Yesterday, I detailed how Frank McCourt's diminishing bank account could have a pulverizing effect on the Dodgers' organization. 

Which brings me to Mark Cuban, the possible savior for the future of the club. 

Cuban was rumored to be interested in purchasing the Dodgers about two weeks ago,but just one day after the initial report was made about his interest, the Dallas Morning News ran a story that adamantly denied his desire to buy the Dodgers . 

Considering Frank's financial situation and the pending divorce settlement, he needs to recruit Cuban as the future owner of the team. 

The caveat issued by Cuban is that he must be able to purchase a controlling share of the team.

Some reports, including the one denying Cuban's interest in the Dodgers, may say he doesn't want to add another team to his role call.

I don't believe it for one second. 

He already lost out in his bid for the Chicago Cubs, but Cuban claims that, "more [Dodger fans] than I can count," have asked him to buy the team. 

He also showed interest back in 2005 to purchase the his hometown Pittsburgh Penguins, but the deal never materialized. 

The bottom line is that he wants another team, and it's just a matter of time before he gets one. Why not make it the Dodgers? 

Cuban, although excessively involved and sometimes over the top with his antics involving his Dallas Mavericks , is an absolute top notch owner.

The man has a deep-seeded passion for sports, and while that occasionally manifests in some crazed outburst by Cuban, it also provides the team with unlimited resources to achieve success. 

He understands the bigger picture, something that the McCourt's are apparently having difficulty doing, and Cuban is willing to do whatever it takes to take a team to the top. 

It's evidenced by how Cuban bought a majority share of the Mavericks in 2000 and took over a team that had a franchise winning percentage of around 40 percent. Since then, the team has won at almost a 70 percent clip, and also made it to the NBA Finals for the first time in 2006. 

Not bad for an internet billionaire if you ask me. 

He also dominates in the business world, a trait that's necessary in a cut-throat industry such as professional sports.

While McCourt has just $1.2 million in his checking account, Cuban is estimated to be worth $2.3 billion by Forbes Magazine , and I can guarantee this much—you won't find Cuban's bank account dwindling down to $167,000 anytime soon. 

There was also something else that came to my mind.

Around the same time as the Cuban rumors arose, Jamie McCourt had supposedly secured financial backing to buyout Frank from his ownership of the Dodgers.

This raises the question, was Cuban her financial backer?

Now I can't stress this enough—the team is not for a sale at this time, and the situation is not completely ideal for Cuban when looking at it as strictly an investment opportunity. 

He wants to be able to buyout a majority shareholder and gain control of the team, but the McCourt's are the only people with shares of the club. In order for Cuban to gain ownership he would have to buyout the $800 million franchise.  

But pending the outcome of the McCourt divorce, Frank could very easily be forced into selling the team to a third party in order to meet the settlement. 

One thing to keep in mind is that before Cuban put in his bid for the Cubs, he announced that he wouldn't comment on buying the team when it wasn't officially for sale.

Sound familiar? 

Cuban clearly has a desire to expand his portfolio into the realm of Major League Baseball, and the Dodgers situation is developing into the perfect fit for the eccentric, but always successful, businessman. 

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Then I came across a startling article in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that claims Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is running out of money.

Uh-oh.

The piece, written by John Emshwiller, details some very disturbing facts that have emerged from the divorce papers filed between Frank, the team owner, and his soon-to-be ex-wife Jamie, former Dodgers CEO.

To quickly summarize what has happened up until this point, the heart of the divorce hearings will be to decide whether or not Frank is the sole owner of the team, a claim that Jamie argues is completely false.

She insists that they have joint ownership of the club, valued at $800 million, and is entitled to half of the club and its assets.

Jamie is fighting to gain back that lost share because Frank fired her shortly over a month ago, citing insubordination—in the form of an alleged affair with a personal security assistant—and her insufficient performance in the front office.

A judge has already upheld her dismissal from the club, and the couple is waiting for what will be an ugly showdown during their court proceedings in which a Los Angeles county court will divide the couple's assets.

Taking things back to the Wall Street Journal article, the most shocking thing revelation is how Frank is “essentially living from paycheck-to-paycheck” and only has $1.2 million of cash assets at his disposal.

It even goes so far as to say his liquid assets dropped as low as $167,000 recently after making a $700,000 payment to his wife for her expenses.

That may seem like a hefty sum of cash to most people, but for the owner of a professional sports team it amounts to merely pennies.

Additionally, Jamie says that Frank is behind on mortgage payments—which started as high as $28 million to pay off two homes in Malibu valued at $45 million total.

Jamie currently has more accessible liquid assets than Frank, and she has offered to buy the team from him outright, but he insists that it’s not for sale.

The current unrest highlights worries that have been present ever since the McCourts bought the team in 2004.

There have always been lingering questions as to how much money Frank really has in his name and if his funds are enough to fully support the organization.

Whatever the case may be, the bottom line is that these new revelations could have damning implications for the Boys in Blue.

The focus of the baseball world will now be thrust upon the impact that the McCourt divorce will have on one of the most storied franchises in all of sports.

Not only does it leave the future in doubt, but it also raises questions about recent transactions and the effect the upcoming divorce may have had on them.

Clearly, both Frank and Jamie saw this divorce coming, because we all know that 700 sheets of divorce papers don’t just come out of nowhere.  

We also already know that at the present time, the organization is making an attempt to be financially responsible, which has already resulted in the team exiting bidding for John Lackey despite the glaring need for a top-end starting pitcher.

So is it possible that the pending divorce case prevented the Dodgers from trading for Cliff Lee or Roy Halladay at the trading deadline?

I think the answer is most definitely yes.

What a shame it is—that the Dodgers could have had their ace if Frank and Jamie McCourt could have just figured out their personal matters.

More worrisome is the litany of young players headed to arbitration in the next two years, including Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Chad Billingsley, and Clayton Kershaw.

From this point forward, it appears that Frank is on a collision course with being forced to sell the team, as demonstrated last year when we saw the San Diego Padres owner sell the team as a result of a nasty divorce.

A change of ownership would be a gigantic issue, especially with so many players headed to arbitration, and the team could face a scenario where they lose most of the young core of this top-end team.

Whether Frank has to sell his share of the team to Jamie, or to a third party, the ownership flux in Los Angeles will be a colossal detriment to the Dodgers' title hopes.

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Does the team have enough expendable money to fill their roster holes? 

Will Frank have to sell the team to a third party? 

Is this organization dedicated to winning even with the front office distractions? 

But no amount of off the field drama can sour the recognition being earned by Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp.

Both players would be the first to admit that personal accolades mean nothing, even after they each earned Silver Slugger awards and both finished in the top 10 in MVP voting.

On top of that, Kemp won a Gold Glove for his play in center field.

Ethier came in sixth and was sandwiched between two fellow NL West players, Troy Tulowitzski and Pablo Sandoval. The Dodgers' right fielder received two second place votes, three fourth place votes, and 113 total points.

Kemp finished 10th, earning two nods for fourth place and totaling 49 points.

When asked to comment about the awards, each young star will surely downplay the recognition they are receiving.

Don't let that fool you though, as the recognition of the youngsters will go a long way in the clubhouse. Having two players acknowledged as being amongst the elite in the National League is a positive experience for the entire team.

It motivates pitchers, knowing that they have two outstanding bats to support them for at least a couple more years.

It encourages those in the Dodgers' farm system that an organizational talent like Kemp can excel in the majors at such a young age. 

It provides the Los Angeles fan base with alternative options, aside from "Mannywood," to rally around when they go to Chavez Ravine for a game.

And while celebrating the accolades of Ethier and Kemp might seem trivial with the absence of a trip to the World Series, we have to remember that championship teams aren't always built in one season, and sometimes not even two.

Joe Torre has guided the Dodgers to back-to-back NL West titles but has failed in each postseason against the Philadelphia Phillies, yet there is no manager in baseball better equipped to bounce back from such disappointing conclusions to consecutive seasons.

Torre knows that with two or three new pitchers, a new second baseman, and a (hopefully) rejuvenated Manny Ramirez, this team is very capable of taking home a World Series championship. 

Which brings us full circle, right back to the organizational unrest.

Is there enough money?

Are there going to be new owners?

Will the front office be committed to winning for the long-haul?

So take a deep breath and enjoy the awards won by Ethier and Kemp, because this could be one long, dramatic offseason experience. 

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With this year's race all but locked up, I wanted to take a look at a player who I consider to be the front-runner for MVP in 2010. 

At 25 years old, Matt Kemp has already put up impressive numbers that rank up there with some of the elite names in baseball history. 

He is just one of 17 outfielders in the integration era—a list that includes Willie Mays, Darryl Strawberry, and Grady Sizemore—to to hit more than 60 home runs, steal more than 80 bases, and compile over 200 RBI by the age of 25. 

In 2009, Kemp emerged as a versatile offensive weapon for the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers. Batting in nearly every spot in the order, Kemp excelled wherever he was placed and took home his first career Silver Slugger trophy. 

Kemp batted .297, maintaining a .300 average throughout the majority of the season, and set career highs in home runs (26) and RBI (101).

Combined with his 34 stolen bases, Kemp displays the power and speed combination that it takes to become the next member of the 40/40 club. 

In addition to his dynamic attributes at the plate, Kemp also won a Gold Glove for the manner in which he grazes centerfield, earning him the nickname of "The Bison" from his teammates. 

This five-tool approach to the game is why Matt Kemp will win the 2010 NL MVP. 

A prime example of Kemp's impact in both the field and at the plate occurred on July 10 against the Milwaukee Brewers. 

Kemp went 3-for-5 on the night and blasted a game-winning grand slam in the top of the 10th inning, but it was the style in which he did it that was so captivating. 

Batting eighth in the order, Kemp timed an offering from Carlos Villanueva perfectly and put a ball into orbit, launching a grand slam high above the left-center field wall and pushing the Dodgers in front 10-6. 

In the bottom of the frame, Dodgers' closer Jonathan Broxton allowed two runs to cross the dish, and faced Jason Kendall with runners on the corners and two outs. 

Kendall drilled a high fly ball to deep centerfield, and with Kemp playing shallow to prevent a bloop from falling, he had a an eternity to go in order to corral this drive.

But Kemp, at 6-foot-2 230 lbs., made an over-the-shoulder snag just before hitting the wall to end the game and kill the Brewers' rally, securing a wild 12-8 win for the Boys in Blue. 

This is just one example of the many highlight reel plays he makes on a near daily basis in the field and at the plate.

At this juncture in his career, we can project Kemp's career going one of two ways.

Considering his propensity to strikeout, he could become the next Preston Wilson. 

Wilson hit 31 home runs, drove in 121 runs, and stole 36 bases when he was 25-years old, but he also struck out 187 times while drawing only 55 walks that season.

In 2009, Kemp fanned 139 times and walked 52 times. 

We saw the youngster struggle in the NLDS, going 1-for-13 after a first pitch home run in Game One. Kemp fell victim to an off-speed attack from Cardinals' pitchers and was never able to square-up a ball following his early home run. 

The good news for Dodger fans is that Kemp seems to be going in the right direction, as indicated by his subtle improvements from 2008, when he struck out 153 times and walked 46 times.

And that was in 10 fewer plate appearances than 2009. 

On the other hand, Kemp could continue his growth and become one of the biggest threats in the senior circuit, wearing out pitchers with bat, catchers with his legs, and hitters with his glove.

Only time will tell, but with the skill set Kemp possesses and the trajectory his career is on at this point, I'm predicting that he takes home the 2010 NL MVP. 

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The Giants had only one Cy Young to their credit (Mike McCormick, 1967) until 2007, and Timmy has brought home the trophy for two consecutive seasons and put himself at the forefront of the pitching world on the senior circuit.

The last time a pitcher won multiple Cy Young awards in a row was when Randy Johnson earned four straight from 1999-2002 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

After Zack Greinke took home the AL Cy Young with 16 wins, and now Lincecum won the NL honors with 15, the voters have sent a strong message that they are capable of looking past the meaningless win-loss records and instead vote based on numbers that actually make a difference.

I think this was a big year for Cy Young voting because of the well-cast votes by the BBWAA, which made a statement that they care about who was the most dominating on the mound, and not who was cast by the baseball figure-heads as the anointed winner.

As I wrote yesterday, the scenario played out just as I had suspected, and the two Cardinals' pitchers, Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, split votes and helped Tim win the award.

Wainwright actually had 12 first-place votes to Lincecum's 11, but Timmy got the overall nod by 10 points over him and just seven points over the runner-up, Carpenter.

Overall, it was the third-closest Cy Young race in the last 40 years.

In my opinion, the major thing aside from splitting votes that held Carpenter back from winning the award was the fact that he didn't notch 200 innings pitched this season.

There has never been a starting pitcher (in a non-strike season) to win the Cy Young and have fewer than 200 innings pitched, and the fact that the voters acknowledged this was a huge step forward for the voting process.

But don't get me wrong: Lincecum won the award based on his dominating performance more so than Carpenter lost it for his lack of innings.

Timmy lowered his ERA from 2.62 in 2008 to 2.48 in 2009, and while doing so he held opposing hitters to a .206 batting average against.

He has led the league in strikeouts during both of his Cy Young campaigns and the youngster from the state of Washington is just starting to build his trophy case along the road of a lengthy career.

The 2009 season, although he won one less game than last year, was a huge improvement for Lincecum as a pitcher.

He walked 16 fewer hitters, showing that his game is still evolving, and even lowered his WHIP from a tiny 1.172 in 2008 to a minuscule 1.047 in 2009.

Perhaps a more telling statistic is that in 2008, he led the league in hits per nine innings with 7.2; this year, he brought that even lower, to 6.7 hits per nine innings.

Altogether, it was a brilliant season for Lincecum (and that's coming from a Dodgers fan).

Lincecum has the opportunity, at just 25 years old, to develop into one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game.

Consider that the great Sandy Koufax didn't win his first Cy Young until age 27, and Randy Johnson won his first at age 31, and it's easy to see why Lincecum has the chance to position himself with the greatest players of all-time by the time his career runs dry.

Those who contend that his herky-jerky and unconventional wind-up will shorten his career because of injury problems are flat out incorrect in that assumption.

In that regard, I really have to tip my cap to the Giants' organization for trusting his unorthodox motion and not forcing him to change his delivery.

My dad and I have discussed many times the fact that if the Seattle Mariners had not passed on their hometown talent in the amateur draft, they surely would have toyed with his delivery and screwed up his career trajectory.

Timmy is gifted with a rare talent that we can call a "rubber arm," and this guy could throw on two or three days rest, if necessary, and still be at the top of his game.

Back when he played high school ball, I can remember him pitching seven innings on a Monday and coming right back to throw seven more on Wednesday—and he would be more dominant in the second start.

It's a unique ability that he has, being able to throw so many pitches with little repercussions on his arm, and I think this is one of the main reasons that he is going to mount a storied career that lasts for a very long time.

It may seem ridiculously obvious that I am announcing that a man who just won two Cy Young awards will be one of the all-time greats before his career is over, but I am confident in saying that Tim Lincecum will be among the baseball gods at the conclusion of his run in the majors.

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Chris Carpenter, Adam Wainwright, and Tim Lincecum are the front runners to win, but one of the main things to keep in mind as the results are announced is that it is rare to see two pitchers from the same team vying for the Cy Young.

For this reason, I see Carpenter and Wainwright splitting votes and weakening the chances of either to take home the honor. 

Between the two Redbirds, I would personally give the nod to Carpenter over Wainwright, the main reason being that the St. Louis offense simply produced more runs, for whatever reason, behind Wainwright.

Consider this: Wainwright received 5.5 runs per start, while Carpenter got just 4.6 runs per start. That means Wainwright had virtually an entire run more of support per game throughout the season. This allowed him more margin for error on the mound. 

That's not to say Wainwright was unimpressive, but rather just suggesting that Carpenter was that much more impressive. 

However, I do think that no matter how the voting shakes out, it is going to reflect a schism between the two in shares of votes. 

This voting debacle could and, in my opinion, will result in Lincecum catapulting past the duo and earning his second consecutive Cy Young award. 

A knock against Lincecum's candidacy could be his 15 wins not stacking up with the 17 for Carpenter and 19 for Wainwright, but as Zack Greinke proved on Tuesday, wins are not all they're cracked up to be.

If you adjust records for wins lost and losses saved, Lincecum balances out more evenly with Carpenter and Wainwright. 

Timmy's record goes to 18-8, while Carpenter's levels out at 19-7 and Wainwright's jumps to 22-10.  

Examining the pitchers in more depth than just records, Lincecum still stacks up as a pitcher very much deserving of the Cy Young.

With that said, let's examine how I think the top five should look, and it's stacked with a powerful group of right-handers. 

Tim Lincecum (15-7, 2.48 ERA)

"The Freak" led the league in strikeouts, complete games, and shutouts. 

He also lowered his Cy Young-winning ERA from 2.62 in 2009 down to 2.48 in 2010. 

Some might try to convince you that since Lincecum threw with the backing of a laughable San Francisco Giants offense, his performances were that much better than the pair of Cardinals pitchers.

That assumption would be correct in regards to Wainwright, but Timmy got the same runs per start (4.6) as Carpenter did for the Cardinals. 

Chris Carpenter (17-4, 2.24 ERA)

Carpenter went 12-1 after the end of June and was virtually untouchable for the stretch run. 

He led the league in ERA (2.24) and adjusted ERA-plus (183).

Carpenter would be the first starting pitcher ever to win the Cy Young without recording 200 innings during a non strike-shortened season.

When he took home the crown in 2005, he tossed 241.2 innings compared to 192.2 in 2009.  

Now I'm not saying that his inning total is anything to scoff at, but it certainly raises questions as to the whether his complete body of work is up to par. 

If he takes home the Cy Young, it would set a unique precedent for winners in the future. 

Adam Wainwright (19-8, 2.63 ERA)

Wainwright led the league in innings pitched and wins, and he allowed two runs or fewer in 26 of his 34 starts. 

Somewhat forgotten behind the spectacular season of Carpenter, Wainwright's talent must not be ignored. 

Danny Haren (14-10, 3.14 ERA)

Haren was the early season favorite for the award before hitting some harder times in the second half of the season.

The right-hander led the league in walks, hits per inning pitched (1.003), and strikeout-to-walk ratio, with a ridiculous 5.87 (223 K/38 BB).

He got only 4.4 runs per start on a woeful Arizona Diamondbacks club, but one major knock on his resume are the 27 home runs he gave up in 33 starts.  

Josh Johnson (15-5, 3.23)

Johnson had the second most wins lost (five) in the National League, and he recorded a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than 3-to-1 (191 K/58 BB). 

Based on raw ability, Johnson is right up there with the best of them, but he still has to more development to undergo before he has a serious claim to the Cy Young. 

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Owner Frank McCourt is neck-deep in divorce proceedings with his wife and former Dodgers CEO, Jamie, and the decision of a Los Angeles County court could trigger an unwanted sale of the club over the offseason.

This would be the worst possible outcome of the divorce, with Frank being so swamped by the outrageous demands of Jamie that he is forced to sell the team to a third party in order to meet the ruling of the court.

That, among other reasons, is why the Dodgers must lockup manager Joe Torre on a new extension.

Torre will be turning 70 next season and his three-year contract expires at the conclusion of 2010, but the LA Times has reported that the team is in talks with Torre to extend his deal for at least one season.

Additionally, general manager Ned Colletti has acknowledged the commitment of the team to sign Torre’s coaching staff, including the highly sought-after Don Mattingly.

In my opinion, Mattingly is the best option to replace Torre in Los Angeles, and inking "Donny Ballgame" to a new contract is incredibly important for the organization to continue successfully past the Torre era.

However, I don’t think Mattingly is ready to take over the reins after next season.

He needs more time to learn under the tutelage of Torre before he can be fully prepared to manage the team, and that is yet another reason why Torre needs to be resigned for at least one more season.

As it stands for Torre, he is currently tied with Bobby Cox for the most consecutive postseason appearances (14) all-time, and he has brought home back-to-back division titles to Los Angeles for the first time in over 30 years.

Look, I have been as critical of Torre as anyone regarding his methodology at times, but one thing that is undeniable is Torre’s sheer passion to win and his ability to manage ball games with the precision of a surgeon.

"It's been fun. When I came here, I was curious about how it might go. But the last two years have been invigorating. You see progress and your ego tells you maybe you had something to do with it," said Torre.

Despite falling short of the World Series in 2009, Torre had the right approach towards the season and when the Dodgers were firing on all cylinders, they couldn’t be stopped.

The club ripped through the senior circuit in the first half of the season, only to see a swift downfall of the pitching staff coincide with an extensive drought on the offensive side.

The deterioration and demise of the team culminated when the Dodgers ran into fatal problems and the players flat out didn’t execute for Torre in the NLCS.

These events have placed the organization at a critical point in setting up the future.

If Torre leaves after 2010, and Mattingly is persuaded to manage somewhere else, then the young core of this team will be abandoned by the club at a critical juncture in their development.

Players like Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp, and Clayton Kershaw have the ability to elevate this team to the next level and bring a World Series championship to the Dodgers, but they can’t do it without the guidance of a special manager.

Losing Torre after only a three-year stint would be an absolute shame.

The team has made enormous strides in the past two seasons under Torre's micro-managing approach and all of the momentum built along the way will be lost if Torre doesn’t come back after next season.

The bottom line is that the Dodgers need Torre to keep Mattingly, and they need Mattingly to have a promising future.

That’s why an extension for Torre is so important to this club moving forward.

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Washington State Patrol reported smelling marijuana when Lincecum initially rolled down the window, and upon inquiring about the smell Lincecum produced 3.3 grams and a pipe.

I just want to tell those members of the media who are about to explode: its OK.

Life will go on.

Look, the 25-year old Lincecum went to Liberty High School in Renton, WA just a few miles away from me and was also just a grade in front of me.

He remained in the Pacific Northwest when he went on to play college ball at the University of Washington, and throughout the years we played in many of the same leagues and played with many of the same people.

You may not be shocked to learn that this news comes as no surprise to some of us in the area.

But of course, the ensuing talk of the sports jabber heads around the country will be to chastise Lincecum for being irresponsible and lacking the characteristics of a proper role model.

The media will have a field day using whatever they think is the hip lingo to demonize Lincecum as some sort of menace to society, and somewhere amongst the masses of opinions you will surely hear the argument that “if he smokes weed, what else does he do?”

Nothing else.

I can assure you of that.

He didn't go all Andre Agassi on us and end up on some crystal meth, and Lincecum was not driving under the influence at the time. He was cited for going just 14 MPH over the posted 60 MPH speed limit.

The stretch of highway that he got pulled over in is a well-known spot for speed traps, because it is located just a few miles from the Oregon border where speed limit changes about every 20 yards.

Seriously, the speed limit is ridiculous.

It goes from 45 through Portland, then to 55, and back up to 60 before it hits a cool 70 a few more miles north.

Regardless of the speeding or weed involved, Lincecum has no prior history of indiscretions and no tarnishes on his record up to this point, so can’t we just give him a break on this one?

I’m sure that Timmy will be the first to admit that this was an extremely poor decision and come on folks—he’s still a kid.

Knowing the kind of guy Tim has been over the years, I would be greatly surprised if he runs into anything remotely like this throughout the remainder of his career.

He’s a smart guy, and he happened to make a very public mistake.

But hear me out Tim, if you choose to smoke weed, and you happen to be a Cy Young award winner, it would probably be wise to drive as close to the speed limit as possible when transporting said weed.

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“From an employment analysis, there’s no law that would support the court reinstating an employee,” said court commissioner Scott Gordon on Thursday morning.

Her husband, Frank McCourt, fired Jamie last month on the grounds that she was having an inappropriate relationship with an employee and was also doing a poor job as CEO.

Frank’s lawyers have presented the case that Jamie simply carried the title of CEO but did nothing in her time with the team as far being involved with organizational decisions.

They claim that she was trying to push her position as becoming a general manager someday, and was largely into promoting herself rather than what was best for the team.

“Her position has been largely ceremonial,” said Frank McCourt’s attorney, Mark Seltzer. “He makes the major decisions.”

Frank paid Jamie $500,000 as severance pay to cover her salary from Oct. 1-Dec. 31, and this push to regain her spot as CEO seems to be a last ditch attempt to take money from her husband before a separate hearing begins on Dec. 15.

Both Frank and Jamie sent a gauntlet of lawyers to the Los Angeles County courtroom, but neither was present for the ruling.

As for now, this case will go silent, but there is much to be decided in the upcoming months.

The smoking gun in the divorce proceedings is going to be a document signed by Frank and Jamie when they initially gained ownership of the club that outlined Frank as the sole owner of the team, while Jamie was the sole owner of the couple’s estate.

The agreement was drawn up to keep the couple’s personal assets separate from their business, but Jamie contests that she didn’t know the full scope of what she was signing.

Whether or not the judge rules that the team is “community property,” meaning that Frank and Jamie each hold ownership in the club, is yet to be decided.

That decision will be made over the course of a full trial.

If the team is deemed to be community property, then Jamie will regain access to the Dodgers’ organization.

If the team is given solely to Frank, it still might not be the end of Jamie as far as the Dodgers go, because the costly divorce could force Frank to sell the team in order to accommodate the lofty demands of Jamie in the separation proceedings.

This could spell disaster in the off-season for the Boys in Blue, who have hoards of players heading to arbitration, and a team in the flux of ownership may have a difficult time maneuvering the salaries of the club.

Andre Ethier, Jonathan Broxton, Chad Billingsley, Matt Kemp, James Loney, and Russell Martin are just a few of the big names up for arbitration for the Dodgers. 

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Reports out of Nicaragua on Tuesday confirmed that Dodgers pitcher Vicente Padilla was treated and released for a gunshot wound to the leg.

The incident comes just days after the ugly developments of the McCourts' divorce case became public with the release of over 700 pages of case documents.

Apparently, Padilla was accidentally shot in the right leg by his bodyguard while at a shooting range about 22 miles southeast of Managua. It appears that the bodyguard was in the process of trying to fix a malfunctioning weapon when it discharged and struck Padilla in the right thigh.

Ok, so it’s not exactly Plaxico, but it sure is close, as initial reports claimed that Padilla had actually shot himself.

News slowly leaked that the bodyguard was at fault, and that Padilla had spent around 40 minutes at a private hospital before being released.

The injury was not considered serious, but this one surely gets filed under the “you’ve got to be kidding me” tab.

The Dodgers right-hander was signed in August and went 4-0 with a 3.20 ERA during the regular season. Padilla will file for free agency soon and will be seeking a multi-year contract.

Is this really the way you lobby for a contract, Vicente?

Although he thrived under the management style of Joe Torre when he joined the Dodgers, Padilla has obtained a wrap sheet for being a clubhouse malcontent.

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that getting shot by your bodyguard is not going to increase the value of your 32-year-old arm in any way, shape, or form.

Sure, he helped his case with a series-clinching win in St. Louis over the Cardinals, but he was also hammered for six runs in three innings in the series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies.

I just don't think bringing back Padilla will do anything to help this team take the next step towards winning the World Series.

So while the McCourt divorce obviously has a direct impact on the Dodgers’ future, Padilla will just become the butt of many jokes once this incident spreads.

It’s just another crazy development that further throws the organization into a state of flux as the battle of ownership squares up to take center stage in a California courtroom.

In regards to the McCourt case, Frank has presented a document signed by his soon-to-be-ex wife (and former Dodgers CEO) Jamie that states he indeed has sole possession of the team, while Jamie is the sole owner of their estate.

Jamie contends that she didn’t know what she was signing at the time.

The document was drafted when the couple first moved to Los Angeles from Boston after their purchase of the Dodgers, and it was done to protect the ownership status of the team in the event of a breakup.

Ironically, that document will now be the smoking gun in deciding the fate of one of baseball’s most storied franchises.

If the judge decrees that Frank is the sole owner of the Dodgers, then Frank might have to sell the team in order to cover the exorbitant costs demanded by Jamie in the divorce proceedings.

If both are declared to be partial owners, then there is no telling what will happen from there.

Frank fired Jamie from her position as CEO, citing insubordination and her inappropriate relationship with a personal security assistant assigned to her. That means that if both are positioned as owners, she will have to be reinstated within the front office.

Like I mentioned, the Padilla shooting incident will have no bearing on the Dodgers’ future because they most likely will not resign the free agent, but it just adds another comical chapter to the current state of the organization.

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