The Dodgers "insist that their business model is thriving and they are under no orders" from MLB to "curtail debt, despite a report that indicated otherwise," according to Doug Padilla of ESPN LA. A report in the L.A. Times on Saturday "revealed through an unnamed source that the Dodgers are 'hundreds of millions' of dollars in debt after the first four seasons" under ownership of Guggenheim Baseball Management. That same report said the Dodgers "face a mandate" to meet MLB's debt rules. The Dodgers "did not dispute that they have operating debt." Dodgers President & CEO Stan Kasten said, "There is no mandate. There is no problem with our debt, and we continue to work on the same program we have been working on from the day we walked in here in 2012." MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred also "moved to deny that the Dodgers are under any order to curtail spending." A league source indicated that there is now a "developing perception among both teams and potential free agents around the game that the Dodgers could be under some financial stress." But Kasten reiterated that "nothing could be further from the truth." Although no team has "operated in the financial stratosphere the Dodgers have maneuvered in the past four seasons, there are no indications that MLB is worried about the club's debt service ratio." The Dodgers have "led baseball in payroll each of the past four seasons." Kasten also "moved to eliminate the notion that the club is somehow struggling financially." Kasten: "Business for the Dodgers is very strong and very healthy, and it is why we lead baseball in attendance and in season tickets because we have a tremendous fan base that has great confidence in the product we put out there year after year" (ESPNLA.com, 11/29).
