Early word from new Dodger owners

Mark Walter, who will be controlling the purse strings, tells the LAT's Bill Plaschke that he will remain in the background when it comes to day-to-day operations. That will be the bailiwick of Stan Kasten, who was an executive with the Atlanta Braves for many years. Magic Johnson will be the front-man. From the Times:

"I'm a baseball fan, but I'm not qualified to make baseball decisions, and I don't want to pretend to be,'' said Walter. ''I'm here to support and help my people as much as I can. I'm here to cheer as loud as I can.'' But since he still controls the purse strings, the bucks still stop with him, no? Will he give Kasten the freedom to spend them? How does he view the idea of paying the sort of big money for the sort of big free agents that the Dodgers have avoided signing during most of their 14-year championship drought? ''Stan has a very proven formula for building a team that doesn't win one year, but wins 12 years in a row [Atlanta Braves], so for me to tell him how you build that is completely inappropriate,'' said Walter. ''But having said that, we really want to win, and it's OK if, while we're producing the best players in the world, we also have the best players in the world on our field.''

Plaschke only had 20 minutes on the phone with Johnson, Walter and Kasten. An L.A. press conference is being planned. By the way, Walter, who is based in Chicago, plans to purchase a home in L.A.

Earlier: What's the skinny on the new controlling owner of the Dodgers?