Dodgers May Be Sold Soon -- Is Wolff Interested?

With all the recent talk about the land Wolff may or may not buy in the South Bay, it should be noted that the area that truly impacts the A's future might be in Southern California.

That is where the Los Angeles Dodgers' epic legal battle with Major League Baseball and Commissioner Bud Selig is taking place. For months, rumors have flown that Lew Wolff will become the new Dodgers owner, once MLB buys out current owner Frank McCourt.

Here's where it gets interesting: Last week -- according to Bill Shaikin of The Los Angeles Times -- U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross postponed the trial for a month to give time for McCourt and MLB to reach a settlement. McCourt's divorce becomes final on Nov. 14, which has been a major hurdle. Once that's out of the way, and if and when MLB reaches a settlement with McCourt, then MLB likely will own the Dodgers and could sell the team to whomever it wants.

That new Dodgers owner could be Wolff, according to one theory, especially if Selig is seeking to do his old frat buddy a favor as a "makeup call" for Wolff not getting what he wants with the A's. If Wolff is not allowed to move to the South Bay, he likely will want to sell the A's. It could cushion that blow if Selig hand-delivers him the Dodgers -- a very valuable asset and one of the most storied franchises in sports.

The devil is in the details, of course. Some say that the cash-strapped McCourt needs to sell the Dodgers for $1 billion just to break even with all his debt. Forbes Magazine recently placed the Dodgers value' at about $800 million. Selig and McCourt probably need to agree on a sale figure somewhere within that range.

If Wolff becomes the Dodgers owner, how great would it be if the A's are sold to a new local owner who would start working with Oakland officials on a new Oakland ballpark? For the first time since 1995 we might have a real owner who wants to "StAy." And win.

Wolff has denied interest in the Dodgers. Then again, he denied wanting to fire Bob Geren ... about two weeks before the A's fired Bob Geren.

With territorial rights not likely to be changed, this is not as far-fetched a scenario as Wolff's apologists would have you believe. Stay tuned.