There are few things that make less sense to me than Forbes’ valuations of company worth. Case in point: the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2011, Forbes values the legendary baseball club, which had awful ownership, at $800 million. Just a year later, it’s clear the team will be sold for somewhere between $1.2 and $1.5 billion, which obviously is a whole different plane. Forbes can’t argue that buyers are bidding with their hearts rather than their heads, that the sale price and the value aren’t close, since Forbes values the Dodgers in 2012 at $1.4 billion. I know good ownership means a great deal, but those numbers don’t compute. Yes, the Angels new TV deal portends well for their L.A. counterparts, but shouldn’t Forbes be able to predict that market?

Right now, the New York Mets, another mismanaged team whose owners could be forced to sell, is valued by Forbes at $719 million. Does anyone really believe the franchise would be sold for less than twice that amount? It seems like the Forbes numbers exist in a vacuum, with little to do with reality.•