Barry Schlacter reports that Judge Michael Lynn has pushed the highly anticipated auction of the Rangers to August 4.
A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Tuesday moved the date on which the Texas Rangers will be auctioned to Aug. 4 — a decision that he said was designed to satisfy no one — and said the team could emerge from bankruptcy that same day.
Before Judge Michael Lynn’s decision, the attorney for club president Nolan Ryan and Pittsburgh sports attorney Chuck Greenberg softened his stance on a breach-of-contract lawsuit filed Monday against the current owners of the team.
The date seems to be a compromise between two requested dates.
Tuesday’s hearing featured the Greenberg-Ryan group arguing that the new auction should occur well before Aug. 12, when its financing agreements purportedly expire.
Major lenders, on the other hand, wanted more time, asserting that Aug. 4 won’t give potential rival bidders — Houston businessman Jim Crane and Dallas investor Jeff Beck — time to arrange funding.