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Why Buying the Dodgers is Like a Game of Texas Hold’em

by Miguel Salcido on January 31, 2012 in Dodgers

Everyone knows that the Dodgers are up for sale and are drawing some big financial guns into the bidding for one of the most storied and cherished baseball franchises in history. This by itself would be a huge story, but oh no, this is LA and the plot gets MUCH thicker. In fact, the process is playing out like an online poker game and no one is showing their cards. Well at least no one that is still in the running! Recently it was revealed that Mark Cuban had not made it to the next round of the process to bid on the Dodgers. More on this later.

You see, the Dodgers come with a great deal of assets outside of the team and the brand. Dodger Stadium is a crown jewel and third oldest baseball stadium in existence today. But more importantly, in terms of finances, is the land and lots of it that surrounds the stadium and overlooks downtown LA. There is a ton of land there and in LA land is at a huge premium. In fact, there is so much land there that people have proposed building an adjacent NFL stadium! OK, so now this is turning into a real game of poker jatekok. I’ve thought for years that the land is probably worth more than the team.

But wait, it gets even better. Also being auctioned off are the future television rights to Dodgers games, and LA is a sports hot bed. The future rights to broadcast Dodgers games will lead to either a monsterous deal with a TV network that will probably be close to a billion dollars or more, or an enterprising owner could build their own regional sports network as the Yankees have with their YES network. This is what will really help to drive bids for the Dodgers into the 1.5 to 2 billion dollar range. This was enough to make even Mark Cuban fold, noting that bidding was getting out of control and that people were bidding for the TV rights first and the franchise second! Now texas holdem can be a long and tedious game, with lots of bluffing and certainly lots of rasing the pot. I expect nothing less as this entire process plays out before us over the next few months. But what worries me the most is that potential owners seem to not be giving the team the attention that it deserves here. Potential owners should be more concerned with putting together a winning team than they should the media rights. After all, if the franchise continues its downward spiral the media rights will not be worth anything at the end of the day.

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Why The Pain Has Just Begun For Dodgers Fans

by Miguel Salcido on April 24, 2011 in Breaking News, Dodgers

Most Dodgers fans are happy and excited about the prospect of MLB stepping in and righting the ship. Many realize that we do have a long hard road ahead of us but that in the long run the series of events that are about to unfold are required. I’m here to predict that the road will be much longer, and harder, than anyone has imagined thus far.

It has occured to me just this morning, like a glimmering Easter egg hidden amongst the bush. McCourt has EVERYONE by the balls!

Frank McCourt’s Leverage

  • I believe that McCourt has purposely split the Dodgers and all the land around Dodger stadium, including the parking lot. Remember that the sale of the team included ALL of that land at Chavez Ravine? PRIME real estate. Many said that alone was worth $400M!! Frank is an @ss but he ain’t no dummy. Now, if the team is forced away from him he can and will make things impossible because he owns all the land around the stadium separately and MLB cannot wrestle that away from him!

….the fact Dodger Stadium and the parking lot are separate companies from the Dodgers, which could muck up a sale. (via Mike Waldner – DailyBreeze.com)

  • Although Frank cannot sue MLB, he can go after Selig personally. And if there is an attempt to take the team away from him you can bet your bottom that Selig will be in court for years to come. This is the ONE thing that Selig has fears over and is what has delayed his moves. He sacked up and went ahead with these moves anyways but you can bet that he’ll be playing his cards VERY carefully. I mean, with a $3 billion dollar deal on the table Frank may have a case if that opportunity is taken away from him.

These two things that Frank has positioned himself so strategically around are called LEVERAGE, and Frank is the king of leverage. When he signed that agreement to join the MLB owners club he knew that he could leverage these two things to subvert the restrictions in that contract. Sly bastard.

Let’s Not Forget About Bud Selig

Selig has totally screwed the Dodgers. He pushed the sale to McCourt so much that there was no bidding, no competition for the sale. But Fox was having a hard time lining potential buyers up at $400M, now the club is said to be worth $800M. I’m not sure that there will be a long line of buyers at that price now, especially with the economy down and Frank owning all the land around the stadium.

I almost feel that Seligis on the Yankees payroll. It is a plot to kill the second largest market in MLB, the only other club that has even the slightest potential to be as big as the Yankees. It is even said that Selig and Jerry Reinsdorf pushed O’malley out of the owners club back in the day! That alone started a series of events that have lead to a decade or instability for the club. Selig is also screwing Oakland for the past 4 years by not allowing them to move the club to San Jose like they want and everyone in he Bay Area wants.

 

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Furcal Comes Through in a Pinch

by Miguel Salcido on July 2, 2009 in Dodgers

Literally. Rafeal Furcal hit a pinch hit single down the right field line last night to score Russel Martin from second base. Brad Ausmus played the entire game in place of Martin and singled to lead off the 8th inning. He was then bunted over to first by Juan Castro who was playing in place of Furcal. The two starters were getting some deserved rest but ended up coming in and helping the team secure the victory. Martin came in to pinch run after Ausmus was sacrificed to second, and Furcal was a pinch hitter.

The RBI gave the Dodgers the win and the series agains teh Colorado Rockies. The Dodgers had lost two series in a row so it was important to stop that streak. The vicotry also gave the club its 50th win on the season, making the Dodgers the first team in all of baseball to reach that number.

I feel like it was even more important to win that series becuase it was the last game before Manny comes back. And I feel its important for the team and the fans to feel like they do not have to lean on Manny’s talent so much and it exemplifies the idea that this is a team effort!

The media was already flooding Torre and the rest of the team with Manny questions after the game. The team seems prepared to deal with the circus that will follow Manny the rest of the season. We shall see.

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