The Dodgers’ offseason plans appear unchanged, even as owner Mark Walter faces a federal investigation tied to alleged tax fraud involving insurance companies connected to his firm, TWG Global.
Walter has already moved on from several major assets and is reportedly exploring sales of the Los Angeles Sparks and the Cadillac F1 team. But when it comes to the Dodgers, he has drawn a firm line. According to Jack Harris of the California Post, Walter has said the club will still have its usual financial backing for roster upgrades this winter.
Walter said his Guggenheim group’s financial commitment “will be just like it has been in the past.”
That message matches the stance he has taken publicly since the investigation became a national talking point. In his first statement after the scrutiny intensified, Walter said the Dodgers would not be sold. Before that, president and CEO Stan Kasten had already said the team was not being sold and was not being affected by Walter’s legal situation.
Inside the baseball operations department, the posture is the same. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said it’s “business as usual” after the Dodgers’ bid for a three-peat ended against the eventual World Series-champion Milwaukee Brewers.
“We talked to Mark after we lost, and he was obviously really disappointed,” Friedman relayed at his end-of-the-season press conference. “But so much of his focus was on ‘OK, what can we do?
What what are our plans? What are our thoughts for the offseason?’
And our brains weren’t quite there yet, but so much of his focus was how do we put ourselves in the best position to win in ’27?”
There are still real complications hanging over the organization. Beyond Walter’s legal issues, the Dodgers also have to navigate the possibility of a looming lockout that could alter the way they normally operate.
Walter is also believed to be facing an end-of-the-year deadline to repay roughly $20 billion in related loans and liabilities that must be cleared from the books of his insurance entities.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred recently addressed the situation and said the league will wait until the federal investigation is finished before considering any possible action.
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