Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Report: MLB likely to file motion to seize the Dodgers

File photo of MLB Commissioner Bud Selig during a news conference in New York

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig smiles during a news conference in New York, in this April 21, 2011 file photograph. The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection on June 27, 2011, blaming Selig for rejecting a television deal with Fox Network to give the financially strapped baseball team a quick injection of cash. Today’s filing marks a dramatic attempt by Dodgers owner Frank McCourt to keep the league from seizing the storied team, which he has owned since 2004. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Files (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL BUSINESS)

REUTERS

A source told The Associated Press that Major League Baseball “probably” will file a motion in bankruptcy court to seize control of the Dodgers.

The AP describes its source as a person familiar with the league’s plans.

Baseball’s constitution allows commissioner Bud Selig to take control of a team that seeks Chapter 11 protection, with the Dodgers did with their bankruptcy filing Monday. MLB first must file a motion seeking termination of the franchise, and the person says that is “probably going to happen.” However, there is no timetable for that filing.

A Delaware judge on Tuesday authorized the Dodgers to enter into a $150 million bankruptcy financing arrangement. MLB has agreed to continue letting Frank McCourt run the team with the interim financing deal while providing its own terms for a new alternative financing plan. Additional hearings are scheduled for July 20.

Unless MLB can somehow get things moved up, it’s hard to imagine the league gaining control of the Dodgers in advance of the July 31 trade deadline. A league-owned Dodgers franchise would seemingly be less likely to sell off players in advance of the deadline. McCourt, meanwhile, has more incentive to shop arms like Hiroki Kuroda and Ted Lilly, even with his new loan.