Los Angeles Dodgers: Bankrupt

[pmoehrin]

Dodgers fire Steve Garvey, for wanting to buy out McCourt.

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/mlb/news/story?id=6750866

Surprised to find out that Steve Garvey was working with the Dodgers.

The Dodgers have been engaged in cronyism for years, so this can't be a huge surprise to anyone who's paid attention, even badly to this story.

[Mac the Knife]

You're not wrong, but the city of Cleveland needs to be blamed for the Browns leaving as well; they built facilities for losers like the Indians and Cavs, while also funding other projects such as the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame.

Perhaps, but it was Modell's :censored:ty business practices that allowed Cleveland Municipal to decay so much that a new stadium became more and more of a priority. The cheap bastard was responsible for its upkeep, yet didn't spend a dime more than he absolutely had to on maintenance.

Had he maintained the building, even a little bit, the City of Cleveland would've been far more helpful in terms of a new stadium. Instead, they (rightfully) figured "he let one place go to , why give him a brand new one to ruin?"

[NJTank]

Cleveland Municipal Stadium was built in 1932 it was 60 years old no NFL Stadium was that old in 1995.

[pmoehrin]

Moddell did invest money into maintaining Municipal Stadium. Thousands if not millions of dollars over his tenure I'd say. The building was just old. Nothing short of a complete tear down job was going to fix what was wrong with Municipal Stadium.

Cleveland also made him numerous offers to build a stadium for him and he declined all of them. He did so because he was getting money from having the Indians as tenants as well as concerts. He was known for having concerts if the Indians were out of town which would completely ruin the field in the process. He wanted Cleveland to pay for renovating Municipal Stadium, not to build him a new one, and more importantly he wanted the Indians to stay on as tenants in Municipal Stadium. He would have accepted a new stadium deal in a heartbeat if he could have carried over his arrangement with the Indians. The Indians had no interest though in continuing to be tenants.

It was only after they left and after the lakefront project was completed that he decided he wanted a new stadium and Cleveland had no money to give for one, Baltimore did, so he left.

He wanted to have his cake and eat it to and was too stubborn to accept the fact that it wasn't going to happen. When he finally did come to terms with it, it was too late. May have been the same mentality that caused him to lose so much money in his personal life.

[Gothamite]

Cleveland Municipal Stadium was built in 1932 it was 60 years old no NFL Stadium was that old in 1995.

Soldier Field? I know it wasn't in constant NFL use since the 1920s, but it sure felt its age.

[NJTank]

Dang I forgot that Soldier Field is that old, because it was never used by the Bears until the 70's. Well it was ruined I mean renovated only a few years ago.

[Mac the Knife]

Moddell did invest money into maintaining Municipal Stadium. Thousands if not millions of dollars over his tenure I'd say. The building was just old. Nothing short of a complete tear down job was going to fix what was wrong with Municipal Stadium.

Cleveland also made him numerous offers to build a stadium for him and he declined all of them. He did so because he was getting money from having the Indians as tenants as well as concerts. He was known for having concerts if the Indians were out of town which would completely ruin the field in the process. He wanted Cleveland to pay for renovating Municipal Stadium, not to build him a new one, and more importantly he wanted the Indians to stay on as tenants in Municipal Stadium. He would have accepted a new stadium deal in a heartbeat if he could have carried over his arrangement with the Indians. The Indians had no interest though in continuing to be tenants.

It was only after they left and after the lakefront project was completed that he decided he wanted a new stadium and Cleveland had no money to give for one, Baltimore did, so he left.

He wanted to have his cake and eat it to and was too stubborn to accept the fact that it wasn't going to happen. When he finally did come to terms with it, it was too late. May have been the same mentality that caused him to lose so much money in his personal life.

Exactly. Modell whined constantly about that stadium, and while not undeservedly so, his corporation was responsible for its ongoing maintenance - and he only did so to the absolute letter of his contract with the City of Cleveland. The Indians got fed up and bolted, costing him them as a tenant (bad business move #1), he flushed millions away on signing players that made no substantive contribution to the team on the field or off (bad business move #2), and he squeezed quarters until the eagles screamed (bad business move #3).

[mania]

[mania]

MLB: McCourt looted 189.16M from team.

[pmoehrin]

MLB: McCourt looted 189.16M from team.

Now the fun will start and Frank McCourt has made it very clear that the only way he will go away is to be dragged away kicking and screaming.

[NJTank]

Wow if this is true this could be mean prison for McCourt.

[pmoehrin]

Wow if this is true this could be mean prison for McCourt.

With reference to what? With the Bryan Stow thing I would say almost certainly no. The Dodgers will be held liable as an orginzation for that, but Frank McCourt himself won't be. The only way I could that he would be is if the Dodgers somehow couldn't afford to pay for Stow's medical costs and suffering settlement(s) and even then I highly doubt McCourt could be held directly responsible.

The only thing I could see him going to jail would be tax fraud but that's something entirely seperate from this case. That probably won't go to trial for at least another year if he's even indited.

[Gothamite]

As much as I think he deserves it, I don't see any criminal allegations against McCourt.

Criminal negligence? Maybe, but all the signs point instead to a civil suit. And McCourt broke MLB rules in looting his team, but that's not the same as breaking the law.

[NJTank]

If they can rule the team is as a cooperate operation and that McCourt took nearly $200 mil from said operation that sounds like embezzlement to me.

[mania]

The easiest thing to bust McCourt on would be tax evasion.

[pmoehrin]

If they can rule the team is as a cooperate operation and that McCourt took nearly $200 mil from said operation that sounds like embezzlement to me.

Embezzlement itslef is not very well defined legally and your find many cases of people being found guilty of embezzlement in cases like this. You would basically have to prove that all the differed salaries were never intended to be payed by Frank McCourt, but if people are getting paid, then who is he really embezzling money from and the only answer to that would be himself.

What I could see Frank McCourt going to jail for potentially would be tax fraud. You just can't take several million dollars out of your business and not pay any taxes on it as he may or may not have done. You also can't pay your son to do a job that he doesen't actually do, which also appears to have been the case. You also can't defraud a charity which he may or may not have done as well. I think you can make a much stronger case for that then you could embezzlement.

[oaklandhusker]

I know this isn't entirely related to the current discussion, but this thread's subtitle says that the Dodgers are the third team to go bankrupt in two years. Can someone enlighten me as to which other two teams have gone bankrupt? Thanks.

[Chicageaux]

The Rangers are one, I'm not sure of the other one.

[TheOldRoman]

The Rangers and Cubs, although the Cubs filed for bankruptcy "protection" (I believe there is a difference) and did so only because their owners (Chicago Tribune) filed for bankruptcy. They wanted protection to allow them to sell the Cubs cleanly without creditors asking for a cut.

[mania]

The Rangers were encouraged by MLB to go into bankruptcy but only to facilitate the sale to the current ownership gropu.