The news is in and it is good.
The Texas Rangers announced a deal is being negotiated with Pittsburgh sports attorney Chuck Greenberg to purchase the team from Tom Hicks. Greenberg, along with Nolan Ryan and a group of local (to Texas) investors have exclusive negotiating rights for the next 30 days to get a deal finalized and presented to MLB for approval. Tom Hicks and family will remain in the picture with a minority ownership position.
This is good news for a couple of reasons. One, Tom Hicks will be out of the picture as majority owner and maybe, just maybe the team will be able to afford to spend some new money. Also, it keeps Nolan Ryan in place as team president. For the time being, that is a good thing.
Tom Hicks purchased the Rangers in 1998 and saw the team won division titles in his first two years of ownership. Unfortunately, they have only had two winning seasons this decade. Hicks' decision to spend a quarter of a BILLION dollars on ARod was one key mistake along with the disastrous Chan Ho Park contract. His other financial obligations also didn't help. Hicks' ownership of the Texas Rangers, Dallas Stars and the Liverpool F.C. (English soccer team) put him under too much financial strain, especially in light of the economic calamity of the last year.
Chuck Greenberg said he would be relocating his family to Dallas. Let's hope it's a good move for everyone involved.
I was hoping the Greenberg group would win mainly because of Nolan Ryan's involvement with that group. Let's hope that the Rangers continue to improve next year as Seatlle has geared up to make a run at not only the West but also make a push to get into the W-S.
ReplyDeleteMariners are going to win it all for Griffey! WAHOO!
ReplyDeleteAs long as Nolan's involved, I'm on board. It was really cool to see him at just about every game last year, even sticking it out during the rain delays with no umbrella! That's some dedication to your team, just like one of us "regular" fans.
ReplyDeleteDang, it takes a while to finish those deals up!!
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