The Los Angeles Dodgers have momentarily cut some of their 2004 payroll, now that Kevin Brown has, at least tentatively, approved his trade to the New York Yankees.

But it's not clear who will benefit financially from the trimming. After all, at one of the most important times in the baseball cycle, the Dodgers are still in lame duck ownership mode.

It's been two months since Fox's News Corp. announced it had agreed in principle to sell the team and a host of its ancillary sports properties. But the announced buyer, Boston real estate mogul Frank McCourt, still has not wrapped up the deal.

The contract with Fox has two deadlines, the first of which McCourt has apparently met. McCourt's financing proposal, which had to be submitted to Major League Baseball by Dec. 31, is currently sitting on commissioner Bud Selig's desk, according to Bob DuPuy, Baseball's president and chief operating officer.

"We are still moving forward," said DuPuy, noting that McCourt met with league officials on Wednesday. DuPuy said he hopes to arrange a meeting between McCourt and baseball's ownership committee before the winter holidays.

The second deadline for McCourt is January 31. By then, the entire deal has to be consummated. The owners will meet in mid-January in Phoenix and, assuming all the paperwork has been reviewed, at least two-thirds of baseball's owners would have to approve the sale.

McCourt, who failed in his bids to buy both the Boston Red Sox and the Anaheim Angels, agreed to pay more than $400 million for the team, Dodger Stadium and the nearby real estate, as well as the team's training facilities in Vero Beach, Fla., and the Dominican Republic.

Although one source told ESPN.com that McCourt's specific financing plan was still up in the air, a source close to McCourt said that coming up with the capital arrangement for the deal is not the cause of the holdup. Officials with Game Plan LLC Capital, who are working on behalf of McCourt, did not return a call seeking comment.

In the meantime, Dodgers officials continue to do business.

"We have a clear and definite direction and we are working in the best interest of the Dodgers and their fans, even though that's complicated by the fact that the club is for sale," said Bob Graziano, the Dodgers' president and chief operating officer. "An agreement in principle has been reached, but we've been proceeding as though that approval isn't going to take place for a while."

Since agreeing to the buy the team, McCourt has been in discussions with Dodgers officials to keep up with the day-to-day operations.

"Nothing is happening in a vacuum," a source close to McCourt said.

General manager Dan Evans and manager Jim Tracy are under contract for next year.

Perhaps no deal in the history of Major League Baseball has had so many false alarms in terms of favorites to own the team. Groups organized by Dave Checketts and Alan Casden were once tabbed as the most likely of owners and an Internet report this summer had Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Malcolm Glazer close to a deal for the team.

Darren Rovell, who covers sports business for ESPN.com, can be reached at Darren.rovell@espn3.com.