(Reuters) – The Kansas City Royals have agreed to a one-year contract with former Los Angeles Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton, the American League team said Tuesday.

The deal is pending a physical exam of the right-hander, who missed most of the 2011 Major League Baseball season due to bone spurs in his pitching elbow and had arthroscopic surgery in September.

“We are delighted to add someone as talented as Jonathan to our bullpen,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said in a report posted on the team’s website.

“He will be used in a setup role to closer Joakim Soria and will help solidify what we feel is a young and talented bullpen.”

Broxton, who saved 58 games for the Dodgers in 2009 and 2010 and was an All-Star both seasons, was 1-2 with a 5.68 earned run average in 14 appearances last season.

(Reporting by Larry Fine; Editing by Frank Pingue)

The Los Angeles Dodgers accused News
Corp. (NWSA)’s Fox Sports of trying to avoid competition in its pursuit
of the bankrupt baseball team’s television rights.

Fox has sought to prevent the team from soliciting offers
for the TV rights before an exclusive negotiating period with
Fox ends next year.

Fox’s complaints “have no merit and are designed to
prevent the debtors from engaging in any effort to expose the
debtors’ telecast rights to the marketplace to the extent an
agreement is not reached with Fox,” the Dodgers said in papers
filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware.

The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy in June with plans to sell
the television rights, which Fox Sports Net West 2 LLC holds
through the 2013 season. The team wants to accelerate the
marketing process for the rights by first giving Fox 45 days to
extend its contract. Should that fail, the team would seek other
bids, according to court documents.

Fox claims team owner Frank McCourt is wrongly trying use
bankruptcy to break the team’s current TV contract with Fox’s
Prime Ticket unit. Fox has asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Kevin Gross to dismiss the team’s bankruptcy case.

Gross has ordered the two sides to try to resolve their
differences through mediation. The mediator, retired U.S.
District Judge Joseph Farnan, helped the Dodgers and Major
League Baseball resolve their differences.

Under the deal with MLB, McCourt agreed to sell the team
and MLB agreed not to oppose a separate bidding process for the
television rights. Under the proposed rules, no sale of the TV
rights can go forward without approval from MLB, Gross and
whoever wins the bidding for the team.

The Dodgers will be in court Nov. 30 to ask Gross to
approve the proposed marketing rules.

The bankruptcy case is In re Los Angeles Dodgers LLC,
11-12010 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware
(Wilmington).

To contact the reporter on this story:
Steven Church in Wilmington at
schurch3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
John Pickering at
jpickering@bloomberg.net

(Reuters) – Fox Sports stepped up its battle with Frank McCourt, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, saying he needed to “get out of the way” and let the bankrupt team return to the business of baseball.

Fox, which broadcasts Dodgers games, has vigorously opposed the team’s plan to sell its future media rights earlier than expected as part of a plan to auction the team and exit bankruptcy.

In documents filed on Thursday, Fox asked Delaware’s bankruptcy court to reject the team’s request to sell its future broadcast rights, saying such a sale was unnecessary to bring the team out of Chapter 11.

“Moreover, Mr. McCourt is not necessary to this process. He should get out of the way and let everyone return to the business of baseball,” said Fox in court papers.

Fox, a unit of News Corp, also said that for the Dodgers to maximize the value of the team, they should include the land under the Dodger Stadium in the team’s sale.

McCourt, who made his fortune on real estate, owns the land through a company that is not part of the bankruptcy.

The Dodgers said in a statement on Thursday that recognizing the full value of the future media rights in conjunction with the sale of the team would be in the best interests of the team, fans and Major League Baseball.

“The fact that Fox thinks it should now opine on real estate is just plain foolish,” said the statement.

The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy in June shortly after baseball’s commissioner, Bud Selig, rejected a plan by the team to sell the future media rights to Fox for a reported $3 billion.

Baseball and McCourt spent months battling for control of the team. Earlier this month, McCourt agreed to sell the team and baseball agreed to allow the sale of the media rights.

Fox and the Dodgers have been ordered by the court to try to settle their dispute through mediation that is scheduled to begin Monday in Los Angeles, where Fox is based.

The team sales process is expected to be wrapped up by the end of April, in time for the start of the 2012 Major League season, sources familiar with the process have told Reuters.

The case is In re: Los Angeles Dodgers LLC, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 11-12010.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Sue Zeidler in Los Angeles, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

(Reuters) – Fox Sports stepped up its battle with Frank McCourt, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, saying he needed to “get out of the way” and let the bankrupt team return to the business of baseball.

Fox, which broadcasts Dodgers games, has vigorously opposed the team’s plan to sell its future media rights earlier than expected as part of a plan to auction the team and exit bankruptcy.

In documents filed on Thursday, Fox asked Delaware’s bankruptcy court to reject the team’s request to sell its future broadcast rights, saying such a sale was unnecessary to bring the team out of Chapter 11.

“Moreover, Mr. McCourt is not necessary to this process. He should get out of the way and let everyone return to the business of baseball,” said Fox in court papers.

Fox, a unit of News Corp, also said that for the Dodgers to maximize the value of the team, they should include the land under the Dodger Stadium in the team’s sale.

McCourt, who made his fortune on real estate, owns the land through a company that is not part of the bankruptcy.

The Dodgers said in a statement on Thursday that recognizing the full value of the future media rights in conjunction with the sale of the team would be in the best interests of the team, fans and Major League Baseball.

“The fact that Fox thinks it should now opine on real estate is just plain foolish,” said the statement.

The Dodgers filed for bankruptcy in June shortly after baseball’s commissioner, Bud Selig, rejected a plan by the team to sell the future media rights to Fox for a reported $3 billion.

Baseball and McCourt spent months battling for control of the team. Earlier this month, McCourt agreed to sell the team and baseball agreed to allow the sale of the media rights.

Fox and the Dodgers have been ordered by the court to try to settle their dispute through mediation that is scheduled to begin Monday in Los Angeles, where Fox is based.

The team sales process is expected to be wrapped up by the end of April, in time for the start of the 2012 Major League season, sources familiar with the process have told Reuters.

The case is In re: Los Angeles Dodgers LLC, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 11-12010.

(Reporting by Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Sue Zeidler in Los Angeles, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

After the last few years with owner Frank McCourt, Los Angeles Dodgers fans have thought it just couldn’t get any worse. Now after a long battle with the fans, his wife and MLB, McCourt has surrendered and agreed to work with MLB to sell the team. I thought it was a good time to take a humorous look at the top five worst possible replacements for Frank McCourt as Dodgers’ owner:

Donald Trump in February 2009.
Wikimedia Commons

Donald Trump

I could see “The Donald” changing the Dodger hats to look like blue versions of his famous hairdo. Also, I think they would become the “Trump Dodgers” and drop the whole L.A. name completely. One good thing, I think he would renovate Dodger Stadium to look like one of his fancy apartments and hotels, and I personally would enjoy seeing gold-plated urinals in the restrooms.

Larry Flynt

Although some fans would probably enjoy an on-site gentlemen’s club and Hustler Store right at Dodger Stadium, I think it would go against the Dodgers’ longtime family values reputation. Having Larry Flynt as an owner could present some interesting, and very adult items for fan giveaways, none of which I’ll mention here.

Time-Warner

This one is a serious possibility and just as bad as the joke suggestions. Time-Warner would treat the team purely as a business asset, with no personal pride of ownership. The broadcasts would be most likely moved to Time-Warner cable and become hard to watch for people without cable.

Charlie Sheen

As the star of the great baseball film “Major League” and sitting on a huge pile of cash from his tv series and post-firing settlement, Charlie Sheen could be the new face of the Dodgers. The first pitch of each game could be thrown out by one of his girlfriend “goddesses” and Sheen could contribute his personal “white chalk powder” for lining the bases.

Bill Gates

Super-rich super-nerd Bill Gates would be another poor choice for Dodgers’ owner. The team roster and trades would be based on complicated computer analysis, like “Moneyball” on steroids. Fan giveaways would be pocket protectors and useless Microsoft software, which would install itself automatically on your digital devices as you enter Dodger Stadium and then be almost impossible to remove.

Freddy Sherman grew up in Philadelphia, which didn’t make being a Los Angeles Dodgers fan easy. He has lived in Los Angeles for twenty years, now able to follow the Dodgers openly and attends games frequently. You can follow him on Twitter: @thefredsherman .

More from this contributor:

MLB Will Get HGH Testing Before NFL: Fan’s Opinion

Top 5 Crazy Moments in Los Angeles Dodgers History

Are Dodgers Spending Too Much Money? Fan Opinion

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

November 19, 2011, 3:35 PM EST

By Joel Rosenblatt

Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) — News Corp.’s Fox Sports Net West 2 unit asked a judge to dismiss the bankruptcy case filed by the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team.

The unit, which televises Dodger games through its Prime Ticket unit, is trying to prevent the team from soliciting bids on television rights to the Major League Baseball team’s future games. Fox’s current contract gives it the exclusive right to negotiate an extension of its TV rights until after November 2012.

Dodgers owner Frank McCourt ended his battle for control of the team’s future with the league by agreeing to sell the club. Under the agreement, which isn’t public and hasn’t been submitted to the court for approval, MLB agreed that the future TV rights can be marketed separately from the team. Terms of the agreement are described in court filings and a joint statement from the Dodgers and MLB.

The bankruptcy case is an “elaborate contrivance by a desperate McCourt, who needs to generate more cash to fund his divorce settlement, lifestyle and other personal obligations,” Fox said in yesterday’s filing U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington Delaware. In seeking the dismissal, the company said it “urges this court not to allow itself to be co-opted into McCourt’s abuses of the bankruptcy process.”

McCourt tried selling the television rights to future Dodgers’ games to Fox before he put the team into bankruptcy. The team filed for court protection from its creditors in June, after Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig rejected a proposed extension of Fox’s TV contract.

The Dodgers sued Fox Nov. 16 as part of the bankruptcy case, claiming the network is interfering with its plans to sell the team and solicit offers for the TV rights.

The bankruptcy case is In re Los Angeles Dodgers LLC, 11-12010, and the Fox case is Los Angeles Dodgers LLC v. Fox Sports Net West 2 LLC, 11-53829, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware (Wilmington).

–With assistance from Steven Church in Wilmington. Editors: Michael Hytha, Sylvia Wier

To contact the reporter on this story: Joel Rosenblatt in San Francisco at jrosenblatt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at mhytha@bloomberg.net