MLB Wants Courts to Force McCourt to Sell Dodgers

The reign of Frank McCourt may soon come to an end. Major League Baseball has had enough and wants the Los Angeles Dodgers to be sold as soon as possible.

According to ESPN, attorneys for MLB asked a judge to clear the way for a sale, possibly forcing McCourt to find a buyer for one of the most storied franchises in the history of the game. The claim here is McCourt is taking advantage of a Chapter 11 claim he made with the team to solve his personal financial problems. That puts the franchise at risk, and has been making baseball look bad in the Los Angeles for the past year.

If McCourt continues down his current path, it's possible the team could be removed from the league, resulting in the Dodgers no longer existing in the current form. That would be a huge black eye for baseball, and shows why the league is so intent on getting the situation fixed by any means necessary.

There aren't many Dodgers fans left who actually support McCourt, and most fear he could be taking the team down a path of no return. With some great young assets on the team, this is a team that might be one or two players from contention. Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw are two players who could be competing for league awards year after year, but the team has got to surround them with the talent needed to win. A new ownership group might be able to do just that.

According to Forbes, the Dodgers are still the third-most valuable franchise in baseball, valued at about $800 million. Frank and Jamie McCourt bought the team for $430 million in 2004, so this has still been a huge increase in value for the franchise. He would stand to make a huge profit off the sale, especially if a bidding war took place that pushed the sale price to $1 billion. That would allow him to solve any financial problems taking place in his personal life, and would allow him to walk away from MLB a much richer man.

The Dodgers have worked back into third place in the National League West and have a great chance at finishing above .500. It's a team that has the talent to compete, and a new owner might give it more of a realistic shot.