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Texas Rangers Are Ahead of Budget by $5 Million, Nolan Ryan Tells Court
The Texas Rangers, the bankrupt Major League Baseball team, are $5 million under budget and a playoff appearance could bring as much as $14 million more, club President Nolan Ryan said.
To spend the extra money to compete in its first post- season series in a decade, the team needs permission from Major League Baseball to spend the necessary money, Ryan told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge D. Michael Lynn today in Fort Worth, Texas.
The Rangers are in first place in the American League’s Western Division with less than half the regular season left to play. Lynn said he would authorize whatever the club needed if Major League Baseball, which is funding the team’s bankruptcy, refuses to let Ryan spend the money. The judge said he wouldn’t let the club’s bankruptcy affect its operations.
“This team is going to get through this season and, hopefully, win a pennant and a World Series,” Lynn said during a hearing to decide whether to delay an Aug. 4 auction of the team.
A group led by Ryan, who is a Hall of Fame pitcher, and Pittsburgh sports attorney Chuck Greenberg would act as lead bidders at the sale. Lenders owed more than $400 million say the auction is rigged in favor of the Ryan-Greenberg group and have argued that the team won’t suffer financially from a delay.
Under questioning from lender attorney Andrew Leblanc, Ryan agreed that a playoff appearance may bring $11 million to $14 million. He testified that the team will continue to suffer as long as it’s in bankruptcy and that a quick sale to his group is the best chance the club has to succeed.
The case is In re Texas Rangers Baseball Partners, 10- 43400, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Texas (Fort Worth).
To contact the reporters on this story: Steven Church in Wilmington, Delaware,
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