Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross signed a final decree on Monday ending the Los Angeles Dodgers' time in bankruptcy court, the Los Angeles Times reported today. The bankruptcy cases of the Dodgers and related entities "are hereby closed," Gross wrote in an order that ended the team's stay in bankruptcy court at 995 days. Frank McCourt, the Dodgers' former owner, took the team into bankruptcy on June 27, 2011, after Commissioner Bud Selig rejected a proposed television contract that would have served as McCourt's financial lifeline. After Judge Gross ruled that he would not allow McCourt to turn the bankruptcy proceedings "into a trial on the commissioner," McCourt agreed to sell the team — with the court, not Selig, having final authority to approve the sale. On March 27, 2012, McCourt sold the Dodgers for $2 billion — a record sale price for a North American sports franchise — to Guggenheim Baseball Management, a group led by Mark Walter, Stan Kasten and Magic Johnson.
