Dodgers’ future unclear even after president’s defense of Mark Walter

A little more than a week after declaring that owner Mark Walter wouldn’t have to sell the Dodgers, team president Stan Kasten repeated the claim over and over again on Friday.

What made him so certain?

Walter told him so.

Of course, former owner Frank McCourt once said the Dodgers were his and his alone, only to have a judge disagree and grant his estranged wife a stake in the franchise, starting a chain of events that resulted in its sale to a group led by Walter.

“I think that is a wildly inappropriate comparison,” Kasten said.

Kasten refused to explain why, however.

“That’s all I’m going to tell you,” he said.

That more or less characterized Kasten’s latest effort to calm the growing suspicions that Walter could have to divest himself of the Dodgers. 

With a series of evasive responses and contradictory statements, Kasten raised more questions about the Dodgers’ future than he answered. His vision of continued stability for the franchise, he acknowledged, was based on what he was told by Walter, who is under federal investigation for loan fraud, according to numerous news reports.

So Kasten’s trust in Walter was absolute?

“It’s very, very high, yes,” Kasten said.

Absolute or very, very high? 

Kasten tried to ignore the question.

Were Water’s ethics unimpeachable? Was Kasten certain Walter would never commit fraud?

“You have evidence of some kind?” Kasten snapped.

Kasten was reminded that he knew Walter better than any of the dozen or so reporters standing in front of him. This was an opportunity for him to share insights into Walter’s character.

“I think Mark has done an extraordinary job as an owner, and all he’s ever cared about is providing the best experience in order to make more money to make this project successful,” Kasten said. “I think so far it has been. I expect that to continue far into the future.”

Notice he didn’t answer the questions asked of him.

Kasten continued to insist that Walter’s recent sale of the Lakers “has not impacted Dodgers, and is not going to impact the Dodgers.”

Except there were reports about Walter looking to raise capital to repay potentially illegal loans from insurance companies under his control. There were also reports about him wanting to sell his share in Chelsea of the English Premier League and offering Charter Communications early outs from its broadcasting deals with the Dodgers and Lakers in exchange for a lump-sum payout.

“You’re reasserting the things you’ve read as facts, and therefore are seeking a conclusion based on those,” Kasten said. “I don’t know those to be true.”

But if it was premature to draw conclusions about Walter being in legal or financial trouble, wouldn’t it also be premature to make declarations about him not being in trouble?

“I don’t think that’s fair,” Kasten said. “But I’m telling you, to the extent (that) my standing in the organization means anything, the Dodges are not for sale.”

Regarding the news reports he was questioned about, Kasten said, “Some things even that you’ve asserted today, I’m promising you when it’s over, you’re going to realize are being mischaracterized. You don’t have to trust me, but I’m telling you.”

What specifically was mischaracterized?

“I don’t want to talk about the investigation,” Kasten said. “It’s not my place to. I’m not involved, and I don’t know about it.”

So if he doesn’t know about the investigation, how does he know anything was mischaracterized in those news reports?

“Because of what has been explained to me in these little cases,” Kasten said. “I’ve asked questions about stuff, and someone explained that particular thing to me. But you know what? Let’s see. Let’s wait. If there’s an investigation going on, which apparently there is, let’s wait and see what they find before you conclude.”

But it was Kasten who wanted to reach a conclusion. It was Kasten who said that Walter’s reported troubles wouldn’t have any effect on the Dodgers.

He couldn’t make a convincing case.

Not now. Not yet.

The cloud of uncertainty over the Dodgers remains.

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