Dodgers to Meet Amid Uncertainty

The Dodgers begin their baseball operation meetings Tuesday amid the uncertainty of a pending ownership change.

General Manager Dan Evans, Manager Jim Tracy and the club’s other top baseball officials will gather for four days at Dodger Stadium, discussing the state of the team and farm system. The Dodgers, however, don’t know what will happen once Boston real estate magnate Frank McCourt completes his purchase of the club from News Corp. And they won’t have a budget set until McCourt’s bid to acquire the franchise is approved in a vote of owners next month.

Longtime baseball executive Corey Busch, who will have a high-ranking position in the reorganized front office, is handling the transition process for McCourt, expected to return to the Southland this week to court potential investors for his ownership group and meet with Dodger officials.

Although McCourt has adhered to Commissioner Bud Selig’s gag order since he reached an agreement in principle with News Corp. for a listed price of $430 million, baseball officials believe McCourt plans to make major changes in both baseball and business operations.

McCourt and his wife, Jamie, vice president and general counsel of the couple’s real estate development firm, are big baseball fans and are aware that the Dodgers failed to qualify for the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season despite a payroll in excess of $110 million.

-- Jason Reid