MLB Control Of Rangers' Payroll Casts Team's Future Into Doubt

Ryan Has Said Contract Clauses Wouldn't Influence Starting Rotation

No one has "much of an idea what the future holds for the Rangers regarding the off-season and what they will be able to do under the team's current economic conditions," as Owner Tom Hicks "essentially has lost fiscal control of the team," according to Jim Reeves of the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM. The team "has had to borrow at least" $15M from MLB, and as a result, the league is "making many of the calls regarding Rangers' moves, including the one that cost them the ability to sign No. 1 draft pick Matt Purke." It is "doubtful that the Rangers will even be able to hang onto their own free agents," as it is "fairly easy to predict that if MLB put a firm limit on what the Rangers could offer their No. 1 draft pick, it's not going to suddenly let them open the checkbook during free agency." President Nolan Ryan: "There's no way to predict what's going to happen." Rangers P Kevin Millwood is nearing 180 innings pitched, "automatically guaranteeing him" $12M for '10, and while Ryan and GM Jon Daniels said that contract clauses "would never influence the team's decision about who starts in the rotation, ... that decision potentially could be taken out of their hands." The Rangers are currently four games out of the AL Wild Card spot, and all they "can do is concentrate on the task at hand." Reeves wrote it "would certainly be an embarrassment to [MLB] if it did anything that might hamper the Rangers' ability to finish what has been a remarkable season." Meanwhile, the four-year contract Ryan "was supposed to get to be club president ... never materialized," and instead he is "working on a handshake agreement with Hicks." Ryan said that he "can't imagine the team being sold and a sale approved before April or May at the earliest," and Reeves wrote, "At this point, there's reason to wonder if there are any serious bidders out there" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 9/12).

FREE TO DECIDE: Hicks said that the Rangers asked MLB for a $15M line of credit earlier this summer as an “advance toward future revenue coming in at the end of the season.” Hicks said that the Rangers have “taken advantage of only less than half that amount and that it has not had a negative effect on the club’s operations.” Hicks: “We are free to operate the Texas Rangers baseball operations in the normal course of business, consistent with our budget and normal business practices. There is nothing from Major League Baseball that restricts us. There are no restrictions, as long as we stay within our budget. All decisions being made are being made by myself, Nolan Ryan and Jon Daniels, and not by Major League Baseball.” MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan noted the team will “remain under Hicks’ ownership for the foreseeable future,” as there are “interested parties, but there is nothing imminent and any kind of sale may not happen until well into next season” (MLB.com, 9/12).