Joe Torre Resigns From MLB, Will Pursue the Purchase of the Dodgers



Former Yankees Manager Joe Torre resigned from his position with the MLB on Wednesday to pursue purchasing the Los Angeles Dodgers

 Well, this is some interesting news.

On Wednesday, Joe Torre resigned from his position as Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations for the MLB to join a group attempting to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers. The group is headed by real estate developer Rick Caruso, and will be competing with several other suitors for the team, including the well known Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres, Magnolia Pictures, and chairman of HDNet.

In a statement, Torre said, "''In Rick I found a partner who understands consumers and fully appreciates that the Dodgers are a treasured LA institution. Since moving to Los Angeles, I have seen firsthand Rick's dedication to business and the people of Los Angeles."

This is an extremely ballsy move on Torre's part. First off, nothing guarantees that he and Caruso will even win the bidding for the team. Second, if they do win the bidding and are granted ownership rights, the Dodgers are such a trainwreck and are in so much debt (they still owe Manny Ramirez a ton of money...) that there's no guarantees they'll be able to pull that franchise out of the shitter. But, if he and Caruso do win the team and do pull it out of its extreme debt, this could turn out to be one of the greatest investments you'll ever see. In a market as big as Los Angeles, all you need to do is field a winning team and the fans will come pouring in. Ticket sales will go up dramatically, TV ratings would spike, and merchandise sales would spike. Not to mention that as long as you have fans in the stadium, profits from concessions will come pouring in as well.

This is definitely something you'll want to keep an eye on, regardless of who buys the Dodgers. It will be interesting to see what the new owner does to get this team out of the league basement.