The Dodgers are in trouble. We’ve known it for a couple of years. If we suspected trouble before the McCourt divorce, we knew it once the tawdry facts around those two spendthrifts became public.

And now the club is in a spiral. Frank McCourt has a death grip on the franchise, and while he hangs on, they continue to sink.

Want evidence?

You need look no further than the “48-hour $5 Reserve Level ticket sale” for tomorrow night’s game.

I found out about this because I am still on the Dodgers’ e-mail distribution list. I get all of their stuff, and I often wonder what it must be like to get paid by an organization still under the control of Frank McCourt … and having to do his bidding and pretend that things aren’t going to hell in a hand basket.

Anyway, here is the text of what came in. We’ll see how much of it transfers over to Word Press.

DODGERS ANNOUNCE 48-HOUR $5 RESERVE LEVEL TICKET SALE FOR ANDRE ETHIER BOBBLEHEAD NIGHT THIS THURSDAY

In recognition of All-Stars Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw, $22 Loge Level, $22 All-You-Can-Eat Right Field Pavilion and $27 Field Level seats will be also offered

LOS ANGELES – The Dodgers announced today a 48-hour $5 sale on Reserve Level tickets to this Thursday’s game (7:10 p.m. vs. NYM) featuring Andre Ethier Throwback Bobbleheads presented by San Manuel Indian Bingo & Casino. This sale is being held as Ethier competes for a chance to reach the All-Star Game in his hometown of Phoenix in the “Final Vote.”

Teammates Kemp, who will start in center field for the National League, and Kershaw have already been selected to the NL All-Star Team and in celebration, the Dodgers are offering $22 Loge Level, $22 All-You-Can-Eat Right Field Pavilion and $27 Field Level seats for Thursday’s bobblehead night.

Ethier has been among the National League’s top hitters all season long as he currently ranks seventh in the NL with a .317 batting average and has seven homers and 41 RBI. He posted a Major League season-long 30-game hitting streak earlier this season, the second-longest streak in Dodger history. Fans can vote at dodgers.com and MLB.com or for a simple text vote on behalf of Ethier, text N1 to 89269.

OK, what are the signs that the club is in trouble?

Having to slash prices for a bobblehead night? Yes. That should never happen. Never.

Slashing prices for a game with a New York franchise? Should never happen.

As recently as last season, this is the kind of promotion that could have been made on a Tuesday night against Pittsburgh. If then. But if a bobblehead was being given away, the club wouldn’t have to slash the price of tickets. Some people figure a bobblehead is worth $10 or more (and I’m one of them), and a cheap seat and parking means a net loss of maybe $10 for the fan.

This deal is too good to be true, and that’s the kind of deal that a desperate business entity goes in for.

In a way, I am pleased to see this — because it tells me that Dodgers fans have quit on this ownership. Not necessarily on this team, or this franchise, but on the McCourt “stewardship” of it. I have been calling for that since since before the 2010 season.

But it also says … “this once-proud franchise is now desperate and pathetic” … and in the grand scheme, in those moments I can separate the Dodgers from Frank McCourt, it’s sad and pathetic.