LOS ANGELES — Dodgers owner Frank McCourt has paid his major-league bills — for now.
Despite baseball officials who believed he didn’t have enough money to cover the team’s end-of-the-month payroll, the embattled McCourt was able to cover Dodgers- related expenses Tuesday.
If McCourt wasn’t able to meet payroll — a question that lingers for the remainder of the season — Major League Baseball would have taken control and paid the team’s bills.
Based on an opening-day payroll of $103.8 million, the Dodgers’ payroll for their major-league roster in the second half of May was about $8.25 million. The figure includes 16 days’ salary, but not any signing bonus payments that happen to fall due.
The Los Angeles Times, citing anonymous sources, reported last week that McCourt needed about $9.8 million to meet Tuesday’s payroll. His financial woes will increase in June because the Dodgers owe Manny Ramirez more than $6 million in deferred compensation, the Times said.
