Soboroff Reign Lasts Two Months

From @BillShaikin:

Soboroff resigns as #Dodgers vice chairman.

Details to follow.

UPDATE: Steve Soboroff steps down as Dodgers vice chairman (Bill Shaikin, Dodgers Blog)

The McCourt Circus Spins Into Outer Orbits Of Absurdity

Little has been said about Steve Soboroff, the friend Frank McCourt hired to improve fan experience bark at the media on McCourt's behalf. Soboroff was hired on a Tuesday, saw McCourt emasculated by MLB on Wednesday, and then barked to anyone that would listen on Thursday. After that, he was quiet...

...that is, until Soboroff ran his mouth again, insulting MLB emissary Tom Schieffer with an untrue allegation, which forced McCourt himself to have to bail Soboroff out:

The Dodgers' ownership drama took a bizarre turn Thursday when owner Frank McCourt apologized after his vice chairman claimed the team could not get prompt authorization to increase security in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death.

Dodgers Vice Chairman Steve Soboroff told several media outlets Thursday that Tom Schieffer, the trustee appointed by Commissioner Bud Selig to run the team, did not respond promptly to a request for upgraded stadium security. The allegation outraged Major League Baseball officials, for whom Schieffer produced an email in which he granted authorization two minutes after the request from Dodgers general counsel Sam Fernandez.

In addition to issuing a statement, McCourt apologized in a telephone call to Rob Manfred, the MLB executive vice president and Selig's point man on the Dodgers.

I don't think pissing MLB off on extraneous sidebars is a very good strategy. And if Frank McCourt has to step in to help you with your spin, what does that say about you?

(Meanwhile, the fan experience suffers.)

UPDATE 5/7 1p: Steve Dilbeck of the LA Times' Dodgers blog also thinks Soboroff should head for the door. Screaming.

Meet the New Boss

• Schieffer candid about challenge with Dodgers (Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports)
• Tom Schieffer: 'We need to get the Dodgers back to where they've always been' (Bill Shaikin, LA Times)
• Schieffer experienced in leading teams (Tony Jackson, ESPNLosAngeles.com)

Candid, maybe, but also vague. Necessarily so, I get it, until he spends more time within the organization. But is he just going to be a yes/no man, or will he make suggestions and recommendations? What will the Dodger employees not named McCourt or Soboroff think of him? Most importantly, can be bring Cool-a-Coos back to Dodger Stadium? Important issues await, Mr. Schieffer!

Dodgers Return Fire Against Bud Selig

The fun continues. From ESPN:

New Los Angeles Dodgers executive Steve Soboroff came to the defense of embattled owner Frank McCourt on Thursday, 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 the Dodgers are in good shape financially and Selig's move was "irresponsible" and came as "a shock."

Soboroff cited the Dodgers' potential 20 year, $3 billion television deal with Fox as evidence 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." The television deal, which McCourt reportedly presented to MLB representatives on April 5 as a long-term solution to the team's financial problems, has yet to be approved by Selig.

"Frank has money in the bank," Soboroff said. "He has a $3 billion deal with Fox. Not on [the credit card]. He's got it on [the ATM card]. The only thing [preventing] him from sticking [the ATM card] in the machine, is this letter. "Can't we talk to the commissioner? Can't we talk to the people that are going to vote on this?" Soboroff said he was unsure of McCourt's plans to challenge Selig's decision. Soboroff spoke with the owner Wednesday after the letter had been delivered and said McCourt had a "mature" response.

Any thoughts on what a "mature response" would entail? Is "nanny nanny boo boo" still considered mature?

Soboroff added: "How do you single him out when you don't single the Mets out? Come on."

The Mets have reportedly borrowed $25 million from MLB to keep baseball operations afloat as the Wilpon family looks for someone to buy a share of the team. Ownership needs to raise funds as it battles a lawsuit by the Bernard Madoff trustee that could potentially cost the team $1 billion.

Selig bristled Thursday when asked if he sees any similarities between the Dodgers and the Mets.

"The only thing I'm going to say is that there are a lot of differences," Selig said, according to multiple media outlets. "The situations are clearly not similar, and that's in a myriad of ways. ... So if you ask me is the analogy is a proper one, I say no. "Anyone who portrays that as the case ... is incorrect. Very incorrect. That's based on the facts, as I know them."

Saying we're not the Mets is like when the owner of my son's (former) daycare defended her treatment of staff by saying "I'M NOT HITLER". (100% true story)

And I thought the only link between the Mets and the Dodgers was me, SoSG Delino DeSheilds. Apparently financial incompetence and general schmuckness is also in that ven diagram. (Not unlike me too).

PS - I'm gonna just keep posting my concept art for the War of the Roses reboot until it goes viral!!!