The Texas Rangers, the Major League Baseball team controlled by billionaire Thomas Hicks, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an effort to expedite the sale of the baseball team to a group of investors which include the team’s president Nolan Ryan and his partner Chuck Greenberg. The Texas Rangers baseball team is the second Major League Baseball team to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy in less than a year. The Chicago Cubs was the first to enter bankruptcy after joining their owner Tribune Co. in Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year.
The Texas Rangers filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy listing their assets and debt between $100 million and $500 million and noting that their biggest unsecured creditor was Alex Rodriguez, who is now the third baseman for the New York Yankees.
Rodriguez signed a 10-year, $252 million agreement with the Rangers in 2000, and was traded to New York in February 2004 in exchange for then All-Star second baseman Alfonso Soriano and infielder Joaquin Arias. Texas also agreed to pay about $67 million of the $179 million that remained on Rodriguez’s contract.
And while it is not clear if the baseball franchise owes other former players, the team’s president assured fans that the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing would not impact the day-to-day management of the team and that they were on schedule to compete for a 2010 playoff spot. Parties in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing have appealed to the bankruptcy court to make the sale of the baseball team quick and they hope to complete the sale within the next 45 days and to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy soon after.