Future of the Texas Rangers in question

[Invader3K]

I thought this article was pretty interesting.

 

Could this be the last year of the Texas Rangers existence? Will MLB

commission Bud Selig shut down the franchise? This is what Richard Sandomir and Ken Belson of the New York Timessay

could happen:

One of Selig’s lawyers vowed profanely in a conference call that

if the judge did not approve the team’s prepackaged bankruptcy plan,

which would have sped approval of the Greenberg-Ryan bid, M.L.B. would

terminate the franchise, according to a person on the call.

[davego]

Well...I suppose that would open up a park for the A's to play in.

[RobertR]

Why do I suspect that behaving antagonistically towards a Federal Bankruptcy Judge is perhaps not the smartest course of action?

 

Robert

[LouisEly]

Ridiculous. They have to have an even number of teams in order to play or they won't have a season. They'd have to find a city and ballpark by the start of next season and unless they want to play in a AAA park there are few if any options.

[Invader3K]

Yeah, I really doubt they would just retract the Rangers.

 

I think there would be some way to make a 29 team league work, though. You'd have to have one team off every day, and probably schedule more two and four game series. They would also have to probably switch one team from the NL to the AL (Brewers?). Not ideal, but it could be workable.

[MadScientist]

I think what is going on is that MLB is threatening to pull the franchise from the current ownership, which would kill the value of the Rangers for any auction. MLB could then potentially re-issue the franchise to whatever owners group they want, including putting in the same location. I don't know what would happen to the players, though. They might become FA's at all levels and the new Rangers would have to start from scratch.

[Funketown]

They'd have to find a city and ballpark by the start of next season and unless they want to play in a AAA park there are few if any options.

The north side of Chicago is still looking for a major league team...

[mothershipconnection]

I think what is going on is that MLB is threatening to pull the franchise from the current ownership, which would kill the value of the Rangers for any auction. MLB could then potentially re-issue the franchise to whatever owners group they want, including putting in the same location.

 

There's no way they let DFW go without a team, so this is the only thing I could see happening. Next, they need to require the new owners to put a roof on the stadium so locals will actually go to the games.

[Invader3K]

Well, the park was built less than 20 years ago and financed by tax payer money, so I doubt that would really fly either way.

[davego]

Move the whole part to NJ.

[Point Beer Is Best]

Move the whole part to NJ.

I wish they could put a team in NJ to put a dent in the market share enjoyed by the NY teams & Philly.

[davego]

exactly. I'm suprised MLB hasn't done that. Or other owners haven't insisted.

[TooLiveBrew]

Those fans all already have strong allegiances, though. Try selling a northern New Jersey-an (?) on not rooting for the most successful franchise in MLB history. I really doubt the Philly & Yankee fans would embrace another team at this point.

[Invader3K]

I really can't see the Rangers relocating at this point. Something will get worked out. Like the article said, I think Selig just wants to ensure some free-wheeling billionaire doesn't buy the team and spend money like crazy.

[RobertR]

I think the biggest issue is showing that there's a consistent standard that the high bidders don't meet. Given that ownership has been awarded to Tom Hicks, the McCourts, Jeff Loria, and Wendy Selig-Prieb, I'm not sure there's a real high standard that's been applied.

 

Robert

[Baldkin]

I really can't see the Rangers relocating at this point. Something will get worked out. Like the article said, I think Selig just wants to ensure some free-wheeling billionaire doesn't buy the team and spend money like crazy.

http://sportsguru09.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/mark_cuban.jpg

That's all I could think of when I read your comment.

[jerichoholicninja]

I would love to see Mark Cuban rub elbows with all the old fogey owners of MLB.

[Thundercat32]

mothershipconnection wrote:

There's no way they let DFW go without a team, so this is the only thing I could see happening. Next, they need to require the new owners to put a roof on the stadium so locals will actually go to the games.

This isn't really an issue, no one loves the heat or anything down here, but I think it'd be like me saying they gotta in close Lambeau field so ppl will go to the games when its snowing. You live thru the cold year in and year out. Same with us and the heat a 100 degree day isn't a real big deal.

[Flood Pants]

This isn't really an issue, no one loves the heat or anything down here, but I think it'd be like me saying they gotta in close Lambeau field so ppl will go to the games when its snowing. You live thru the cold year in and year out. Same with us and the heat a 100 degree day isn't a real big deal.

Of course, the problem with this comparison is that people do go to football games in the snow. Football has always had a very different attitude toward extreme

weather, as have football fans.

But if Rangers fans aren't coming out when it's really hot, it's a legitimate concern for the franchise. Is there any other MLB stadium as far south as them without at least a retractable roof?

[Invader3K]

Texas is currently 17th in attendance this season, basically middle of the pack. I don't think the stadium issue is as big as some of you are making it out to be.

[jjgott]

Is there any other MLB stadium as far south as them without at least a retractable roof?

 

Marlins

[1992casey]

North/south isn't really the issue. It's the climate. Atlanta and San Diego are at latitudes similar to Arlington. Atlanta isn't as hot as Dallas, and San Diego is generally quite comfortable. Of course, the Marlins will have a retractable roof in the near future.

 

Attendance in Texas hasn't been earth-shattering (about 27,000 per game over the past five years), but it's hardly a negative, either. As far as climate, having all games at night during the summer months seems to address that.

 

From purely a fan standpoint, I don't think anything noticeable will happen. There'll be a Rangers team in Arlington now, and there'll be a Rangers team in Arlington in the future. From a business standpoint, however, it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

[Thundercat32]

FP,

 

ofc you have a point about football is traditionally played in the snow in late Nov/Dec. But if you're going to turn down going to baseball games in Texas in the summer b/c its too hot, then you're basically not going to do anything. Its freaking hot down here in June, July, and August. You just learn to deal with it.

 

Trust me they will have no problem filling the stadium as the season progresses b/c they're winning now. Thats how this town treats baseball, they support a winner and could care less the rest of the time.

 

Also, I think the 17th ranking isn't a true reflection, b/c they haven't had the Yankees or Red Sox at home yet and those are always big draws. Instead they've had alot of bottom dwellers like the Pirates, Indians, Orioles, etc. But for instance, earlier in the season when they hosted the Cubs on a Saturday night they drew 46,180.

[mothershipconnection]

This isn't really an issue, no one loves the heat or anything down here, but I think it'd be like me saying they gotta in close Lambeau field so ppl will go to the games when its snowing. You live thru the cold year in and year out. Same with us and the heat a 100 degree day isn't a real big deal.

 

I won't go. In 7 years, I've never gone to a Rangers game outside of April and early May (plus, they have fireworks and buy 1 get 1 tickets with Dr. Pepper cans). I work with a few big baseball fans, and we've talked about going to games after work many times, then look at the forecast and think of your body sticking to a seat for 3 hours and decide to go to happy hour at Blue Mesa instead.

 

We also need to take market size into consideration when judging attendance. There's no exact science, but if we take 2000 census data and split the metro areas with multiple teams in half (e.g. Baltimore and Washington, Oakland and SF, etc), TEX is behind only NYY, NYM, PHI, BOS and DET. Numbers per Baseball Almanac

[owbc]

They aren't going anywhere, unless MLB wants to give the finger to Nolan Ryan and a good baseball town. The weather is a big issue that hides the fan support. Look at the Florida Marlins--they are near the bottom of the league in attendance but have solid TV ratings.