We're not ones to root for the financial stability of the in-state rival Rangers, but this kind of sucks.
Maury Brown, who dominates this sort of thing at the Biz of Baseball (link above), sums it up as such:
The bankruptcy judge in the voluntary bankruptcy case of the Texas Rangers may have dealt a blow to the prospective ownership group led by Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan by ruling that secured creditors of the Texas Rangers are “impaired” and therefore are allowed to vote whether to accept or reject a “prepackaged plan” designed by the Rangers to exit the club from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and complete the sale. The creditors have said repeatedly that they would reject the prepackaged plan. In doing so, the bidding could be opened back up to allow Houston businessman Jim Crane to bid on the club. Major League Baseball has said that they are focused solely on the Greenberg/Ryan bid.
The way Tom Hicks ran the Rangers into the ground should bring us delight, but not so fast. Because this likely means the Rangers won't be sold before the trade deadline, it significantly hampers the Rangers' ability to add payroll. And in order to add Roy, they need to get their ownership's money in place, which doesn't look like it will be happening any time soon.
Buster Olney said this (continued here):
(One) club exec said: "The Rangers can forget about Roy Oswalt, and maybe just about any other major player." Rivals don't want them spending dollars at a time when they owe MLB a lot of money.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
