Seven Bidders Advance in Auction Process; Two More are Cut

Michael Heisley, the owner of the Memphis Grizzlies, was eliminated from the Dodgers auction on Monday. Tony Ressler, who owns a share of the Milwaukee Brewers, was also cut from the pool of bidders.

Seven bidding groups remain, and they will now be screened thoroughly by MLB. The bidders who are approved by the MLB will be in final contention for Frank McCourt’s choosing. He is supposed to pick the winning bid by April Fool’s Day, and the deal is set to be finalized by April 30th.

The following bidding groups have been approved by Blackstone, and will be sent to MLB for further evaluation according to Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times:

1. Magic Johnson/Stan Kasten/Mark Walter

2. Steven Cohen/Arn Tellem

3. Leo Hindery/Tom Barrack

4. Jared Kushner

5. Stan Kroenke

6. Alan Casden

7. Roy Disney’s family/Stanley Gold

The scrutinizing of each bidding group and each person within the groups will continue, and those who remain at the end of this vetting process will be submitted to the baseball ownership committee. From there the prospective bidders will be going on to the executive council for further evaluation, and lastly they will be looked at by the full ownership of the 29 other baseball clubs. The ownership committee and executive council will recommend or reject bidders. If Frank McCourt disagrees with a rejected bidder, he has the right to mediation. Any bidder who makes it through to the vote of the full MLB ownership has to receive approval by three-fourths or at least 23 teams. The full ownership vote most likely will need to be completed within the next couple of weeks for there to be ample time for the final auction to transpire.

Be sure to vote in our ownership poll on the main page. Magic Johnson’s group is the favorite so far among Lasorda’s Lair readers.