Dodgers seek documents about other teams’ financial dealings from Major League Baseball

The Dodgers asked a bankruptcy judge to order Major League Baseball to hand over documents that owner Frank McCourt hopes can show the team ran out of money only because Commissioner Bud Selig wanted it that way.

Selig’s “abusive conduct” toward the Dodgers was in contrast to the “velvet-glove treatment” he afforded other teams in financial trouble, in particular the New York Mets, attorneys for McCourt wrote in a court filing Tuesday.

McCourt specifically asked for information about the commissioner’s approval of television contracts for other teams and his rejection of a proposed contract for the Dodgers, one that McCourt said last week would have “solved the cash flow challenge.” McCourt also asked for evidence to support Selig’s assertion in his rejection letter that “the Dodgers would require additional liquidity as early as 2013” even if the contract were approved.

The league early this season refused McCourt access to a line of credit virtually always extended upon the request of a team, the filing said.

McCourt also asked for information about any communications between Selig’s office and McCourt’s ex-wife, Jamie, who has asked a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to order the Dodgers sold.

The league contends the exchange of documents should be limited to an evaluation of how the Dodgers would be financed during the bankruptcy process; McCourt argues that Selig’s actions should preclude MLB from providing that financing. A hearing is set for Thursday.

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