McCourt not able to meet payroll in May, Seig cleaning up his mess and (oh yeah) Ethier's hit streak

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday that Frank McCourt will not be able to meet the second of two payrolls in May, according to his sources. This opens up the possibility for the Dodgers to be taken over by the MLB.

McCourt has contended all along that an impending 3 billion dollar television deal with FOX would solve the Dodgers' financial issues on a long term basis, and has expressed frustration in recent days with Bud Selig's refusal to communicate with him, since he did take over day-to-day operations.

There are two big issues here: First, why does McCourt need a cash infusion to keep the Dodgers running? It is one thing to keep payroll down or find other cost-cutting measures (security?). But not being able to meet payroll? Of course you blame McCourt. especially after hearing about allegations of spending team profits on his lavish lifestyle. Selig is complicit in this also. How could he approve McCourt taking over a franchise, a core franchise nonetheless being on such shaky ground? It is common knowledge how leveraged out McCourt was when he bought the team, but Selig basically smiled and let him pass.

Second, why does Selig get in the way of the TV deal with FOX? McCourt actually makes some sense when he speaks how much that deal would help the team, but Selig has no response. Bud is probably afraid that anything he says will be swooped on by McCourt's lawyers, so he is keeping silent- but the question is still out there. Selig either has it in seriously for McCourt and/or he smells a big, dead hairy rat somewhere. It sounds like on the surface Selig may be doing the right thing here, but Selig is no knight in shining armor, he's just cleaning up a mess he made himself.

Through all this brouhaha, you almost forget that Andre Ethier's hit streak is alive and well at 29 games...........The Dodgers are playing like the .500 team they were set up to be, losing to the Cubs. We really need an owwner who is a fan, who truly bleeds blue and wants to turn the Dodgers into the perennial winners they should be.