Dodgers caught in middle of divorce

Maybe this is what that whole thing about divorce being like an amputation is about, the idea that it is something you survive but that there is less of you in the end.

Can you cut off someone's conscience, or does it just seem the procedure already has been performed on Frank and Jamie McCourt?

There is certainly less of the Dodgers today than in October, when they were built to win the National League West and contend for a pennant. They are now built to be one of a few teams capable of winning the division and nothing beyond.

It's a reality that points directly to a courtroom, where hundreds of millions of dollars and ownership of the franchise will be haggled over when divorce proceedings for the McCourts are scheduled to officially begin Aug. 30.

Already, it has inflicted damage to a team formerly known as one willing to spend whatever it took to win and then some.

On Wednesday evening, the Dodgers stopped by Cashman Field and lost 12-4 to the Cincinnati Reds in a spring training game, less than one week before results count and we begin to see how much an anemic offseason by Los Angeles will determine how far it can advance.

If such opportunity even exists come September.

There is no ace on the pitching staff of a team that led the majors in attendance last season with 3.7 million, no front-line starter for an organization whose owners more and more have chosen the path of least financial commitment, nothing to show anyone at the top owns any intention of at least trying to cash in on what continue to be fat revenue streams annually.

There was no salary arbitration offered to pitcher Randy Wolf or second baseman Orlando Hudson because, God forbid, they might have actually accepted and cost the club millions. There was no trade for that ace the past two seasons. There isn't enough starting pitching.

"I think if you ask every manager, he'd tell you, 'Yeah, I want this guy and that guy,' " Dodgers manager Joe Torre said. "But it's not our job to worry about the budget. You learn to basically manage the team that's given to you. I don't have any problem with that.

"(The divorce proceedings) are a reality, but my job is to manage and the players' job is to play. As far as what goes on with ownership, we have nothing to do with that."

Maybe not directly.

But it all filters down.

This kind of mess played out the last few years in San Diego, where John and Becky Moores ended their marriage and were forced to sell the team as part of a settlement. The Padres, never big spenders, will enter the season with a major league-low $40 million payroll and probably continue to stink for it.

These sorts of personal ordeals influence teams negatively, and anyone who says otherwise is lying. The Dodgers this season will offer a payroll of about $85 million, less than the Twins and just above Tampa Bay. L.A. can't even play in Boston's side of the sandbox anymore when it comes to paying for players. Think about it. Less than the Twins!

"When things like this happen, it's as if a dark cloud hangs over the entire franchise," said Nick Canepa, a columnist for the San Diego Union-Tribune who wrote on the Mooreses' divorce and its effect on the Padres. "Everything comes to a standstill. The one thing you could always say about the Dodgers is that while they haven't always spent wisely, they have always spent. Now you probably won't see much of anything happen with them until the divorce is settled.

"And when you're talking this much money in a high-profile divorce, that won't be happening any time soon. I don't know how long it took the Mooreses' divorce to become final, but I'm pretty sure I had three to four more grandchildren during the process."

The Dodgers signed outfielders Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier to two-year contracts in January. Paid them handsomely, too. Expectations continue to grow for pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

The division isn't so good that what talent the Dodgers have can't earn them a third straight division championship.

But they aren't built for more than that.

As the battle between husband and wife rages on, there is a franchise caught in the middle. Those who hate the Dodgers will love every legal brief that comes with it. Those who love them will watch and suffer.

Things used to be a lot easier for the team.

Remember the good ol' days, when all was right and the only real controversy was whether Manny Ramirez had ideas of becoming a mother by taking all those fertility drugs?

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618.