Los Angeles Dodgers fans better enjoy the memory of this year's run to the NLCS. It may be the last time the team gets there for a while if what has happened to other team's whose owners went through bitter divorces are any indication. Dodgers' owners Frank and Jamie McCourt are estranged and in the process of a not very pleasant divorce. Today, it was revealed that Frank has fired Jamie from her position as CEO of the Dodgers. The exact timing of the termination is a bit unclear, but Jamie's response is not. Her lawyer's comments to the L.A. Times when asked about the termination can be summed up in four words, words that Dodgers' fans don't really want to hear, "see you in court." ARTICLEURL
If the McCourts wind up in a bitter, protracted divorce, litigating everything from their claims to houses to Jamie's employment rights to their interests in the Dodgers, ownership Jamie is likely to want, it is inevitable that the organization will get caught up in the drama. Direction will be lacking. The decision making structure will break down with no clear authority at the top, meaning major personnel decisions may go unmade and free agent signing will be unlikely.
If you want an example of what a divorce can do to a team look no further than the Dodgers National League neighbor to the south. The Padres had built a contending team well suited to its new Petco Park. Then owner John Moores and wife Becky decided to get divorced, and the club goes on the club is sold, in installments to a group headed by player agent John Moorad. The deal involved Moorad's group buying one-third immediately and the rest over five years, with John Moores staying on as Chairman and control person for MLB purposes. Moorad became CEO, causing Sandy Alderson, the Padres immensely capable CEO and former MLB COO, to resign. It will take the Padres several years to recover from the turmoil of the divorce and that one was relatively short and while not amicable was at least conducted in a manner conducive to private resolution of issues, as it was done through mediation. The McCourts don't appear to be headed down that path, much to the detriment of the Dodgers and their fans.
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