DOVER, Del. — A judge says Fox Sports may get to question Major League Baseball executive Rob Manfred as it tries to have the Los Angeles Dodgers bankruptcy dismissed.

But the judge told Fox attorneys Monday they need to try to get documents and depositions from the Dodgers before turning to the league. He did order MLB to turn over the transcript of its deposition of Dodgers executive Jeffrey Ingram from this summer.

Fox is seeking information to bolster its arguments at a hearing early next year that the bankruptcy should be dismissed because Dodgers owner Frank McCourt was using it to further his interests, not the team’s.

Last week, the judge said he would overrule Fox’s objections and approve a process for the Dodgers to sell media rights to future games.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

LOS ANGELES – Former Great Lakes Loons shortstop Dee Gordon was named to the Topps Major League Rookie All-Star team after hitting .304 in 56 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

His .304 average was the second-highest for major league rookies with at least 200 at-bats. He also was second among major league rookies with 24 steals. He hit .345 in his final 34 games.

He is the first Dodgers shortstop and 20th Los Angeles player to be picked for the Topps Major League Rookei team in the 53 years of the award.

Gordon played for the Loons in 2009 and was named the Midwest League Most Valuable Player after hitting .301 with 73 stolen bases.

(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)