Nolan Ryan Group Outbids Mark Cuban in Texas Rangers Auction
Major League Baseball Executives and commissioner Bud Selig can breathe easy. Mark Cuban will not own the Texas Rangers any time in the near future.
That is because the ownership group led by Hall of Fame pitcher and current Rangers team president Nolan Ryan and partner Chuck Greenberg outbid Cuban for the rights to the club.
It was a long, tenuous road for the Rangers, previous owner Tom Hicks, and Major League Baseball, but the American League West Division leaders will soon have a new boss. Here is a look at the fallout of Ryan and Greenberg's winning bid.
How The Rangers Got Here
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Rangers' (now) previous owner Tom Hicks was neither exactly conservative nor smart in how he spent money on his team. Starting with giving Alex Rodriguez a $252 million deal (which the club is still paying part of), Hicks set off on a long road of ill-advised expenditures for the team.
That reached critical mass in 2009 when Hicks was first willing to sell a minority interest of the team. Soon thereafter, Hicks had to borrow money from Major League Baseball simply to meet payroll before his ownership group defaulted on a $525 million loan.
In May 2009, Hicks announced he was looking to sell off his entire ownership of the team and reached out to Ryan and Greenberg as possible suitors.
Next Steps
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In January 2010, Hicks announced that he would sell the Rangers to Ryan, Greenberg, and their minority partners. However, Major League Baseball grew dissatisfied with Hicks decisions and motives, and assumed control of the sale of the team, relegating Hicks to a background contributor.
The Rangers officially declared bankruptcy on May 24 with $575 million owned to creditors, including $24.9 million still owed to Alex Rodriguez. On that day, Greenberg offered to buy the team for the exact amount owed by Hicks Sports Group.
Selig Nearly Axed the Rangers?
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MLB commissioner Bud Selig had grown so tired and impatient with the Rangers' bankruptcy and the sale process, that rumors circulated in mid-July that baseball would cease all operations of the Texas Rangers if a new owner was not found expeditiously. This proved to be an unnecessary move once Ryan, Greenberg, and Co. secured the winning bid.
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The Winning Bid
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$593 million with $385 million in cash. That's a lot of cheddar thrown down by Ryan and Greenberg to get control of the Rangers.
The bid was announced in a Fort Worth, Texas courtroom around 1 a.m. CST—much to the relief of Greenberg and the MLB executives in attendance.
"It was an emotional roller coaster," Ryan said smiling between hugs with colleagues and well-wishers in the courthouse. "You go to court one day and it didn't go your way, but you go back another day and it would. It's a relief." (ESPN.com)
The results of the auction need to be finalized and approved by the commissioner's office, but Ryan and Greenberg's standing as the leaders in the clubhouse should make that a painless step.
Cuban Factor
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Mark Cuban has long wanted to break into Major League Baseball. He tried to get his foot in the door when he expressed interest in purchasing the Chicago Cubs, a premise that was quickly shot down by the commissioner's office.
However, Texas appeared like a good fit, given Cuban's presence in the Dallas area. Cuban's ownership team made a $598 million bid with $390 million in cash up front.
Things Go Ryan's Way
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The auction went to the Ryan-Greenberg group based on how the bid was structured, which made their bid higher than the $385 million in cash, according to ESPN.com.
Ryan and Greenberg agreed to a $10-13 million "breakup fee" should they have lost their bid.
Back and Forth
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Cuban actually came with the highest bid, one that was reportedly $25 million higher than that of the Greenberg-Ryan group. However, the Greenberg-Ryan group returned with a bid that exceeded Cuban's by $2 million.
The two sides haggled late into the night before the Greenberg-Ryan group finally got the best of Cuban by dropping their "breakup fee" provision, which put them over the top at $365 million—$10 million more than the final bid by Cuban and his group.
What It Means For the Rangers
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It means continuity. It means Ryan can continue to build a team that is currently a legitimate World Series contender. Ryan's grab of the reins means the Rangers will not suffer the influx of a significant ego who could alter the team's course.
Ryan has a very specific plan to build the team around pitching with smart acquisitions along the way. The Rangers no doubt dropped the gauntlet when they acquired Cliff Lee at the trading deadline, but it's simply one move showing Ryan is serious about turning the Rangers into a contender now.
With the ownership boondoggle behind him, Ryan can continue to build the Rangers as a perennial contender in a rapidly weakening AL West.
As For Cuban?
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Cuban is now 0-for-2 in his attempts to acquire a Major League Baseball franchise. He got shut out on the Cubs and now shut out by his hometown team. That doesn't bode well for a man who Major League Baseball executives already want nothing to do with.
If Cuban couldn't land a bankrupt big league team, it is difficult seeing him buying one any time in the near future.
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