The battle over the Los Angeles Dodgers’ ownership has been a treacherous one, but it may have just taken one step toward finally coming to a resolution.
According to ESPN.com, a California judge has granted Jamie McCourt‘s request to throw out the marital property agreement that gives her ex-husband, Frank McCourt, sole ownership of the club. Team operations will not be affected by the decision, but the Dodgers could soon be shared under California community property law, which means the team likely will be sold unless one of the McCourts buys out the other.
Nonetheless, Frank McCourt’s lawyer, Marc Selzer, says that his client is still entitled to owning the Dodgers.
“This ruling does nothing to change the ownership of the Dodgers,” Selzer said in a statement. “Even without the marital property agreements in place, Jamie has no rights to the team. Without the agreements in place, it becomes the court’s job to determine which property is Frank’s and which is Jamie’s based on who holds legal title to the team. The facts are crystal clear on this point. The Dodgers are solely in Frank’s name.”
Dodgers general manager Ned Coletti confirms that the latest musings will not affect baseball operations, nor will it have an effect on the team’s 2011 budget.
“I think it’s business as usual,” Colletti told ESPN.com on Tuesday. “I am operating on the same process I did yesterday and as I did five years ago. [There is] no change to our thought process at all.”
The Dodgers already have made a flurry of moves this offseason. The team has signed three veteran players — pitcher Jon Garland, infielder Juan Uribe and catcher Rod Barajas — and re-signed pitcher Hiroki Kuroda.
