Days dwindling in Dodgers’ ownership auction (web links)

It’s getting down to it now, this ownership change starting to feel more real by the day.

The Times’ Bill Shaikin reported that developer Alan Casden was rejected by Major League Baseball, dwindling the list of would-be owners down to six. Plus, Blackstone Advisory Partners, the investment bank brokering the sale for McCourt, has asked that final bids be submitted by Friday.

These Blackstone deadlines constantly seem a moving target, so I can’t imagine putting too much stake in a “final” offer. This is set up as an auction, after all.

But MLB is expected to notify Frank McCourt by next week which of the finalists it has approved. McCourt has just a tad over two weeks to make his choice.

Count the days.

Also on the web:

-- This bidding process is all game of poker, right? According to a report by Forbes’ Mike Ozanian, none of the remaining bids include the parking lots. And he claims Magic Johnson’s group has the current highest bid at $1.6 billion.

-- Fox Sports’ Tracy Ringolsby marvels at the 180-degree turn Matt Kemp took in his approach to the game in the course of one season. More kudos are given to coach Davey Lopes.

-- Outfielder Juan Rivera isn’t saying much to anyone, unless it’s with the bat writes the Inland Valley’ Daily Bulletin’s J.P. Hoornstra.

-- In a video, outfielder Jerry Sands tells Fox Sports’ Steve Lyons he’s ready to do whatever the Dodgers ask to stick this season.

-- Sandy Koufax is scheduled to testify in the Bernard Madoff-Mets trail. Koufax is a childhood friend of Mets CEO Fred Wilpon, and also had an account with Madoff.

-- Dodgers’ new trainer Sue Falsone, the first head female trainer of the four major sports, said she’s been humbled by the attention she’s receiving. Dodgers.com’s Ken Gurnick said she gets more interview requests than Clayton Kershaw and Kemp.

-- Don Mattingly, who might possibly be just a tad biased, said he doesn’t believe managing in the minors is a prerequisite to managing in the minors, Shaikin and Lance Pugmire write.

-- Fox Sports offers a video slide show on Dodgers Stadium for its 50^th anniversary.