The Best Team Money Can Buy: The Los Angeles Dodgers' Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse

by Molly Knight

  the club was hemorrhaging tens of millions: The Dodgers lost money from every year from 1994 to 2002, including an MLB-leading $54.5 million loss in 2001. Los Angeles Times, August 18, 2002, by James Bates.

  McCourt financed his $430 million purchase: McCourt divorce filings and court testimony revealed the family put “not a penny” of their own money into buying the team.

  Fox wanted to get rid of the team: According to court documents presented during the McCourt divorce trial, Fox lent McCourt $145 million to buy the Dodgers. He was to repay that loan in two years.

  His local claim to fame: According to a November 5, 2003, Los Angeles Times article by Thomas S. Mulligan and Roger Vincent, “during the New Year’s Eve 1980 closing on the [parking lot] in a plush Boston law office, a rival developer launched himself across a conference table at McCourt and threatened in colorful language to throw him out a window.”

  “Stock smelling salts”: An email from McCourt Group COO Jeff Ingram to the McCourts in January 2001. Presented as evidence during McCourt divorce trial.

  his estranged wife described him: According to the November 5, 2003, Los Angeles Times article (Mulligan and Vincent), McCourt’s litigation opponents included Toronto’s Reichmann family, owners of Olympia & York; Hartford, Connecticut, developer David T. Chase; and Chicago’s Marshall Field family, owners of Cabot, Cabot & Forbes. Toward the end of his tenure with the Dodgers he was in litigation with both his wife and Major League Baseball.

  “He was more stubborn than an army of cockroaches”: Interview with a former Dodgers executive in June 2010.

  Vanity Fair magazine likened: “A Major League Divorce,” August 2011 issue, by Vanessa Grigoriadis.

  boycotted the wedding: Interview with Jamie McCourt in her Beverly Hills office, June 22, 2010.

  “They were equally delusional but Jamie was better at parties”: From an interview with a former executive in June 2010.

  led the National League in attendance: Figures under McCourt (Espn.com):

  2004: 3,448,283 #1 in the NL, #2 in MLB

  2005: 3,603,646 #1 in the NL, #2 in MLB

  2006: 3,758,545 #1 in the NL, #2 in MLB

  2007: 3,857,036 #1 in the NL, #2 in MLB

  2008: 3,730,553 #2 in the NL, #3 in MLB

  2009: 3,761,653 #1 in the NL, #1 in MLB

  2010: 3,562,320 #2 in the NL, #3 in MLB

  September 2010 McCourt divorce trial begins:

  2011: 2,935,139 #6 in the NL, #11 in MLB

  March 2012: McCourt forced to sell team to Guggenheim Baseball

  2012: 3,324, 246 #3 in the NL, #5 in MLB

  2013: 3,745,527 #1 in the NL, #1 in MLB

  2014: 3,782,337 #1 in the NL, #1 in MLB

  (Attendance across baseball fell after the recession began in 2008. It is just now returning to prerecession levels.)

  Despite promising fans that he would keep the team’s payroll: The Dodgers and Yankees play in the two largest markets in the country. In 2000, when the Dodgers were owned by Fox, L.A. ranked second in payroll behind New York, and the difference was $2.6 million. By the end of McCourt’s tenure, the Yankees’ payroll was more than double the Dodgers’. Within two years of owning the Dodgers, the Guggenheim group pushed the club’s payroll past New York’s (via USA Today and the Associated Press).

  Dodgers’ opening day payroll under Fox:

  2000: $90,375,953 2nd in MLB (Yankees #1 with $92,938,260)

  2001: $109,105,953 3rd in MLB (Yankees #1 with $112,287,143)

  2002: $94,850,953 5th in MLB (Yankees #1 with $125,928,583)

  2003: $105,872,620 4th in MLB (Yankees #1 with $152,749,814)

  McCourt buys the Dodgers:

  2004: $92,902,001 6th in MLB (Yankees had highest payroll at $184,193,950)

  2005: $83,039,000 11th in MLB (Yankees #1 again at $208,306,817)

  2006: $98,447,187 6th in MLB (Yankees #1 at $194,663,079)

  2007: $108,454,524 6th in MLB (Yankees #1 at $189,639,045)

  2008: $118,588,536 7th (Yankees #1 at $209,081,577)

  2009: $100,414,592 9th (Yankees #1 at $201,449,189)

  2010: $95,358,016 11th (Yankees #1 at $206,333,389)

  2011: $104,188,999 12th (Yankees #1 at $202,689,028)

  2012: $95,143,575 12th (Yankees #1 at $197,962,289)

  Guggenheim Partners buy the Dodgers during the 2012 season:

  2013: $216,334,965 2nd (Yankees #1 at $228,344,965)

  2014: $241,128,402 (Highest payroll of any team in American sports history)

  2015: $270 million (First again, with nearly $44 million going to players no longer on the team)

  revealed McCourt’s plan to cut: Evidence submitted in the McCourt divorce court trial on September 1, 2010, called for cutting the Dodgers’ payroll from $100 million in 2003 to $85 million in 2006. By the end of his ownership tenure McCourt had leveraged the Dodgers to the point that the team owed lenders $540 million. Court documents showed that most of the profit the Dodgers generated from ticket sales was going toward paying off interest on that debt.

  daily home salon sessions: According to divorce court filings, the McCourts spent $150,000 annually on a hairstylist who came to their home five days a week.

  Russian psychic: His name was Vladimir Shpunt. According to a June 10, 2010, Los Angeles Times article by Bill Shaikin (“Dodgers Tap Into V Energy”), Shpunt, who lived most of his life in Russia, had three physics degrees and a letter of reference from a Nobel Prize winner. He would essentially close his eyes and visualize the Dodgers winning. He also held a healing session with Dodger right fielder Jayson Werth after Werth injured his wrist. Werth later said that Dodger doctors had misdiagnosed the injury and that he did not receive proper treatment until he went to the Mayo Clinic. Shpunt also “diagnosed the disconnects” between former manager Jim Tracy and general manager Paul DePodesta.

  a home on Charing Cross Road: All home purchase information comes from McCourt divorce filings. It is also public record.

  “I never stopped worrying”: Jamie McCourt testified in her divorce trial. She also told me as much in an interview conducted in her office on June 22, 2010.

  “Frank and I practically raised each other”: Jamie McCourt testified in court on September 3, 2010, that she didn’t know that in signing the marital property agreement, she essentially gave away her stake in the Dodgers. “Frank and I practically raised each other, and the notion that this was not something that we wanted to get together or that I would just give it up without remembering that and without worrying about what that would mean is preposterous.”

  “Every day going to that stadium was like showing up to a funeral”: Interview with current Dodger executive.

  McCourt had been too cheap to pay for an increased security presence: Bryan Stow emerged from his coma but sustained permanent brain damage in the attack. He later sued McCourt and the Dodgers for negligence. A jury awarded him $18 million in damages.

  It rejected Fox’s loan to smoke him out: In a statement, Bud Selig said the loan was “structured to facilitate a further diversion of Dodgers assets for the personal needs of Mr. McCourt.” And that it would “have the effect of mortgaging the future of the franchise to the long-term detriment of the club and its fans.”

  Players called their agents: I was in the Dodgers’ locker room that day and observed this.

  the winning bid isn’t always the highest one: In 2010 Mark Cuban and Jim Crane bid $390 million on the Texas Rangers at auction, which was more than the $385 million bid by a group lead by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan. But since Cuban and Crane still needed MLB’s approval to buy the club, and that was likely to take weeks or months, Greenberg and Ryan’s bid was valued to be worth more because it could close the following week. They subsequently bought the team.

  Bids for the Dodgers poured in from across the globe: Peter O’Malley partnered with South Korean company retail conglomerate E-Land to submit a bid for the team.

  “But he turned me down, that son of a bitch”:
Interview with Stan Kasten in his Dodger Stadium office on July 15, 2014.

  “It was like Earvin was going through the college recruitment process”: Interview with Lon Rosen at Dodger Stadium on July 15, 2014. Kasten had actually offered Magic Johnson the Atlanta Hawks GM job in Rosen’s living room. Everything about Johnson joining up with Kasten came from the interview with Kasten on July 15, 2014.

  McCourt slid a piece of paper across the table toward Walter: Conversation with Mark Walter on August 29, 2013.

  Walter told McCourt it was take-it-or-leave-it: Ibid.

  The Guggenheim group worried McCourt would violate the handshake agreement: From a Dodger executive with knowledge of the situation.

  “You know Frank went back to Stevie Cohen and said beat this”: From an executive with knowledge of the situation.

  “We might not have won”: Interview with Kasten on July 15, 2014.

  “The day the Dodgers deal closed”: From an executive with knowledge of the situation.

  Walter says he declined to set the record straight: Conversation with Walter on August 29, 2013.

  “I have some bad news”: Conversation with Walter on August 29, 2013.

  When first determining the baseline value: Conversation with Mark Walter on August 26, 2013.

  While McCourt hid from media: During the two years McCourt was mired in divorce and bankruptcy proceedings he granted no interviews to journalists. In his desperation he did agree to go on a local sports radio station and take questions from Dodger fans. He was ripped to shreds.

  “I’m nothing special”: Conversation with Mark Walter on August 26, 2013.

  MLB was as fiscally unregulated as the Wall Street: As of March 2015, the largest contract ever signed by an NFL player was the eight-year, $132 million deal signed by Detroit wide receiver Calvin Johnson. Baseball teams have issued thirty-four contracts larger than that, including the record twelve-year, $325 million deal the Miami Marlins signed Giancarlo Stanton to after the 2014 season. Furthermore, all the money in MLB contracts is fully guaranteed, regardless of injury. NFL contracts do not offer the same luxury. Football players can break their necks and be cut the next day, and owed nothing. The NFL Players Association estimates that the average career lasts 3.3 years, which has led to the NFL being called “Not for Long.”

  “We didn’t have the dough”: Conversation with Mark Walter on August 29, 2013.

  CHAPTER 2: BURN THE SHIPS

  The Dodgers’ then second baseman, Jeff Kent, made a suggestion: Interview with a former executive in June 2010.

  McCourt was said to be particularly impressed when Colletti didn’t ask how much money he would be given to spend: From an interview with a former executive in June 2010.

  But the damage McCourt’s tightfistedness: According to Baseball America, the Dodgers spent the least amount of money of any team in baseball on international signings in both 2010 and 2011. In 2010, the Seattle Mariners led the majors with $6.47 million in international bonuses; the Dodgers paid $314,000 total. In 2011 the Rangers led the majors by spending $12.83 million on international prospects. The Dodgers spent just $177,000. The White Sox spent the next lowest in 2011, with $778,500.

  “I didn’t think the problems”: Interview with Stan Kasten on July 15, 2014.

  by his own estimation, Colletti grew up dirt poor: He has mentioned this in many interviews, but most notably in a Los Angeles Times piece written by Bill Dwyre on March 10, 2013, “Colletti Is Writing a Different Story.”

  letting young guys know they were fucking nobodies: This was a common refrain among Dodger players, especially the fringe guys.

  Colletti worried that rookies didn’t possess the guts required to succeed in October: A common refrain from the coaching staff.

  J. D. Drew surprised him by opting out: In a conference call with reporters after Drew opted out, Colletti said, “I know J.D. is a spiritual guy and a man of his word. I guess he changed his words.” Drew said later that he was offended by the comments. According to a New York Times article written by Murray Chass on December 8, 2006, Colletti considered filing tampering charges against the Boston Red Sox, who signed Drew after he opted out of his Dodgers contract.

  “I care so much that I don’t give a fuck”: A common joke among many players.

  BURN THE SHIPS: I noticed the “Burn the Ships” shirts and asked a group of players what the phrase meant since I thought it was cool.

  “more psychotic than a psychologist”: From an April 27, 1988, article in the Chicago Tribune, “Bowa Handling It All: Hot Temper, Cold Club,” by Jeff Lenihan.

  He finished second in the NL MVP award voting: Kemp initially supported Braun after word leaked that Braun had tested positive for excessive testosterone levels. Braun was not suspended for his failed test after it was determined that the collector, Gino Laurenzi, failed to mail the Milwaukee Brewer’s urine sample to be tested directly after he collected it. He held on to the specimen overnight, since it was a Sunday night and he wasn’t aware that any FedEx shipping facilities were still open. Later, after it was determined that Braun was a client of Anthony Bosch, he was suspended for fifty games by MLB.

  He didn’t: Jason Schmidt pitched in ten total games for the Dodgers, and gave up 29 runs in 43.1 innings. In the end, he received more than one million dollars per inning. He won three games.

  the club was aware of Schmidt’s partially torn rotator cuff: When Jason Schmidt signed his three-year contract for $47 million, the Dodgers took out an insurance policy with ACE American Insurance to protect them if the pitcher got injured. Schmidt tore his labrum, and had an ineffective career in Los Angeles. The Dodgers sued ACE for $9.27 million to recoup some of the money they lost. During that trial, they had to disclose the fact that they knew Schmidt had a partially torn rotator cuff when they signed him, but that they did not believe that injury had anything to do with his torn labrum.

  Many Dodger fans were frustrated by Colletti’s infatuation with former Giant players: During his first three years in Los Angeles, Colletti gave contracts to many former Giants, including Jeff Kent, Brett Tomko, Bill Mueller, the infielder Ramon Martinez, Jose Cruz Jr., Kenny Lofton, Roberto Hernandez, Mark Sweeney, and Shea Hillenbrand. He would later award large, controversial contracts to Jason Schmidt, Juan Uribe, and Brian Wilson, who also all played for San Francisco.

  “I just don’t like giving a lot of money to players”: Interview with Stan Kasten on July 15, 2014.

  At the top of that list: Ibid.

  wasn’t God’s plan: “Crawford, Gonzalez, and Two Different Takes on the End of the Red Sox Season,” a September 29, 2011, article in the Boston Globe written by Peter Abraham. Gonzalez told Abraham, “We didn’t do a better job with the lead. I’m a firm believer that God has a plan and it wasn’t in his plan for us to move forward.”

  Gonzalez blamed the club’s schedule: The Red Sox were featured regularly on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.

  “You go to the grocery store and you’re getting hitting advice”: From an interview Nick Punto gave when the Red Sox came to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers, on August 23, 2013. Punto, who loved playing in Boston, was quoted as saying, “It’s an unbelievable place to play. I loved the accountability factor.”

  Colletti had called the Red Sox general manager, Ben Cherington: “Sox-Dodgers Blockbuster Anatomy,” by Gordon Edes for ESPN.com Boston.

  Colletti thought the Dodgers had struck: Interview with Stan Kasten on July 15, 2014.

  Then, opportunity struck: The story of how the Boston-Dodgers trade went down comes from my interview with Stan Kasten on July 15, 2014, and my conversation with Mark Walter on August 29, 2013.

  Terry Francona, and general manager, Theo Epstein, were both run out of town: Francona took a year away from coaching to work as a broadcaster for ESPN before signing on to become the Indians manager in 2014. Epstein was traded to Chicago to become president of baseball operations for the Cubs.

  The players hated Valentine: The problems star
ted in spring training when he berated fringe utility infielder Mike Aviles during a drill. He made matters worse by going on a local sports radio show and questioning third baseman Kevin Youkilis’s heart and commitment. All-star second baseman Dustin Pedroia fired back, “I know that Youk plays as hard as anybody I’ve ever seen in my life. I have his back, and his teammates have his back. . . . I don’t really understand what Bobby’s trying to do. But that’s really not the way we go about our stuff here. I’m sure he’ll figure that out soon.” He was fired after one season.

  His coaches and teammates compared him to a clubhouse lawyer: Every locker room has a clubhouse lawyer, or a guy who will argue every point to death. From players who had played with him in Boston.

  it took Kasten and Henry just fifteen minutes: Interview with Stan Kasten on July 15, 2014.

  in exchange for James Loney and a package of minor leaguers: All five players the Red Sox received in that August 2012 trade were on other teams by opening day 2015. Loney signed as a free agent with the Tampa Bay Rays before the 2013 season. DeJesus was traded three times before ending up with the Reds on a minor-league deal. Sands was traded to the Pirates, then went to the Rays before signing a minor-league contract with the Indians. And De La Rosa and Webster were traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in late 2014 for pitcher Wade Miley.

  “I’m from an area where if”: From an ESPN.com article by Gordon Edes on February 23, 2011, “Red Sox ‘Creeped Out’ Carl Crawford.”

  “We need to talk to you about the Navigator”: A story Crawford told me.

  He later told a teammate that he felt like the Rays: A story told to me by that teammate.

  “That guy used to terrorize us with his bat and his speed”: A story told to me by that teammate.

  “For two years I was afraid to smile”: Interview with Carl Crawford on August 19, 2014.

  “I started growing grey hairs on my face from the stress”: USA Today sports article written by Paul White on April 24, 2013.

  “I was completely shocked”: Interview with Carl Crawford on August 19, 2014.