Rangers Auction to Proceed as Mark Cuban Readies Bid

An auction for the Texas Rangers may proceed, a bankruptcy judge ruled, opening the way for Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to bid against Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan for control of the first-place baseball team.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge D. Michael Lynn in Fort Worth, Texas, made the decision today after the team’s chief restructuring officer, William Snyder, backed an “enhanced” offer from a buyer’s group led by Ryan and attorney Chuck Greenberg. A condition of the new offer was that the auction be called off, Snyder said.

Lynn denied a request from the Rangers to cancel the auction, siding with the team’s lenders. The lenders pushed for the auction to proceed as planned on Aug. 4 even though it means losing the certainty of the new Greenberg-Ryan deal.

“The money is the lenders’ money, and if they’re willing to roll the dice, I’m going to let them do it,” Lynn said.

The Dice is Rolled. No wait, that isn’t right….