Rangers file for Chap. 11

Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas

The Texas Rangers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday in hopes of spurring completion of the stalled $575 million sale of the team — and maybe clear the decks for the new owners to make pennant-chasing decisions this summer.

The bankruptcy filing comes four months after Tom Hicks announced an agreement to sell the team to a group led by Hall of Fame pitcher and team president Nolan Ryan and Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg.

“I did not want to put the baseball future of the Texas Rangers in jeopardy or uncertainty for an extended period of time,” Hicks said. “This action is all about creating an end to the impasse in allowing this team sale to go forward.”

Under the plan to be presented at a court hearing Tuesday, the Rangers would pay the $75 million of the club’s debt tied up in Hicks’ financially strapped ownership group. That would remove the team from the additional claims by creditors against Hicks Sports Group that have held up the sale.

“We feel like this is the correct thing to do,” Ryan said. “We have some deadlines coming up that are obviously important to us as a ballclub, and feel like by bringing this to finality that we will then be able to do the things we feel like we need to do.”

In order for the AL West-leading Rangers to have financial flexibility at the non-waiver trading deadline July 31, the sale of the team will need to be completed. There is also the amateur draft next month.