Dodger Sale Vote Could Be Nov. 20

A vote on the proposed sale of the Dodgers to Boston real estate developer Frank McCourt could occur at a Nov. 20 owners’ meeting in Chicago.

News Corp.’s sale of the franchise to McCourt, which requires ownership approval to be completed, is not on the agenda for the one-day meeting, baseball officials said, but a vote probably would be scheduled if McCourt quickly completed his final part of the process.

The commissioner’s office is awaiting paperwork from McCourt that must be approved by the ownership committee before the process can move forward.

Officials had expected documents on the proposed purchase agreement to be submitted last week, but McCourt was still working toward completing necessary steps, someone familiar with his efforts to close the deal said.

McCourt is said to be eager to complete the purchase for a listed price of $430 million, but he’s running out of time to have a vote scheduled at the upcoming meeting, officials said.

In addition to the ownership committee’s needing time to review documents and discuss the situation, Commissioner Bud Selig probably would want the executive council to take part in the process before information was forwarded to owners.

If McCourt misses the Nov. 20 window, Selig could conduct a conference-call vote. Another ownership meeting won’t be scheduled until January or February.