I was surprised to hear Bud Selig's announcement that the MLB was going to oversee operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers. It seems to make sense because the team has suffered as a result of the very public marital difficulties of Frank and Jamie McCourt.
Frank McCourt, who has owned the Dodgers since 2004, has had very mixed success with the team. The teams he has put on the field have normally been very talented and always competitive, but his teams never seemed to match up with the franchise's storied past in the eras of managers like Tommy Lasorda, Walter Alston and players such as Sandy Koufax and Steve Garvey. McCourt has also had his share of financial troubles as the team is now $400 million in debt.
I believe McCourt was never wealthy enough to make the team a big market success. The proof of this is the teams he has put on the field. His teams have been a mix of aging veterans (Jeff Kent, Steve Finley, Jason Schmidt, Nomar Garciaparra, Manny Ramirez and Rafael Furcal) and raw, yet talented prospects (Jonathan Broxton, Chad Billingsley, Matt Kemp and Andre Eithier). Though these teams have been, and still are very talented, they don't have the star power that would be expected from big market teams.
McCourt obviously wasn't a complete failure as an owner -- the team made the playoffs in four of seven years. But they could never make it all the way.
I just hope to see the Dodgers back in World Series contention again, because I'd like to see the East Coast/West Coast rivalry of the Yankees and Dodgers renewed.
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