Bankruptcy Judge Michael Lynn has agreed to hear the arguments of creditors this week who are challenging plans for an Aug. 4 auction of the Texas Rangers. They are saying they don’t like the bidding procedures and arguing that the lease for the team’s ballpark should be severed from the sale. After making some changes to the bidding procedures, the bankruptcy judge approved them last week and delayed the auction by two weeks to give potential bidders more time to secure financing, however creditors are still not satisfied. Attorneys for Major League Baseball (MLB) have challenged the hearing saying that the creditors’ motion was a rehash of the arguments that were already rejected by the bankruptcy judge. Nevertheless, the bankruptcy judge plans to hear those arguments and possibly make a decision on a separate lawsuit filed by JP Morgan Chase Bank which seeks to remove the Rangers ballpark from the sale. But some analysts watching the bankruptcy case argue that if the ballpark is cut from the sales deal it could scare away a lot of potential buyers. Some analysts say that the ballpark is a critical part of the bankruptcy sale deal and if you take that away some buyers will be put off or be unwilling to pay as much for the Texas Rangers baseball team.
In other Texas Rangers bankruptcy news, creditors are raising concerns that here were “midnight transfers” of assets just days before the team filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy. If it is found to be true that the Texas Rangers illegally transferred assets right before filing bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court could demand that those assets be returned.