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WILMINGTON — The Los Angeles Dodgers and Major League Baseball squared off in a Delaware bankruptcy court Wednesday as the team sought court approval of a $150 million financing arrangement that MLB is challenging with a financing offer of its own.
The rancor between the two sides, embodied by team owner Frank McCourt and Commissioner Bud Selig, was evident from the start, with Dodgers attorney Bruce Bennett telling the judge that the team should not be forced to accept the league's financing offer, which Bennett characterized as "a deal with the devil."
Bennett said the league's offer is structured to exert control of the Dodgers while hamstringing the club's ability to exercise its business judgment and protect itself in any legal disputes with the league if it accepts its financing offer.
Thomas Lauria, an attorney representing Selig, accused McCourt of violating league rules by filing for bankruptcy protection and entering into the proposed financing arrangement with hedge fund Highbridge Capital Management without league approval.
Lauria also accused McCourt of using the bankruptcy to reap benefits for himself as major shareholder of the Dodgers, while also trying to be relieved of his obligations as a club owner under Major League Baseball's rules.
"There is no basis for the court to intervene and permit the requested violations," he argued.
At the same time, Lauria indicated that Selig is willing to work with the Dodgers to resolve their concerns over MLB's financing offer.
"We're here to do what's in the best interests of this team... Tell us what you need," he said.
Wednesday's hearing began with the Dodgers' official committee of unsecured creditors withdrawing its objection to the team's proposed hedge fund financing after minor modifications were made to the loan agreement with Highbridge, including reducing the minimum interest rate from 10 percent to 9 percent.
Meanwhile Bennett said the league is overstating the savings offered on its plan, which the Dodgers admit has better economic terms. Bennett said the difference is about $6.5 million, but said that amount, or more could be eaten up in court fights with MLB as a lender.
"Disputes ... are going to be expensive," he said. "... It is not the case that the Major League Baseball proposal is necessarily cheaper."
After being repeatedly interrupted by objections from MLB attorney Glenn Kurtz while questioning Dodgers executive Jeffrey Ingram, Dodgers attorney Matthew Walsh said any doubt that the two sides will be "litigating everything" had been answered.
The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection on June 27, blaming Major League Baseball for refusing a week earlier to approve a multibillion-dollar TV deal with Fox Sports that McCourt was counting on to keep the troubled franchise afloat and meet payroll deadlines at the end of June.
Selig's rejection of the TV deal came after he took the extraordinary step in April of assuming control of the troubled franchise and appointed a monitor to oversee its day-to-day operations, saying he was concerned about the team's finances and how the Dodgers were being run.
Ingram testified that the Dodgers approached several potential lenders before eventually reaching an agreement with Highbridge, and that it never considered asking for a loan from the league, which earlier this year had threatened to withhold a scheduled distribution from a club trust.
"We didn't want them to be our lender," Ingram said. "Given the adverse relationship between the parties, there was a concern it would not be a good match."
