The Los Angeles Dodgers filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, according to several news sources including Ken Gurnick of MLB.com and ESPN.  The team blames Major League Baseball for refusing to approve a multibillion-dollar TV deal that would have kept the team afloat.

The filing allows the team to receive $150 million in debtor-in-possession financing that will “enable the Dodger organization to fully meet its obligations going forward.”  There had been rumors that the team may not be able to make their June 30th payroll obligations of $30 million, but the financing will now allow the club to execute on their day-to-day operations.

“The Dodgers have delivered time and again since I became owner, and that’s been good for baseball,” McCourt said in defense of his team. “We turned the team around financially after years of annual losses before I purchased the team. We invested $150 million in the stadium. We’ve had excellent on-field performance, including playoff appearances four times in seven years.”

The filing adds that the team has been experiencing “cash flow difficulties” in 2010 due to declining attendance and $22 million in deferred compensation and revenue sharing. Players that continue to be on the team’s payroll due to deferred payments include Manny Ramirez at $21 million, Andruw Jones at $11 million, Hiroki Kuroda at $4.4 milion and the Chicago White Sox at $3.5 million.Image by brendan-c under the Creative Commons License.