McCourt may have his warts, but he signed a valid contract which would only increase the value of the Dodgers' franchise. Selig's only causes for seizing a team from an owner should be financial instability or bankruptcy, or criminal behavior on the part of the ownership. McCourt is in none of these categories.
I'm looking forward to the Emperor With No Clothes being sued and losing, if that's the way he wants to play the game.
His entire tenure as baseball commissar has been an abomination to fans with a respect for the history and tradition of the game. Selig is a typical crony capitalist (of course, a big time Democrat) who favors tyranny over freedom!
Other than all the horrible astroturf and the designated hitter (why is that still around?), I miss Bowie Kuhn.
Maybe not. If I own a company and I sign a deal that is supposed to bring in $350 million of revenue over a certain period of time, then that contract will be built into the value of the company. But if the deal is structured so that I (personally) walk away with half the value up front, then it's not a $350 million deal from the standpoint of the company's value -- it's a $175 million deal.
I'm no fan of Selig, but he's not out of line here. It is the responsibility of any professional sports league commissioner to ensure that the various franchises in the league (especially the big-name franchises in large markets) don't have their ability to field competitive teams undercut by poor management or business deals like this one.