The latest former Dodger to step up to the plate and make a bid for the team is Joe Torre, who served as general manager of the team from 2008 to 2010 before leaving for an executive position with Major League Baseball.
Torre joins a group of investors led by Rick Caruso, the real estate developer behind The Grove and the Americana shopping centers.
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“I have made this decision because of a unique chance to join a group that plans to bid for the Dodgers,” he said in a statement addressing his departure from MLB. “After leaving the field, this job was an incredible experience, one that I enjoyed very much.”
Torre isn’t the only former Dodger who hopes to someday own the team; other bidders include former owner Peter O’Malley, former players Orel Hershheiser and Steve Garvey, former general manager Fred Claire and former bat boy Ben Hwang.
The team has been in the center of a storm of conflict between owners Frank and Jamie McCort, who are divorcing. Accusations of mismanagement prompted MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to assign financial control of the team to former Texas Ranger president Tom Schieffer last spring. The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection in June and Frank McCort put the team up for sale in November.
The deadline for bids to be submitted is January 23. The sale is to be completed by January 30.