Still riding the high of winning the NBA Championship, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban took his trash out this morning and when he opened the lid a TMZ reporter popped out and asked him if he’d like to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers. At least that’s how I imagine it happened. And sure enough, Cuban said he’s definitely interested in purchasing the troubled franchise, just like he was interested in buying the troubled Chicago Cubs and the troubled Texas Rangers.
But as much as Cuban blabbers about wanting to purchase another professional sports franchise, preferably in Major League Baseball, the chances are very slim that he’s going to do so, especially a team like the Dodgers. Because, you see, Cuban is a smart man unlike Frank McCourt, who is – how should I put it? – a flaming bag of dead poop monkey brains.
“You want to buy cheap and turn it into something that’s worth a whole lot more,” he said. “I get that, right? But if it’s just so screwed up, that the pieces are so messed up, that it takes 20 years to fix.… I mean, there’s literally franchises out there that are just in such disarray and such a mess, in multiple leagues, that no one can fix them.”
But, he said, “if the deal is right and they’re fixable, then, yeah, I’m very interested.” (Los Angeles Times)
As of 2009, the Los Angeles Dodgers were approximately $433 million in debt, which is $3 million more than McCourt even paid for the team just 7 years ago. As of today, the Dodgers may not even make payroll for June 30, and MLB commissioner Bud Selig just rejected McCourt’s recently proposed TV deal with Fox Sports that would have given him $385 million cash up front because it’s sort of frowned upon for an owner to desperately make deals and keep all the money for personal debt use.
Factor in the lawsuit by the family of San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow, who was viciously beaten in front of his children by L.A. gang members at Dodgers Stadium, and this franchise is about as attractive as waking up next to Rosie O’Donnell. But love him or hate him, it would be awesome to see what Cuban could do with a MLB team and no salary cap. I’m imagining a World Series celebration on the moon. With hot Martian chicks. That would be cool.
