Former Nationals president Stan Kasten officially reached “the next move” on Tuesday night when Dodgers owner Frank McCourt selected his group from three MLB-approved bidders as the next owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Kasten, who teamed with Magic Johnson and a group of investors, pledged a record $2.15 billion to purchase the Dodgers and help extricate them from the once-bankrupt tendrils of McCourt.
Kasten served as the Nationals’ team president from 2006, when the Lerner family assumed ownership, until he stepped down at the end of 2010. His ties to the team were officially severed last March when Kasten sold his own small ownership stake and waited to see what would come up for him next.
This marks the third major league franchise Kasten will be able to put his thumbprint on, helping to build the Atlanta Braves into the dynasty they were in the 1990s and then helping rebuild the Nationals into a team many now feel could be a contender. His ties to commissioner Bud Selig certainly gave the Kasten-Magic group a leg up, not to mention the financial backing they got from financier Mark Walter.
Kasten has remained close to many in the Nationals’ organization and he stopped by camp this spring to take in a game with GM Mike Rizzo but it seems now he’s found where the next stop will be: Hollywood.
