McCourt Cashes Out With Fans

A year after Frank McCourt began running Chavez Ravine behind a thick shroud of promises and platitudes, the curtain has finally been pulled.

Today we gaze upon a sorry soul with tattered pockets and a desperate plea.

“Pay no attention to that man who is destroying the Dodgers! Pay no attention to that man who is destroying the Dodgers!”

Too late, Toto.

Today, we have finally seen the real Frank McCourt.

He really doesn’t have the money to properly operate the Dodgers.

He really never should have been allowed to purchase the Dodgers.

He really couldn’t care less about those fans he rolls over as if they were stalls in one of his Boston parking lots.

Shame on Peter Chernin for nominating him. Shame on Commissioner Bud Selig for confirming him.

Shame on McCourt for wasting the last year pretending he had the resources to make it work.

If he did, on Thursday afternoon the Dodgers would not have allowed Adrian Beltre to reluctantly move to Seattle.

If he did, on Thursday night the Dodgers would not have been on the verge of shipping off Shawn Green, Brad Penny and Yhency Brazoban for Javier Vazquez and a couple of cheap prospects.

And when you saw McCourt swaggering across the field after October’s division-clinching victory, you thought he was on the same team.

Once the season ended, the smile disappeared and the pockets tightened and the intentions crystallized.

McCourt doesn’t want to turn the Dodgers into a winner, he wants to turn them into the Devil Rays.

Instead of footing the bill for a championship, he’s more concerned with paying the bill for the electricity, of which, this season, there may be none.

As of Thursday night, McCourt had celebrated his championship by firing one of his longtime play-by-play guys, lowballing his manager, making weak offers to accomplished coaches, dumping salaries of his two most dramatic players, allowing his best player to walk, polishing a deal to send away two other high-priced veterans ... and, oh yeah, raising some ticket prices.

In exchange for the giveaways, McCourt has done, what, sign Jeff Kent and Ricky Ledee? Given the team’s numerous holes, here’s guessing one will start the season as the short fielder, and the other as rover.

Certainly, other deals will be made, spots will be filled, a couple of hitters and pitchers will be enlisted.

Maybe, in Dodger fans’ wildest dreams, some big names will show up; Carlos Delgado, Magglio Ordonez, Matt Clement, maybe even Mike Piazza.

But McCourt seems willing to sacrifice this season, maybe next season, maybe every season until he can begin reaping the benefits of a high-priced business with a low-rent payroll.

How dare he confuse Dodger fans for suckers.

I tried to reach McCourt for this story. I phoned a Dodger publicity guy and told him I was going to be critical of the owner and offered him a chance to explain himself.

I’m still waiting for a return call. This left General Manager Paul DePodesta on the firing line, and whatever he’s paid to continually defend his boss, it’s not enough.

When asked about the perception that McCourt doesn’t have the money to run a team in a major market, DePodesta said, “It’s ludicrous. That’s an absurd perception.”

Here’s what ludicrous:

The Dodgers had worked out the basics for the Green and Penny salary dump before Beltre signed ... and their offer still fell 30% short of the Seattle Mariners’ deal.

Here’s what’s absurd:

Beltre, who didn’t want to leave, gave the Dodgers every chance to match the Mariners’ deal and the Dodgers refused to even come close.

Said DePodesta: “We didn’t let Adrian walk. Adrian chose to leave.”

Retorted agent Scott Boras: “Adrian Beltre valued his time as a Dodger, and certainly made sure the Dodgers were completely aware of other offers before making his decision.”

Word is, it’s not DePodesta’s fault. Word is, he’s doing the best he can with whatever loose change McCourt allows him to pluck from underneath the cushions.

It’s amazing how McCourt could sit behind home plate throughout the season and fail to realize his most important job of the winter, the first real test of his regime.

Nothing mattered but signing Beltre.

Jose Lima wouldn’t have mattered. Steve Finley wouldn’t have mattered. Trade half the team and it wouldn’t have mattered.

You keep Beltre, you keep the soul of the Dodgers’ batting order, the cornerstone of their fielding, the rock of their future.

The guy is 25. The Dodgers have invested nine years in his development. Last season he rewarded them with one of the best offensive seasons at his position in baseball history.

He is a model citizen, a Los Angeles resident, a clubhouse force who made the Spanish-speaking players feel included and kept Milton Bradley out of fights.

All this and, last season, he hit 48 homers while playing his home games in Dodger Stadium on one leg.

If McCourt wouldn’t sign this guy, which of his stars will he sign?

Memo to Eric Gagne:

Demand a trade.

Memo to Cesar Izturis:

Don’t get too comfortable.

When I saw the television ticker Thursday night claiming there was a nearly completed deal sending away Green and Penny and Brazoban, I thought it was a misprint.

They trade those three guys to Arizona in a deal involving Randy Johnson ... and they don’t get Randy Johnson?

The Dodgers spend all fall defending the indefensible trade for Penny, scolding the media for their lack of understanding, and now they ship him away?

The Dodgers spend all fall defending Brazoban as a replacement for Guillermo Mota, scolding the media for its lack of baseball acumen, and now he’s gone?

And, oh yeah, Green had 18 homers and a .900 combined slugging and on-base percentage after the All-Star break.

It’s all about saving money, with little thought given to saving a season, making McCourt the new target of a city’s anger, upsetting just about all but one.

Kobe Bryant’s thank-you note is in the mail.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Beltre’s Statistics

Adrian Beltre’s career statistics:

*--* Year G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS AVG 1998 77 195 18 42 9 0 7 22 14 37 3 1 215 1999 152 538 84 148 27 5 15 67 61 105 18 7 275 2000 138 510 71 148 30 2 20 85 56 80 12 5 290 2001 126 475 59 126 22 4 13 60 28 82 13 4 265 2002 159 587 70 151 26 5 21 75 37 96 7 5 257 2003 158 559 50 134 30 2 23 80 37 103 2 2 240 2004 156 598 104 200 32 0 48 121 53 87 7 2 334 TOTALS 966 3,462 456 949 176 18 147 510 286 590 62 26 274

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