Thoughts on the Dodgers Finances

One of the “must read” Dodger sites today is Josh Fisher’s Dodger Divorce.  Josh does a great job of breaking down ever significant move that takes place in the court room, and explaining what it means to Dodger fans.

His latest story, Two McCourt Sons Are on the Payroll…Do We Care?, is interesting.  As was noted over the past few weeks, Drew and Travis McCourt make a combined $600,000 in annual salary.  Ok, great.  I always assumed they worked for the club in some daily capacity.  But Josh Fisher points out something different:

As of last fall, Drew was attending business school at Stanford and Travis worked at Goldman Sachs in New York.

Josh debates whether or not this is really something that we need to care about, given the larger problems with how funds generated by the Dodgers are spent.  But I would argue that this does matter.  It matters if you care about character.  Frank and Jamie McCourt are stewards of the Dodgers legacy, and that means doing the right thing.  This isn’t some random professional sports team.  This is the Los Angeles Dodgers.  I sincerely hope that Drew and Travis McCourt are providing some real value to justify their salaries as professionals and not exclusively because of who their parents are, but based on what’s come out in a myriad of court filings, I don’t think I have much reason for optimism.

Every time the curtain is pulled back on the Dodgers financial operations, questions emerge.  The Dodgers claim that Ned Colletti has the payroll he needs to sign make trades and build a championship caliber club.  Practically every national writer and columnist says that the payroll is definitely impacted due to the divorce.  I’m not sure we’re ever going to know the real truth, but I believe fans get upset about issues like Drew and Travis McCourt’s salaries because the team is believed by many to have not made the necessary investment in the free agent market during the offseason by acquiring a #1 starting pitcher, nor do they have the funds to make a significant splash at the trading deadline. 

All I ask is that Frank and Jamie McCourt do the right thing for the Los Angeles Dodgers and their fans.  Is that really too much to ask?