Dodgers fans should be thankful they dodged this ownership bullet

You want to talk about a “sliding doors” moment? Just before the Dodgers were saved from the Frank McCourt Era of nonsense, they were almost swiped up into an entirely different variety of inanity.

New York (specifically the blue and orange portion) was abuzz about mega-billionaire Steve Cohen’s conquest of the Mets this offseason, promising unfettered spending and a completely revolutionized version of modern ownership.

Free agents would be gobbled! The Wilpon Days were over! The Mets would own New York!

Well…actually…

So far, Cohen’s mostly underperformed. He paid James McCann instead of JT Realmuto (don’t care about the specifics; that’s what happened). He passed on George Springer. He forgot to get a starting pitcher at the deadline.

Now, the woebegone Mets are spiraling and under .500, with a few more games against the streaking Dodgers coming up next week.

Right. The Dodgers. That’s why we’re here. Did you know the Dodgers almost ended up with this criminal fraudster? He was the runner-up in the ownership shuffle in Los Angeles, and would’ve installed Tony La Russa atop the organization. My stars.

The Los Angeles Dodgers were nearly owned by the Mets’ Steve Cohen.

Gee. Wonder what forced MLB to spike the deal? Was it his obvious proclivity to channel his anger and frustration into public jabs at the players he chose, the very second he began to experience hardship? Yeah, probably.

And imagine how decidedly un-fun La Russa handling baseball operations would be, as opposed to…literally Andrew Friedman, the foremost architect in the game of baseball. Under La Russa, adding David Freese would’ve been the main event, not a supplemental piece.

He would’ve made the whole team out of David Freeses.

Of course, we all know complaining about his offense isn’t the worst thing Cohen’s ever done. His gargantuan wealth made him intimidating to other ownership groups, especially in an era of reduced spending. He came from a toxic workplace, fending off a gender discrimination suit related to his enterprise, Point72. He’s made gobs of money by managing hedge funds, exploiting the exploitable public.

All of that said, it remains hilarious that his biggest impact on the game thus far has been a bunch of feckless tweets, a proclivity that boiled over on Wednesday when he seemed to get angry at the Mets for his own roster construction.

Thus far, the problems Cohen has created far outweigh the issues he’s solved. Add in the whole La Russa element a decade before his reputation took a massive hit, and Dodgers fans should be exhaling loudly on this beautiful Wednesday.

Why was this even brought up?! What a devastating reminder of what MLB averted.

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