Kasten leaves no room for interpretation
Stan Kasten did not hedge. Speaking on Friday evening at Dodger Stadium, a few hours before Tommy Edman ended a 10-inning game against Pittsburgh, the Los Angeles president answered the question that had been circling the club all week.
“The Dodgers are not being sold,” he said. “They’re not gonna be sold. They’re not for sale. There’s no process that has been started to sell it, period. We are planning only to win.”
The question existed for a reason. Owner Mark Walter agreed this month to sell his controlling stake in the Los Angeles Lakers, a franchise he bought barely a year ago, for a reported $12.5 billion. Josh Kushner and Bob Iger lead the group taking over the NBA club. When an owner cashes out of one trophy asset that fast, people start counting the others.
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What Walter owns, and what he is keeping
The portfolio is unusually wide. Walter owns the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks and the Professional Women’s Hockey League, controls French top-flight club RC Strasbourg, and holds stakes in the Cadillac Formula 1 team, Andretti Global and Chelsea. TWG Global, his holding company, said in a Friday statement that the Cadillac F1 operation is not for sale either. Kasten added the PWHL to the list of things staying put.
A legal shadow hangs over all of it. Multiple reports say the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York are examining Walter’s holding company. He founded TWG Global and co-founded Guggenheim Partners, where he serves as chief executive.
Kasten drew a line around the Lakers deal and left it there. “The Lakers thing was what we lawyers call sui generis,” he said. “It was just one of those one-of-a-kind things that really has nothing to do with what’s happening with us or the other teams.” He also insisted the wider group will hold together: “One thing, we’re all certain about this, the sports portfolio is going to remain intact. It’s important to Mark.”
A club with better things to think about
The timing helps his case. Los Angeles sit at 78-51, nine games clear in the National League West and second only to Milwaukee (80-49) across the whole of baseball. Two straight World Series titles are already in the cabinet. Kasten’s reassurance was aimed as much at his own clubhouse as at the market.
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