Dodging Responsibility.

After the long, drawn-out saga of Frank and Jamie McCourt, the co-owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers, finally came to a head, commissioner Bud Selig has made a pre-emptive move to have a representative of MLB (as of yet unannounced) take over the day-to-day and "big picture" operations of the ballclub. While the move is somewhat surprising, it's certainly not unnecessary.

In the middle of the 2009 season, Jamie filed for divorce from Frank, days after he fired her as chief executive of the Dodgers. They both cited petty personal reasons, and the messy litigation had an adverse effect on the team, who faltered in the LDS against the Phillies and then missed the playoffs entirely in '10. After losing key pieces like slugger Manny Ramirez and manager Joe Torre, this ugly brawl amongst the estranged owners has been a nasty mark on an otherwise talented team. In the best interests of almost everyone involved, Selig moved to have Major League Baseball take over the functions of the McCourts, seeing as they were and are too invested in their personal matters to effectively make positives decisions regarding the franchise.

Of course, Frank didn't take the news very well, and is planning on suing Selig and MLB for damages. This seems like a move of desperation, as McCourt continues to lose ground in the media and the clubhouse. It also seems very childish, as Selig did this for the betterment of the team. When an owner allows himself to be overtaken by personal matters, especially those heavily played out in the public arena, he loses the ability to take into account what matters most as the owner of a team: giving the players an opportunity to win a championship, and to give the fans a club they can believe in for the same reason. Selig simply did what he thought was best, and it seems that the general opinion would agree with him. Obviously, Frank and Jamie have split opinions: Frank is embarrassed and upset, whereas Jamie believes this is the best move possible. But the fact remains that, if an owner is going to allow marital problems to affect a ballclub, whether financially or otherwise, he needs to be removed from his position and stripped of his power, at least temporarily. If he and Jamie were able to reconcile, or settle their differences, there shouldn't be any reason why he or she couldn't return to the ownership position and resume their control of operations. However, Selig is apparently considering selling the franchise to the highest bidder, or appointing someone else to take control, implying that the McCourts will probably not be owners much longer. It's a sad indication of what's happening to the Dodgers, long considered one of the greatest franchises in baseball, but if personal matters are going to start affecting the game, then this is something that needs to be done.