St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke is one of four remaining bidders for the Los Angeles Dodgers after two other bids are expected to be rejected by Major League Baseball, according to the Los Angeles Times. Kroenke may not be the favorite to buy the team, and he certainly does not have the biggest offer on the table.
According to the LA Times report, the group led by Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten have offered $1.6 billion. The other three bids are a few million less than that. Hedge fund manager Steven Cohen has a bid on the table worth $1.4 billion that includes $900 million in cash. You have to wonder if an offer with cash-in-hand does not appeal more to a strapped Frank McCourt.
According to a report from Forbes, MLB owners were "extremely impressed" with Cohen's offer.
In addition to Cohen's inclusion of almost a billion dollars of equity, MLB may have also been impressed with reports that he plans to hire none other than former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa to run baseball operations for the team.
La Russa, as you may have heard, retired from baseball after the Cardinals won the World Series last year. He has been looking to get back into baseball as something other than a manager.
Earlier reports noted Kroenke's ability to pay cash as well, so he may still have an outside chance if McCourt can be swayed on those terms.
MLB will send the remaining four bidders for approval by owners next week. McCourt has to select a winner by April 1, and the deal is expected to be done by April 30.