Former Yankee manager Joe Torre resigned his $2 million-a-year job as Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations to join an ownership group pursuing the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Torre is joining the group led by , a Los Angeles-based real estate developer, Torre said after commissioner announced Torre s resignation Wednesday.
Immediate speculation on a Torre successor centered on Andy McPhail , who recently resigned as head of baseball operations for the Orioles.
La Russa is already on Selig s special advisory committee, and was told by the commissioner when he retired from the Cardinals that he could work for MLB. La Russa s preference has been to go to work for a club in a front-office capacity, but according to sources, this is a job that definitely appeals to him.
If Caruso s group wins the bid, Torre is expected to oversee the Dodgers baseball operations. He would not return as manager, the job he left before joining MLB s front office.
I have great confidence in Rick Caruso s unique qualifications and his ability to lead a successful bid for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Torre said in a statement. In Rick I found a partner who understands consumers and fully appreciates that the Dodgers are a treasured L.A. institution. Since moving to Los Angeles, I have seen firsthand Rick s dedication to business and people in Los Angeles. I am very excited about this new opportunity.
Caruso, who has considered running for mayor of Los Angeles, is president of Caruso Affiliated and has also been a member of the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission and president of the Los Angeles Police Commission. His most notable real-estate project is The Grove, a downtown L.A. shopping mall and town center. He was also recently hired to manage a $550million shopping and dining complex on the Las Vegas Strip.
Caruso s is one of several groups submitting bids for the team, which is being auctioned in bankruptcy court following the acrimonious divorce of owners Frank and Jamie McCourt . The Dodgers were put up for sale amid accusations by Selig and others of mismanagement by the McCourts; the parties finally agreed that the team would be sold by April 30, which coincides with the deadline for to pay Jamie McCourt a $131 million settlement in the divorce.
Those bidding on the team must follow a process in which investment advisers from the Blackstone Group choose which groups to pass along to MLB, whose lawyers then vet submitted by Blackstone them. Up to, but not more than, 10 groups are then selected to participate in the auction, which must occur by April 30. All groups are pre-approved by MLB and Blackstone, so the overwhelming likelihood is that the winner of the auction becomes the next owner of the Dodgers.
Among the other groups bidding are:
Guggeheim Partners, which include former Braves president Magic Johnson .
, billionaire East Coast hedge fund mogul whose group will include super agent .
Dennis Gilbert , the former baseball agent and losing bidder for the Texas Rangers whose primary financial backer is Imperial Capital, an L.A. investment bank. Larry King has a (very) limited interest in this group.
L.A. supermarket mogul Peter O'Malley is also heading up a group but doesn't appear to be in the financial ballpark and is not considered a serious contender for the team.
MLB extended the deadline for submitting a bid until Jan. 23, and Selig has said he hopes to have the sale finalized by Opening Day.
According to sources, the sale price could top $1 billion.
The Dodgers are an iconic franchise, and I am thrilled to partner with Joe Torre , one of baseball s all-time greats, to launch a bid for this storied organization, Caruso said in a statement. Joe has a proven track record of fielding winning teams, and I am looking forward to our group benefiting from his unique experience.
Torre joined MLB in February, after having managed the Dodgers from 2008-2010. As the Daily News reported then, there was concern that Torre would find it difficult to perform his duties from Los Angeles, where he lives with his wife and young daughter. According to a source familiar with his situation, those concerns were a part of Torre s decision to leave the MLB job.
According to MLB s statement, Torre s duties, which included overseeing Major League Operations, On-Field Discipline and Umpiring, will be assumed in the interim by Senior Vice Presidents Joe GaragiolaJr., Kim Ng and Peter Woodfork . Torre appointed Garagiola, Ng and Woodfork to their positions in March.
It is expected, however, that Selig will appoint another high-profile baseball veteran to replace Torre, who came aboard after Sandy Alderson left the job to become GM of the Mets. Both La Russa and McPhail qualify on that front.
There s no question there was real value to the credibility that previous VP of Operations Sandy Alderson and Torre brought to the job, said a source familiar with the process.
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