This is a well established fact.
The latest evidence for my being mean and evil? The fact that I take a great deal of delight in the detail that the Dodgers number one creditor in their bankruptcy filing is…Manny Ramirez, who is owed $21 million by the Dodgers.
For those who don’t follow baseball, Manny no longer plays the game; he retired from Tampa Bay five games into this season after failing a drug test, and hasn’t played for the Dodgers since last year. Tampa Bay doesn’t owe him any money because he failed the drug test. The Dodgers traded Manny to Chicago late in the 2010 season; Chicago doesn’t owe him any money, as far as I know, since he completed his contract. But the Dodgers somehow wound up owing him $21 million?
Other creditors include Kaz Ishii, who is owed $3.3 million, and who hasn’t played for the Dodgers since 2004, and Marquis Grissom, who is owed $2.7 million and who hasn’t played for the Dodgers since 2002.
I think I have a decent understanding of the idea of deferred salary, but come on! You owe all this money to whodats who haven’t played in years? This is your Dodgers management, ladies and Germans.
Lawrence had a good suggestion when we were discussing this at work: someone should buy the Dodgers and move them to a baseball deprived area of the country. Someplace that would be receptive to baseball. Someplace like…Brooklyn.
Edited to add 6/28: There’s a good take on this over at the American McCarver blog. Speaking of that blog, it looks like it might be kind of promising; I’m familiar with the works of people like Jason Snell, Philip Michaels, and (of course) John Gruber from other contexts, and I enjoy reading their stuff. However, American McCarver is pretty baseball-obsessed at the moment, and my feelings on baseball are well known. I’d like to see how the site develops after the season ends.