LOS ANGELES, July 23 (UPI) -- A Los Angeles judge says Frank McCourt will have to sit down with Major League Baseball if he wants to swing a major loan to keep the team solvent.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross Friday rejected a bid by McCourt to use his own financing, saying McCourt had a good chance of securing terms from MLB that are more favorable to the team.
"It is unclear to the court how (the Dodgers) think they can successfully operate a team within the framework of baseball if they are unwilling to sit with baseball to consider and negotiate even more favorable terms while under the court's protection," Gross said in a written ruling Friday.
McCourt had argued that he had the right to strike a financing deal with anyone he wanted to and that MLB would use the loan as a hammer to take the team away from him.
Gross ordered McCourt and MLB to discuss a deal in good faith that would not require McCourt to give up control of the Dodgers but clearly wanted Commissioner Bud Selig involved in getting the team back on track, the Los Angeles Times said.
"It is clear that baseball needs and wants the Dodgers to succeed," Gross wrote, "and the debtors are best served by maintaining baseball's good will and contributing to the important and profitable franchise group under the commissioner's leadership."
