October 14, 2011

Will MLB Enter the McCourt Divorce Fight?

Lots of great writing from around the web over the past few days.  Unfortunately most of this news isn’t all that positive, but that’s the way it goes some years, right?

- I’m a little late in getting to this, but Bill Shaikin had a thought-provoking look at the on the McCourt divorce saga in yesterday’s LA Times.  Very interesting to see that Commissioner Bud Selig is closely monitoring the situation, but not getting involved at this point.  Also interesting to see the list of potential buyers should the Dodgers come up for sale (my money is on Dennis Gilbert, but that’s just a hunch).

- Ross Newhan has a great story on his blog, looking back at the reporting that was done by him and former LA Times Dodgers’ beat writer Jason Reid on the McCourt’s financial situation when they purchased the team, and what their plans were for the future.

- Tony Jackson from ESPN Los Angeles recaps Clayton Kershaw’s brilliant complete game shutout against the hated San Francisco Giants.  One of the true highlights of the second half of the season.

- Ken Gurnick at MLB.com looks back at the life of Al LaMacchia, the longtime scout for the Dodgers and the man who is credited with Andre Ethier being in Dodger Blue.  Al passed away yesterday at the age of 89.  Old-time scouts are sadly a dying breed, and from all accounts, Al was a suberb baseball man.  Former Dodgers’ GM Fred Claire also wrote a great story on Al and the Ethier deal a few years ago.  Check it out…it’s one that I’ve always loved.

- Answer Dave over at Big League Stew has a rare Q&A with Vin Scully, where he discusses his love for Jolly Ranchers,  his thoughts on Elizabeth Montgomery (from “Bewitched”) and what the Seventh Inning Stretch means to him.  Terrific stuff.

- Jon Weisman gets a jump start on the 2010-2011 offseason and lays out the questions (and they’re big ones) that Ned Colletti & Co. face in the months leading up to Spring Training.  Yikes.

- There’s a lot more going on in Dodgerland, including Asst. GMs Logan White and DeJon Watson interviewing for the open General Manager position with the Diamondbacks.  Neither are rumored to be the current favorities, but the fine folks over at Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness brought up a good point: what if Logan or DeJon gets the job and takes the other with him?  What if they take Kim Ng?  Losing one would would be really tough.  Losing more than one would truly be tragic.

Photo Credit: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

GM Contenders: Kim Ng and Logan White

Unfortunately, both are not candidates are not for the Dodgers GM position.  From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

GM CHATTER: The Mariners probably will wait until the offseason before deciding what to do about their general manager’s job. For now, Pelekoudas is the interim GM, and he will be one of the candidates down the line.

Club president Chuck Armstrong isn’t saying who else he might be thinking about, but the speculation around baseball is getting up to speed.

The Los Angeles Times reported that while the Mariners haven’t called to ask about any of the potential Dodgers candidates, Los Angeles GM Ned Colletti said he would grant permission if asked.

The Dodgers personnel include Kim Ng, an assistant GM for the past seven seasons who is seen as the most highly qualified woman when GM jobs are talked of, and Logan White, who has run the L.A. scouting department the past seven years.

“They’re both worthy,” Colletti told the Times.

Ng is believed to be interested in the job and White, who played in the Seattle minor league system, told the Times he would be interested in discussing the job.

Losing either Ng or White would be really bad news for the Dodgers organization.  Ng is known as a shrewd negotiator (she handles many of the club’s arbitration cases) and we all know White’s credentials with the copious amounts of young talent currently in the farm system.

Frank McCourt, now is the time to act.  If Ned is your man, so be it.  But don’t be naive enough to think that the club could afford to lose either of these two All-Star front office execs.  Do what you need to do to lock these two up for the foreseeable future.