Bankruptcy judge says decision on Texas Rangers’ sale plans will not be delayed after all

Judge backs off delay of Rangers’ sale hearing

FORT WORTH, Texas — A federal bankruptcy judge said Friday that a decision on the Texas Rangers’ plan to repay creditors and sell the team will not be delayed after all, though he warned that the club’s haste could jeopardize the plan’s approval.

At a brief hearing, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge D. Michael Lynn granted the proposed buyers’ request for a July 9 hearing, as originally planned. He also scheduled mediation between the Rangers and their angry creditors for July 6.

A day earlier, the judge ordered mid-July mediation and delayed until July 22 a final hearing on the team’s plan to pay creditors $75 million and sell the club to a group led by Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg and Nolan Ryan, the Hall of Fame pitcher and team president.

The proposed buyers balked late Thursday, saying such a delay could cripple the Rangers’ plans to be competitive before the July 31 non-waiver trading deadline.

Lynn granted the motion without hearing testimony Friday, then chided the American League West-leading Rangers and proposed buyers.

“You need to understand that this court will decide whether to approve this plan … and will not decide based on what the fans want … what the media wants … what Mr. Ryan and Mr. Greenberg want … or what (baseball commissioner) Bud Selig wants,” Lynn said. “If the plan fails to meet (a specific bankruptcy code), I will deny confirmation and we will be back to square one, and it will be on the head of those who supported this motion.”

He added that mediation was unlikely to resolve the issues now that it was days before the final hearing.

“For the sake of the Rangers, I do not want to see this team stuck in Chapter 11 until this fall,” Lynn said. “You guys — not me — you guys are the ones who pushed for this (July 9 hearing).”

The team’s sale was announced in January, but it has been stalled by creditors’ concerns over the financially strapped Hicks Sports Group.

The creditors have argued that the team doesn’t just owe $75 million, but is obligated to pay more than $525 million in loans that Hicks Sports Group defaulted on last year. Creditors also have argued that the Greenberg-Ryan bid — which Major League Baseball endorses — was not the highest.

Creditors also have said that because last month’s bankruptcy filing removed their rights to approve the team’s sale, the Rangers acted in bad faith, which would violate bankruptcy codes.

Earlier this week, Lynn ruled that the Rangers’ ownership and their creditors were adversely affected by the plan and could vote on it. To avoid lenders’ killing the plan, the judge said, the Rangers would have to restore some of those rights but would not have to give them more money.

Vance Beagles, an attorney for the team’s owners, said Friday that the plan would be revised but declined to elaborate.

William K. Snyder, appointed earlier this week as the chief restructuring officer in the case, said he opposed the request for the July 9 hearing because he needed more time to review documents. His duties include reviewing the Greenberg-Ryan bid.

(This version CORRECTS surname in judge’s quote to Mr. Ryan, not Nolan.)