Soboroff Spends Day 3 On The Job Defending His Boss, Blasting MLB

Steve Soboroff, the newest employee of the Dodgers' front office, has come out swinging on behalf of his good buddy, the sockless Frank McCourt. I suppose Soboroff is just doing the job he was hired to do, right (oh wait, Soboroff was hired to "improve the fan experience at the stadium"; my mistake)?

New Los Angeles Dodgers executive Steve Soboroff came to the defense of embattled owner Frank McCourt on Wednesday, blasting commissioner Bud Selig's decision to have Major League Baseball assume control of the team.

Soboroff, the Los Angeles civic leader and former mayoral candidate whom the Dodgers hired Tuesday as vice chairman, said Thursday that the Dodgers were in good shape financially and that Selig's move was "irresponsible" and came as "a shock."

Soboroff cited the Dodgers' 20-year, $3 billion deal with Fox as evidence that McCourt has sufficient funds to operate the team.

"All this momentum is building and then all of sudden this letter comes in and says, 'You don't have any money. You don't have this or that.' I think it was irresponsible," Soboroff said.

He added: "That letter was not expected. [It] was a shock. ... Let us show the exciting things that we can do, that Los Angeles can do for Major League Baseball."

I think Bud Selig and MLB would argue that they have been waiting to see what exciting things McCourt had in store, for months now. Unfortunately, messy divorce cases, revelations of nepotistic financial chicanery, and an unsafe stadium environment don't classify as "excitement" (admittedly, navigating one's way out of the stadium, past pedestrians and police cars and bizarrely placed bollards, is kind of exciting sometimes).

I guess Soboroff's real job is to defend Frank McCourt (as he did in his letter to the LA Times last year). I admire Soboroff's loyalty, particularly in the face of deafening media and public sentiment to the contrary.

But it's a little pathetic that, for all of Frank McCourt's litigious predispositions, he can't defend himself on this one.