Oh, will we have a heavenly bounty of new heckle material next time the Dodgers visit Mays Field ("Hey, Sands, in the best interests of the game, why don't you go back to AAA?" -- or is that too subtle?). But what does the Dodger debacle mean for the Giants?
Worst-case scenario is years of ineptitude for the Giants' grandest rival. That's good for the Giants' on-field fortunes, but if I can inject a smidge of objectivity, it's not good for the game. Life is more interesting when the Dodgers are a worthy opponent, ideally somewhere around 85% the worthiness of the Giants. We can debate whether we as Giant fans really want to see the Dodgers become a years-long laughing stock, but shorter term, the situation smacks of delicious turmoil.
How will it translate? Will players, wondering if their team will get Expo'ed by Major League Baseball, not put their noses quite so forcefully to the daily grindstone? (For an excellent fan's-eye view of what happened when Bud seized the Expos, click here.) There's the humiliation; I mean, how many times can you hear your team called "once-proud" before you start skulking around, trying not to be noticed? Unfortunately with all the writers needing to fill pixels these days, we'll be seeing that hackneyed phrase frequently.
Frank McCourt has already said he's going to fight MLB, and despite being deep in debt, he's still a proposterously rich jerk in Los Angeles, which of course means very expensive lawyers, and lots of 'em. Unless one side blinks, there will be no resolution -- meaning either MLB takeover or MLB stand-down -- for a long time. Which, of course, means more distraction.
Does it mean lowering payroll or selling off players? Rod Barajas doesn't think so. I've seen other punditry on the Interwebs along the same lines. But who the heck really knows? If McCourt is really in bad financial shape yet digs his heels in, keeps Bud at bay, and hires an army of lawyers, he might opt not to pay arbitration-eligible stars. Or if the team falls out of contention this summer, he might order the Nedster to nudge, nudge, wink, wink, "rebuild" through trades.
If Bud prevails quickly and MLB seizes control this year, the same could happen, I guess, though let's not be too quick to equate the Expos with the Dodgers. There are huge differences, obviously. The Dodgers aren't threatened with contraction, and they don't play home games in an extra-large rollerskating rink. Besides, the Dodgers play in the second-biggest media market in the country. Major League Baseball would never shoot itself in the foot by making a bad situation worse with one of its marquee franchises, now, would it?
Worst-case scenario is years of ineptitude for the Giants' grandest rival. That's good for the Giants' on-field fortunes, but if I can inject a smidge of objectivity, it's not good for the game. Life is more interesting when the Dodgers are a worthy opponent, ideally somewhere around 85% the worthiness of the Giants. We can debate whether we as Giant fans really want to see the Dodgers become a years-long laughing stock, but shorter term, the situation smacks of delicious turmoil.
How will it translate? Will players, wondering if their team will get Expo'ed by Major League Baseball, not put their noses quite so forcefully to the daily grindstone? (For an excellent fan's-eye view of what happened when Bud seized the Expos, click here.) There's the humiliation; I mean, how many times can you hear your team called "once-proud" before you start skulking around, trying not to be noticed? Unfortunately with all the writers needing to fill pixels these days, we'll be seeing that hackneyed phrase frequently.
Frank McCourt has already said he's going to fight MLB, and despite being deep in debt, he's still a proposterously rich jerk in Los Angeles, which of course means very expensive lawyers, and lots of 'em. Unless one side blinks, there will be no resolution -- meaning either MLB takeover or MLB stand-down -- for a long time. Which, of course, means more distraction.
Does it mean lowering payroll or selling off players? Rod Barajas doesn't think so. I've seen other punditry on the Interwebs along the same lines. But who the heck really knows? If McCourt is really in bad financial shape yet digs his heels in, keeps Bud at bay, and hires an army of lawyers, he might opt not to pay arbitration-eligible stars. Or if the team falls out of contention this summer, he might order the Nedster to nudge, nudge, wink, wink, "rebuild" through trades.
If Bud prevails quickly and MLB seizes control this year, the same could happen, I guess, though let's not be too quick to equate the Expos with the Dodgers. There are huge differences, obviously. The Dodgers aren't threatened with contraction, and they don't play home games in an extra-large rollerskating rink. Besides, the Dodgers play in the second-biggest media market in the country. Major League Baseball would never shoot itself in the foot by making a bad situation worse with one of its marquee franchises, now, would it?
