From ESPN.com: The Los Angeles Dodgers will not be able to bid on free agents such as Prince Fielder and Albert Pujols until the team is sold, a source close to Dodgers owner Frank McCourt told ESPN.com on Wednesday. I call bunk.
That is, Major League Baseball is not declaring that L.A. cannot bid on free agents. Didn't Ned just get the scoop of the year by signing free agent Juan Rivera for $4.5 million guaranteed? If MLB forbade the Dodgers to bid on free agents, why did they allow the Rivera signing? Certainly, $4.5 million is a far cry from the zillions that Pujols or Fielder will surely get. Is this "source" suggesting that the Dodgers can only sign free agents for under "X" number of dollars? That doesn't make sense. Read on...
Perhaps the source is alluding to some notion that the team is not allowed to commit to a team budget over "X" number of dollars for the 2012 season. Meaning, that L.A. would have to operate under a similar budget that they had last season. I can actually fathom MLB doing this. (And again, I'm speculating a ton here.)
However, even if there is a budget ceiling on the Dodgers imposed by MLB, why would that keep them from bidding on Prince Fielder? What if Ned wanted to trade Andre Ethier, James Loney, and Chad Billingsley for prospects, shrink the payroll, and then sign Prince while still remaining under the budget ceiling?
See my point?
There is no way that MLB has told the Dodgers that they cannot bid on Prince or Albert.
However, the "source" quoted by ESPN does not say that these sanctions are being imposed by MLB. Perhaps Frank McNugget has a self-imposed budget ceiling. This I can understand. Most of us assume that Frank will not splurge for a premium free agent this winter. But to suggest that the Dodgers cannot bid on any free agent such as Prince Fielder or Albert Pujols is folly. Won't is more like it.
And for that, again, we have Frank - and Frank alone - to thank.