Palisadian Steve Soboroff Quits Executive Position with Dodgers

The Major League Baseball career of prominent Palisadian and Malibu business leader Steve Soboroff was short-lived. He announced his resignation Saturday as vice chairman of the Los Angeles Dodgers, after a little more than two months on the job.

Soboroff, 62, wrote in a letter to team owner Frank McCourt that MLB Commissioner Bud Selig's recent actions—including placing a trustee in charge of the financially troubled club—made it so "it is not possible for me to effectively work on the initiatives and contributions that you had hired me to implement," according to the Dodgers' website.

The Pacific Palisades resident was hired April 18 in the wake of the Opening Day beating outside Dodger Stadium of Giants fan Bryan Stow. McCourt released a statement that Soboroff would "infuse great ideas and energy to the Dodger organization" and "use his trademark 'get-it-done' approach to extend the Dodgers' positive impact on Los Angeles."

The next day, Selig announced the league would be placing a trustee in charge of the Dodgers. Soboroff immediately went on the offensive, saying the club was not in financial trouble, but rather Selig was hindering success by hesitating on the approval of a proposed Dodgers television deal with Fox worth as much as $3 billion.

"This is like having money in the bank and having somebody hold your ATM card," Soboroff told the Los Angeles Times. "The money is in the bank. The Fox deal is done. These actions are not allowing him to access money. That's a lot different than saying he's got financial problems."

Selig this week rejected the proposed television deal because he said it was not in the best interest of the club.

Soboroff ran for mayor of Los Angeles in 2001 with Richard Riordan's endorsement. However, he lost in the primary election to James Hahn.

Soboroff went on to become the chairman and chief executive of the Playa Vista development, a 1,087-acre planned community in Marina del Rey. He is currently on the board of directors for the Weingart Foundation and the EXPO Center in Exposition Park.

This story previously appeared on the Malibu Patch website.