RANGERS FILE FOR BANKRUPTCY

The Texas Rangers voluntarily pushed themselves into bankruptcy on Monday to facilitate the team’s sale to a group of investors led by Chuck Greenberg and the team’s president, Nolan Ryan, for about $575 million. The team and Major League Baseball took the unusual step so that the new owners would not be saddled with much of the debt held by the current owner, the HSG Sports Group. In a statement, the team said the bankruptcy was “prepackaged” and supported by baseball and the HSG Sports Group. It also said the sale of the team would produce enough money to pay the Rangers’ creditors in full, including players, like Alex Rodriguez, who were still owed millions of dollars in salary. The team said it asked the bankruptcy court for a hearing within 45 days, and it hoped the sale would be completed by midsummer. The club said it had assets and debts of between $100 million and $500 million. “This agreement assures an orderly process to expeditiously transfer Rangers ownership to the Greenberg-Ryan group, and it protects the franchise’s baseball operations,” Bud Selig, baseball commissioner, said in a statement. The league will also loan the Rangers money so that the team “continues to meet all of its obligations while the sale is being completed.” The HSG Sports Group defaulted on more than $500 million in loans last year, prompting Thomas Hicks, who leads the group, to look for investors to buy the team. The Greenberg-Ryan group was chosen above the other bidders in January. The sale was first supposed to be completed by the beginning of the season. The lenders to the HSG Sports Group, though, have argued that there are at least two more lucrative bids for the team that must be considered. They have been pushing baseball — thus far unsuccessfully — to reconsider those bids. The decision to push the team into bankruptcy was done without their consent and could lead to protracted delays in court as a consequence, according to one lender who asked not to be named because he did not speak for all lenders. At the same time, the lenders welcome the court’s involvement because they believe the judge is more likely to consider alternative bids for the team. A bankruptcy court judge in the Northern District of Texas will now hear the case, which includes the possibility of his agreeing to consider alternative bids for the team. In documents filed with the court, the team listed its 30 largest unsecured creditors. They include Rodriguez, who is owed $24.9 million in deferred compensation; Kevin Millwood, who is owed $12.9 million; Michael Young ($3.9 million); and Vicente Padilla, Mickey Tettleton and Mark McLemore. The team also owes money to Tickets9.com, Rawlings Sporting Goods and the New Era Cap Company, among others. The Rangers are the second major league team in a year to enter bankruptcy. The Chicago Cubs last October joined their previous owner, the Tribune Company, in a Chapter 11 filing. (NY Times)