So, this awkward little situation happened on Wednesday afternoon, when Major League Baseball announced that it's seizing the reins of the Dodger franchise and running the team.
Is it awkward for Frank McCourt? You betcha. Is this a total embarrassment for all Dodger fans? Oh, totally. Should Giants fans chant something like "Cash For Go-old!" the next time the Dodgers come to AT&T? Ab-so-freaking-lutely.
But, it's also important to consider how this nightmare in La-La Land affects the Giants, who are competing in the same division as a team now being run by the organization that, um, runs it.
Commissioner Bud Selig announced that a "representative" of his office will be manning the helm for the Dodgers and while he hasn't actually named that representative, it wouldn't be all that shocking to see Kim Ng named in that spot.
Ng, the former assistant general manager for the Dodgers, is currently a senior vice president of baseball operations in the MLB offices, so the move, while a little incestuous, makes a lot of sense. She knows the team, she's obviously close with the commish, and the transition would be pretty seamless in terms of keeping the show running.
Where things get kind of tricky from a personnel standpoint is if the Dodgers don't stink this year. What if the trade deadline rolls up and it's Dodgers/Giants in a heated battle for the division title?
Would Ng -- or whomever's in charge -- be free to make trades and acquire players in order to better serve a team that's in hock for not being able to manage their finances?
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If the answer is "yes," then Giants fans should be absolutely outraged; for all the "make Clayton Kershaw a free agent!" jokes on Twitter Wednesday, it would be borderline unethical to have MLB beefing up the Dodgers roster and payroll in an attempt to make the playoffs at the expense of another team.
And what about trading players to other teams involved in the NL West race? It wouldn't cross the mind of anyone within the "normal" Dodgers organization to deal, in a hypothetical scenario, Clayton Kershaw to the Rockies, because the team would he'd repeatedly smoke the team for the next decade.
Maybe an impartial MLB representative feels differently. Though the Kershaw deal ain't happening, a trade of any kind within the division could still negatively impact the Giants when it comes to fighting for first place.
This would all be solved if McCourt was willing to sell the team and/or could find a buyer (Mark Cuban, anyone?!?), but a) he might not be willing to do so, and b) these type of sales don't exactly get handled via PayPal or anything. They take some time.
So, watching that aspect of this situation unfold will be, um, interesting, from the perspective of a Giants fan and/or someone in the Giants organization.
Here's another concern for Giants fans: what about the newly heightened security? McCourt reportedly secured a $30 million loan from FOX Broadcasting last week ... just to meet payroll.
If the Dodgers can barely afford to pay the people that are absolutely, 100-percent necessary to run an MLB ballclub (read: players), how are they going to ensure that the people who matter (read: fans) are properly taken care of?
Obviously, this is an issue that strikes home with Giants fans, following the attack on Bryan Stow at Dodger Stadium -- it's hard to imagine that losing tons of money and sitting in financial straits facilitates a cleaner, safer, more fan-friendly environment than it otherwise would.
It's possible that none of this matters. Selig could -- and will, if he's smart -- ensure that Dodger Stadium becomes safer than it's been under McCourt's reign in L.A. And the Dodgers, under the weight of this public affair, could sink into the cellar of the NL West.
But just because it's in another part of the state doesn't mean it's not worth watching, because the outcome of this situation could most certainly have an effect on Giants fans.
