Dodger pitching woes is an offense that is third in MLB in hits and batting average.

Despite those facts, General Manager Ned Colletti chose to lash out at Matt Kemp on Wednesday for his poor play on a L.A. radio show. (Kemp is currently hitting .292 and second in the major leagues with seven home runs.)

Not surprisingly, Kemp and his agent Dave Stewart were distinctly displeased with Colletti’s seemingly misplaced priorities. Stewart went so far to hint that Colletti’s comments might come into play once Kemp is contractually free to leave the team.

So what was it that had Kemp and Stewart so upset? Read more…

In the latest newsstand issue of STAR MAGAZINE, the tabloid reports offline that when Matt Kemp returns from Los Angeles Dodgers Spring Training in Arizona in a week, he’ll move in to the L.A. home of his girlfriend, Rihanna:

Rihanna is getting a new roomate! The singer, 22, invited her L.A. Dodgers star beau, Matt Kemp, to move into her Los Angeles home, an insider reveals. “He had boxes of his things brought over in mid-March. He’s training in Arizona now, but when he’s back he’ll be at her place.”

Still., the slugger, 25, is playing it safe. “He’s keeping his house, to see how things go,”adds the insider. “But they are so in love.”

Just in time for opening day, which’ll allow Rihanna to extract the most publicity possible from the relationship. Complete coincidence I’m sure.

So who is the happiest guy in town over this development? It isn’t Kemp. Read more…

I don’t normally post items like this, but a very, very reliable source was at the same restaurant as Dodgers Owner Frank McCourt last night. McCourt, who is going through a well-publicized divorce from estranged wife Jamie, was apparently on a date.

(McCourt’s Dodgers only MLB team with ball security detail)

My source’s email about the evening was too good not to post, so indulge me.

Last night I saw Frank McCourt with a woman at Pecorino’s in Brentwood.

She was rather unimpressive but it was clear they were on a date and were quite affectionate with each other. She was about 35 and very multicultural. Asian/Latina mix. Looked like she could have been one of Jerry Buss‘ girls - 15 years ago. Seemed to have a lot of miles on her.

Read more…