A little bit more than a week after declaring that proprietor Mark Walter wouldn’t have to promote the Dodgers, group president Stan Kasten repeated the claim over and over again on Friday.

What made him so certain?

Walter instructed him so.

Los Angeles Dodgers chairman Mark Walter attends a press convention asserting a new partnership between the Los Angeles Dodgers and UNIQLO at Dodger Stadium. MediaNews Group via Getty Images

Of course, former proprietor Frank McCourt once said the Dodgers were his and his alone, only to have a decide disagree and grant his estranged spouse a stake in the franchise, beginning a chain of occasions that resulted in its sale to a group led by Walter.

“I think that is a wildly inappropriate comparison,” Kasten said.

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Kasten refused to clarify why, however.

“That’s all I’m going to tell you,” he said.

That more or less characterised Kasten’s newest effort to calm the rising suspicions that Walter could have to divest himself of the Dodgers. 

With a collection of evasive responses and contradictory statements, Kasten raised more questions about the Dodgers’ future than he answered. His imaginative and prescient of continued stability for the franchise, he acknowledged, was based mostly on what he was instructed by Walter, who is under federal investigation for mortgage fraud, according to quite a few information reports.

So Kasten’s belief in Walter was absolute?

Los Angeles Dodgers President and CEO Kasten speaks during a information convention at Dodger Stadium. Irfan Khan/Pool Los Angeles Times via AP

“It’s very, very high, yes,” Kasten said.

Absolute or very, very excessive? 

Kasten tried to ignore the query.

Were Water’s ethics unimpeachable? Was Kasten certain Walter would never commit fraud?

“You have evidence of some kind?” Kasten snapped.

Kasten was reminded that he knew Walter higher than any of the dozen or so reporters standing in entrance of him. This was an alternative for him to share insights into Walter’s character.

“I think Mark has done an extraordinary job as an owner, and all he’s ever cared about is providing the best experience in order to make more money to make this project successful,” Kasten said. “I think so far it has been. I expect that to continue far into the future.”

Notice he didn’t reply the questions requested of him.

Kasten continued to insist that Walter’s current sale of the Lakers “has not impacted Dodgers, and is not going to impact the Dodgers.”

Walter, left, Shohei Ohtani, center, and Kasten. AP

Except there were reports about Walter trying to elevate capital to repay doubtlessly unlawful loans from insurance coverage firms under his management. There were also reports about him wanting to promote his share in Chelsea of the English Premier League and providing Charter Communications early outs from its broadcasting offers with the Dodgers and Lakers in trade for a lump-sum payout.

“You’re reasserting the things you’ve read as facts, and therefore are seeking a conclusion based on those,” Kasten said. “I don’t know those to be true.”

But if it was untimely to draw conclusions about Walter being in authorized or monetary hassle, wouldn’t it also be untimely to make declarations about him not being in hassle?

“I don’t think that’s fair,” Kasten said. “But I’m telling you, to the extent (that) my standing in the organization means anything, the Dodges are not for sale.”

Regarding the information reports he was questioned about, Kasten said, “Some things even that you’ve asserted today, I’m promising you when it’s over, you’re going to realize are being mischaracterized. You don’t have to trust me, but I’m telling you.”

What particularly was mischaracterized?

“I don’t want to talk about the investigation,” Kasten said. “It’s not my place to. I’m not involved, and I don’t know about it.”

So if he doesn’t know about the investigation, how does he know anything was mischaracterized in these information reports?

Los Angeles Dodgers president Stan Kasten listens during a ceremony celebrating the Los Angeles Dodgers’ MLB World Series championships in the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. Getty Images

“Because of what has been explained to me in these little cases,” Kasten said. “I’ve asked questions about stuff, and someone explained that particular thing to me. But you know what? Let’s see. Let’s wait. If there’s an investigation going on, which apparently there is, let’s wait and see what they find before you conclude.”

But it was Kasten who needed to attain a conclusion. It was Kasten who said that Walter’s reported troubles wouldn’t have any impact on the Dodgers.

He couldn’t make a convincing case.

Not now. Not yet.

The cloud of uncertainty over the Dodgers stays.

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