Tom Hicks vs. Nolan Ryan on Matt Purke
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 18, 2010 10:00 AM CST
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PrintI was reading some stuff about the Rangers financial situation and MLB's involvement with the team over the past year, and stumbled upon a couple of remarkable, and contradictory, quotes...
Compare and contrast...
Tom Hicks, on September 12, 2009:
Hicks said that the decision regarding Purke was made by the Rangers without any influence by Major League Baseball. The Rangers offered $4 million but were told that Purke would not accept less than $6 million. He has since enrolled at TCU.
"We were very disappointed that we made a miscalculation in what it would take to sign our No. 1 Draft pick," Hicks said. "His slot was $1.8 million. We were prepared to pay up to $4 million, which would have been the third-highest bonus ever given to a high school player. That was something we thought he would agree to do.
"We were disappointed that the family insisted on $6 million. The Texas Rangers were not willing to do that. It had nothing to do with MLB restrictions. There is a clear misimpression we didn't sign Matt Purke because MLB wouldn't let us. That's not true. We didn't because of Tom Hicks, Nolan Ryan and Jon Daniels. We were not willing to go to $6 million."
Nolan Ryan, on January 27, 2010:
Ryan, the Texas Rangers’ team president and future minority owner, was the guest speaker at the TCU Business Network of Dallas at the Intercontinental Hotel. The event was presented by the Neeley School of Business and the TCU Alumni Association.
Ryan was asked about Purke, who was the Rangers’ first-round pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft.
The sides had agreed before the draft to a $6 million deal, well above the slot money for the No. 14 overall pick, and owner Tom Hicks gave his approval.
That was in June. By July, Major League Baseball was overseeing the Rangers’ finances and had the final say on all transactions beyond what had been budgeted.
When the Aug. 17 deadline to sign Purke arrived, the commissioner’s office wasn’t going to budge.
"At 5 o’clock on the day of the deadline, they called and told us what the amount was," Ryan said during a question-and-answer session. "And it wasn’t nearly enough."
Ryan said he spent the next six hours attmepting to get commissioner Bud Selig to give the Rangers more flexibility.
Would it be too harsh to say that Tom Hicks flat out lied to the beat writer for the team's official website back in September?
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Tom Hicks lied (or at least left out tons of the truth)
many, many times over the last year regarding the team’s finances. Everything that comes out of his mouth is calculated to spin his behavior/situation to look less comically stupid.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
Agreed
Seemed to be doing whatever he could to avoid/minimize the appearance of an organization in financial distress, possibly going back for several years. Recall when reports of HSG defaulting on the loans first came out, and claims by Hicks that this was simply a negotiating tactic with the lenders.
Ill go ahead and get it out of the way now.....Fuck Hicks
But reading that makes me wonder if Ryan and the Rangers went back to Purke and tried to get him to agree to 4 million (if that was the numbers MLB had authorized). The Ryan quote makes it sound like Ryan basically told the Purkes they’d give them 6 mil and when it came time to sign Ryan was negotiating more with MLB than with the Purkes.
It may not have made a difference and probably doesn’t get Purke signed but I wonder how involved Ryan will be in our draft from now on. I don’t like the practice of agreeing to such a huge deal that early with basically no negotiation.
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
Uh, I don't think
the Rangers went to Purke and just agreed with his first demand.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
Yup
Rumors said that Purke was looking for Josh Beckett-money. And that was upwards of 7 million, I think
"Jurick Profar is tired of practice!! I wanna play I wanna play….waiting for march 12 to go to spring training! to kill some pichers:D:D I am Jurickson Profar son of judeska and chesmond.. And I was born ready! ready to play baseball!!" - Jurickson Profar
Well,
he didn’t say first demand. He did say “that early” and if you believe the quote above that was attributed to Nolan, they agreed before the draft.
Right, but bigsteve is basically saying
the Rangers just laid down and let Purke dictate terms. That’s not true. They knew before even talking to him that he was going to be a tough sign and that he would demand a high bonus. If they didn’t feel comfortable with that they would not have talked to him about those dollar amounts before the draft and they would not have picked him.
This is most certainly not a situation where the Rangers didn’t want to pay him and were surprised by his demands and just let him dictate.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
You know
the other possibility is that Nolan wanted to pay him the $6 million, and was asking Hicks to beg MLB; Hicks was not in favor of paying the $6 million, maybe he felt like he wasn’t worth it, or for the obvious reason of not wanting to be more indebted to Bud Selig. So possibly the Rangers made a half-hearted request for the money and got denied.
It is fully reasonable to expect that those two didn’t get along at this point. Nolan went out on a limb for Purke.
Go Rice Owls!
out on a limb
maybe true, but Ryan says Hicks agreed to the amount.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
you know how office politics are
Nolan: “Let’s say yes to $6 million”
Hicks: “I don’t think we should, MLB won’t go that far”
Nolan: “Let’s try”
Hicks: “Okay, you can go to Selig and ask – I’m not going to because it isn’t going to happen”
And of course, they don’t get the money since Hicks wasn’t behind the request. So Nolan can blame MLB, Hicks doesn’t consider it a real offer, since he wasn’t really behind it.
All speculative. But there are many ways this could have played out.
Go Rice Owls!
Hicks just does not deserve
the benefit of the doubt. He has an enormous deficit in that department, maybe even bigger than the financial hole he’s in.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
I'm not giving him the benefit of the doubt
I’m just not jumping to the most extreme conclusion every time I hear his name.
Go Rice Owls!
Yeah
I don’t like the practice of agreeing to deals that huge before the draft unless its on a Strasburg type talent. Getting an idea what he wants is one thing. The article and especially the bolded portion Adam pointed out make it sound like instead of negotiating with the player we were negotiating with MLB in the last hours.
Like I said it probably doesn’t change anything I just hope in next years draft and future drafts, especially now that Nolan is an owner, we do things a little differently
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
x
The article and especially the bolded portion Adam pointed out make it sound like instead of negotiating with the player we were negotiating with MLB in the last hours.
I imagine they were doing both.
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 18, 2010 10:23 AM CST up reply actions
I do too
But its hard to negotiate with a guy when you had agreed to a set amount a couple months earlier. I guess thats where my biggest beef in this whole deal is.
Bryan Smith (12:17:17 PM PT): Justin Smoak and Josh Hamilton. The AL West might just have found their Bash Brothers, v. 2.0.
That doesn't sound very realistic.
I have a hard time imagining that any other team would have paid Purke $6 million either.
by twinkilling on Feb 18, 2010 10:16 AM CST up reply actions
Meh...
I’ve moved on. This team has a bright future and too much talent for me to worry about Purke anymore.
It would’ve been great to have him in the system, but I’m over it now.
"The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance."-Socrates
by slc ranger on Feb 18, 2010 10:14 AM CST reply actions 3 recs
Scheppers was nice consolation
"Jurick Profar is tired of practice!! I wanna play I wanna play….waiting for march 12 to go to spring training! to kill some pichers:D:D I am Jurickson Profar son of judeska and chesmond.. And I was born ready! ready to play baseball!!" - Jurickson Profar
So is the pick
that we got for not signing him. Better than nothing…
"JD gets complete blame or credit for what happens in 2010 and I think Nolan wants it that way. JD is paid to be a real GM and needs to start performing like one." - Josey Wales
by Michael Cave on Feb 18, 2010 10:20 AM CST up reply actions
Quite possibly
actually im sure it will be because the Rangers will have to err on the side of safety for that pick
"JD gets complete blame or credit for what happens in 2010 and I think Nolan wants it that way. JD is paid to be a real GM and needs to start performing like one." - Josey Wales
by Michael Cave on Feb 18, 2010 4:49 PM CST up reply actions
Of course Hicks couldn't admit the real reason (he didn't have the $$)
He was angling until the very end for a bigger share of the team and he couldn’t be seen as MLB’s welfare case when trying to convince folks he had the financial backing to do something.
The one thing I think is interesting is the fact that TR Sullivan (Rangers and MLB shill) is who published the apparent lie and of course MLB knew what was reported. Why would they allow it? I’m guessing any correction would be the opposite of greasing the wheels for the sale.
"You promised me, Eckstein, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, there have only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed you most, have you not been there for me?" David Eckstein replied, "Because my little legs had gotten tired, and you were carrying me." And I looked down and saw that I was still carrying David Eckstein.
Then he grounded out weakly to second.
exactly
People getting indignant about someone who is doing the entirely rational thing. The guy is trying to maintain control of an organization. That quote was in September, maybe there was still a reasonable possibility he could right the ship, pay off MLB, and no one, other than Hicks, Nolan, and JD, would be the wiser about MLB’s involvement.. He can’t just allow that sort of information to leak – it would have sabotaged his entire credibility that he was trying to restore at that time. Not to mention that getting branded as a “ward of the league” would hurt offseason acquisitions/plans even more.
Yeah, he lied. And he tried to cover up the disaster that befell the club. But it isn’t surprising or shocking or even upsetting. Everyone knows his limitations, he’s gone, let’s move on.
Go Rice Owls!
I think he is not
just trying to cover up what happened to the club. I think every Hicks possession gets hurt when the perception gets out there that Hicks liabilities may well outweigh his assets by a large amount.
"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland
sure
which is why I say it is rational for him to not be forthright with this type of information.
Of course, there is also the possiblity that Bud Selig told Hicks not to advertise the full extent of the relationship
Go Rice Owls!
rational
you’re right about that, but he should just talk a lot less in general. He should just say he can’t comment and leave it alone.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
except
is there really any downside to him lying?
"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland
Well, in this instance
don’t you think it ruined any chance of Hicks retaining even a tiny bit of power in the new ownership group? Not that I’m not ok with that, but if Hicks doesn’t throw Ryan under the bus and is more honest with Ryan and Daniels about the team’s money situation, everyone would seem to be better off. They don’t have to make any of it public, but the front office is able to make decisions with all the info they need.
Freude, schoener Goetterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische dein Heiligtum.
I think Hicks
not having access to any cash or borrowed money was what ruined those chances. If Hicks isn’t bringing money to the table, what exactly does he bring?
"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland
Absolutely there was a down side
He painted the Purke family as a bunch of greedy people who wouldn’t accept the third highest bonus paid to a HS kid. He made them his scapegoat. That’s reprehensible.
"You promised me, Eckstein, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, there have only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed you most, have you not been there for me?" David Eckstein replied, "Because my little legs had gotten tired, and you were carrying me." And I looked down and saw that I was still carrying David Eckstein.
Then he grounded out weakly to second.
So
how does that hurt Hicks?
"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland
You asked if there was a downside to Hicks lying
Yes. Yes there was. Was there a downside from Hicks’ perspective? Only if he gives a shit about his character and reputation. Which I’m guessing he doesn’t at this point.
"You promised me, Eckstein, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, there have only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed you most, have you not been there for me?" David Eckstein replied, "Because my little legs had gotten tired, and you were carrying me." And I looked down and saw that I was still carrying David Eckstein.
Then he grounded out weakly to second.
I agree
he should have said “the negotiations were between Purke and our office, and unfortunately we couldn’t have come to a solution that satisfied both parties. We wish Purke luck at TCU, and look forward to the future success of our other draftees”
Go Rice Owls!
Funny thing is - Hicks almost told the trust (or at least a half truth)
It’s true the Rangers offered $4MM. It’s true the Purke’s wanted $6MM. The half-truth was failing to mention the Rangers had previously said they’d give $6MM and it’s a lie that MLB had nothing to do with it.
"You promised me, Eckstein, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, there have only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed you most, have you not been there for me?" David Eckstein replied, "Because my little legs had gotten tired, and you were carrying me." And I looked down and saw that I was still carrying David Eckstein.
Then he grounded out weakly to second.
He did a poor job of angling for a bigger share by throwing Nolan under the bus on this one.
Pro baseball has always been a dream, so this is pretty freakin’ cool out here. -- Tim Steggall, undrafted Rangers minor leaguer.
I'm sure someone in the MLB offices knew what was going on
but that doesn’t necessarily mean T.R. did. There’s always a disclaimer at the bottom of the stories about how the story wasn’t subject to review by MLB or somesuch.
meta-signature
I don't necessarily think TR knew but MLB knew after he reported it
That said, I think TR gets spoon fed crap by MLB and Rangers and publishes it without questioning it even if he has his doubts. That’s pure speculation by the way.
"You promised me, Eckstein, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, there have only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed you most, have you not been there for me?" David Eckstein replied, "Because my little legs had gotten tired, and you were carrying me." And I looked down and saw that I was still carrying David Eckstein.
Then he grounded out weakly to second.
Ugh
Just more evidence that Tom Hicks truly is one of the biggest jackasses out there. Blow me, Fuck Face.
Well, we can just all be thankful...
that Hicks sold and will not have a say in baseball operations! Stars and Liverpool fans, on the other hand…
=)
You’ll Never Win Again.
If Brad Pitt is playing Beane who do you want playing you?
JD: Eddie Guardado.
by GhettoBear04 on Feb 18, 2010 10:25 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
=)
You’ll Never Win Again.
If Brad Pitt is playing Beane who do you want playing you?
JD: Eddie Guardado.
by GhettoBear04 on Feb 18, 2010 10:25 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
Hey now
Our run to the Europa League title starts today! Go Reds!
"Jesus, Spanish- our jobs aren't enough, now you want our words?"
-- Sterling Archer
Ha!
Sorry about the double post…mobile commenting gets goofy for me sometimes.
I know it’s not original, but I figured it would draw you offsides pretty quickly…
If Brad Pitt is playing Beane who do you want playing you?
JD: Eddie Guardado.
by GhettoBear04 on Feb 18, 2010 10:31 AM CST via mobile up reply actions
I also seem to remember
that Matt Purke was pumped about coming here. Granted he’s not going to say anything to the contrary, but reading his quote now, after Nolan’s revelations, makes me think that Purke knew they had an agreement as well.
maybe
he didn’t want to throw MLB under the bus when he was trying to do everything in his power to keep the Rangers with MLBs approval…
just maybe
"Clearly, I've been wrong. VY is awesome." - AJM
So he threw...
…Nolan Ryan under the bus?
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 18, 2010 10:45 AM CST up reply actions
He definitely threw someone under the bus.
I’m inclined to believe it was the fans, though.
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." - Benjamin Franklin
Wait
Nolan Ryan (and presumably Jon Daniels) cut a deal, with Hicks’ approval, with the Purke family to pay Purke $6 million — this is according to Ryan a month ago. Ryan says MLB then came in later and refused to let them do it.
Hicks, in September, claims that the reason Purke didn’t sign is because Hicks, Ryan and Daniels did not want to give Purke $6 million, not because of anything MLB did.
That’s throwing Ryan under the bus.
by Adam J. Morris on Feb 18, 2010 11:12 AM CST up reply actions
weren't there reports of Ryan leaving
if Hicks was retained as owner?
"Clearly, I've been wrong. VY is awesome." - AJM
Nope, that was Gilbert
"I don’t know how these SN blog authors get their gigs, but I’m frankly surprised SN tolerates AJM’s lack of effort." Tex34
Neftali Feliz says sit your 5 dollar ass down before he makes change...
by Brian Thomas on Feb 18, 2010 12:18 PM CST up reply actions
So
Nolan said he would be involved with the Greenberg group which was keeping Hicks on.
Nolan said he wouldn’t be involved with the Gilbert group which was keeping Hicks on.
And this, boy genius, leads you to conclude that Ryan would leave if Hicks was still involved with ownership? Not Gilbert?
Really?
"I don’t know how these SN blog authors get their gigs, but I’m frankly surprised SN tolerates AJM’s lack of effort." Tex34
Neftali Feliz says sit your 5 dollar ass down before he makes change...
by Brian Thomas on Feb 18, 2010 7:06 PM CST up reply actions
noob
According to sources close to the situation (via the Star-Telegram), Ryan was fully prepared to submit his resignation if the hastily assembled ownership group comprising Hicks and Gilbert had prevailed over Chuck Greenberg in the competition to purchase the Rangers, and evidently might have done so in the near future if not for the Gilbert-Hicks relationship “[falling] apart” on Thursday
"Clearly, I've been wrong. VY is awesome." - AJM
Yeah.
That’s throwing Ryan under the bus.
I wonder if he’s been doing that all along. Was there any real confirmation that there was lots of Ryan/J.D. tension, or was that all just Hicks spouting bullshit and/or him creating the tension?
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." - Benjamin Franklin
Ryan/JD tension
there’s a management tactic which promotes tension between your employees by forcing them to compete with each other. Personally, I find it reprehensible, but Hicks did it before with John Hart and Grady Fuson.
Not to mention that Hart is still a part of the organization (or he was under Hicks).
Oh my god! What can it be? We're all doomed! Who's flying this thing?
-Wash
Kinda
It wasn’t a mystery that Nolan had some ins with the family’s agent and at the time it was easy to believe that Nolan misjudged the situation.
"You promised me, Eckstein, that if I followed you, you would walk with me always. But I noticed that during the most trying periods of my life, there have only been one set of prints in the sand. Why, when I have needed you most, have you not been there for me?" David Eckstein replied, "Because my little legs had gotten tired, and you were carrying me." And I looked down and saw that I was still carrying David Eckstein.
Then he grounded out weakly to second.
wasn't Nolan wanting to buy the Rangers from Hicks?
better nolan than mlb.
"Clearly, I've been wrong. VY is awesome." - AJM
Are you ever on the correct side of an argument?
"I don’t know how these SN blog authors get their gigs, but I’m frankly surprised SN tolerates AJM’s lack of effort." Tex34
Neftali Feliz says sit your 5 dollar ass down before he makes change...
by Brian Thomas on Feb 18, 2010 12:20 PM CST up reply actions
I'll go on record and say that I would not buy a car from him.
by GregoryM on Feb 18, 2010 10:29 AM CST reply actions
BMFF, Sr.
Fuck that man. It’s like he’s trying to be hated he’s so damn good at it.
"The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason." - Benjamin Franklin
x
so, here I am having a nice morning read and I open LSB and there is BMFF, Sr and now my fucking day is ruined. Thanks a lot. I was really hoping never to have to see his really ugly face again.
I soloed in the Mile High Club!
I still blame Bud.
Hicks wouldn’t have lied if MLB had allowed the $6M bonus.
Yes. Bud wouldn’t have been an issue had Hicks’ overextended credit not bit him in the butt, but it was still MLB’s decision in the end. And, they chose not to allow the Rangers to add to their cache of prospects, which is about the only way for small to medium market teams to remain competitive and keep alive the general public interest in MLB. Seems like a counterproductive penalty imposed by MLB that hurt the club more than it hurt Hicks, who was gonna get his comeuppance anyway.
Pro baseball has always been a dream, so this is pretty freakin’ cool out here. -- Tim Steggall, undrafted Rangers minor leaguer.
I don't see how anyone
can possibly blame Bud or MLB.
Its like a company being up in arms because while in bankruptcy court, the judge won’t allow them to invest in product development that won’t pay off for 5 years.
Anyone who blames Bud for this is fairly silly.
The only money MLB is interested in giving the Rangers is enough to keep the lights on while the Rangers conduct as orderly of a sale of the company as is possible.
"I don't condone steroids or any other type of growth hormones or anything else, but I could care less, and, for the most part, I don't think the fans give a (bleep). The people that care about it are the people that probably don't like baseball," - Jim Leyland
Agree
was trying to decide how to respond to this. Well done.
MLB is screwed up
In all fairness, MLB has a screwed up view on salary/signing bonuses for young players. It’s okay for Aroldis Chapman to sign a six-year $30.25 million contract, but there’s now way Strasburg should get $15.1 million from the Nationals. Because Purke was born in America, he should be penalized. Selig and MLB are opposed to any and all contracts above slot regardless if a team is a financial mess.
But yeah, I see your point.
by Excel Hearts Choi on Feb 18, 2010 10:59 AM CST up reply actions
I don't mind being silly on this one.
It’s not bankruptcy court, though, it’s all of the business is kept within the MLB world of politics and legaleze (legalsleeze?). I would actually prefer bankruptcy court where the rules are fixed as opposed to the ad hoc constraints put in place by MLB.
I think it’s fully justified to criticize MLB in how they played this out since there is no such thing as a hard and fast legal rule book to govern such situations. They could’ve chosen otherwise. They could’ve chosen to allow the team to continue to invest in the things that enable competitiveness. It’s just a matter of what parties Bud is willing to upset the least. He was less willing to upset the other owners in this case.
Pro baseball has always been a dream, so this is pretty freakin’ cool out here. -- Tim Steggall, undrafted Rangers minor leaguer.
MLB wasn't in the wrong
if I were the A’s, M’s, or Angels, I would have raised all sorts of hell if MLB helped finance the Rangers getting a top prospect that they couldn’t afford. If I’m the Royals or Pirates, who passed over Matt Wieters for financial reasons; I’d have been furious.
Go Rice Owls!
I still don't get how Bud Selig approved a $4 million bonus
If he did, he’s the worlds biggest Hypocrite about this whole slotting business.
My guess is that Ryan and Purke worked out a deal before the draft for $6 million, then after the draft Hicks went to Ryan and said, “you can only go as high as $4 million unless MLB approves”. Ryan, realizing that he was screwed tried to get MLB to approve, and when they shot him down, tried to get Purke to agree to $4 million (probably saying something like “we’ll make it up to you”) or something like that. Purke and his family said no, and he went to college instead.
Oh, and Hicks is lying. But then again, in september, when Hicks was going to be interviewed, I can see him getting a phone call like this:
Bud: Hey Tom, I hear you have an interview coming up on this Purke business.
Tom: Yes, Bud, but I don’t know how to answer. if I tell the truth you’d look like you were meddling, or like you agreed to an over slot bonus.
Bud: that would be a bad thing.
Tom: How bad?
Bud: Well, you like being a baseball owner?
Tom: Yes.
Bud: so what should you do?
Tom: Lie?
Bud: You better.
Oh my god! What can it be? We're all doomed! Who's flying this thing?
-Wash
Dont forget
Hicks owed MLB another almost $40m by this time too.
Hard to let them spend like mad when Hicks wont pay any of his bills.
"My expectations today are that we're going to be extremely competitive and if we don't win our division, I'll be disappointed." Nolan Ryan
Can we photoshop a brown bag over BMFF, Sr.'s photos, in order not to have to be subjected to his ugliness?
"Josey drives to games???
I always assumed he rides in on his high horse"
jam0152
Martin Perez, "Mucho queso"
by RangersSD on Feb 18, 2010 11:17 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
x
rec this
I soloed in the Mile High Club!
Devil's advocacy
What might’ve stopped Nolan from fronting the money to sign Purke himself? It’s what he’ll be doing this year’s draft. Does anyone suspect he wasn’t on board with the pick or even less than enthusiastic? Had he not entertained the idea of his ownership bid by then?
I dunno, sounds like a matter of hammering out a quick contract with Hicks, deciding the interest rate and getting back to the greater good of the organization.
Go Strangers.
by hightowersmith on Feb 18, 2010 11:23 AM CST reply actions
Yeah, at that point I wouldn't dare take a unsecured note from Hicks Sports Group
No way in hell that note would ever get paid if bankruptcy happened.
"Dying ain't hard. It’s living in the wake of a thorough public humiliation that’s hard.--JDT217
Part of me understands Hicks is protecting the Rangers brand a bit here.
And he uses the prestige of that brand all thru-out his financial domain, I imagine. Or used to, at least. heh
What’s interesting is that this reflects a totally different executive mindset in Nolan Ryan.
Nolan’s saying, “Eff it. Let the chips of knowledge fall where they may.”
Rangers pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report on Thursday, February 18.
Matt Purke
End of the day, it’s probably best that we didn’t spend $6 million on a high school pitcher.
That’s not a very good risk to take.
you shut your commy mouth
that’s not the point of this post, this is pure unadulterated Hicks bashing
You hear about the "Electric Arms", they're all the rage.
"If the Rangers have marked improvement in 2010, I'm going to need to give JD credit." Josey Wales, Feb. 10, 2010 11:45 AM CST
Who's to say Nolan isn't lying?
Not to mention the fact (this is what I heard from a good source) that between the day they drafted Purke and mid-August, the Ranger’s had gone over slot and signed a number of guys (Schepper’s, etc.)….and some of the other clubs were not happy about it. They were fronting the money for this club, and the Ranger’s were signing draft choices like they were in great financial shape. But after hearing a bunch of moaning from other clubs, MLB dropped the hammer and tightened the purse strings.
$4mil was way enough to get that kid signed….if Nolan made a pre-draft deal that couldn’t get done, then it’s on him, not Hick’s!
A) Nolan doesn't lie, B) Nolan will kill you for suggesting that he does
"Dying ain't hard. It’s living in the wake of a thorough public humiliation that’s hard.--JDT217
Hey you should be pissed at Nolan anyway
he’s promoting Kay Bailey vs. your fellow Aggie, ole Big Hair!
I wonder how much Scheppers signing
had to do with not having the money for Purke.
By 2028, Mark Teixeira will be in the HOF.
"I am one of the biggest Texas Ranger fans out there but I'm also one of the smartest. Deal with it."
-The Outlaw
This scenario makes the most sense...
Scouts for the Rangers determined that Purke was immensely talented. Then, the area scout contacted the Purke’s to determine what it would take to sign him. Not an exact figure, but ballpark. The Rangers felt that the number was doable and made the pick. Negotiations stretched into July at which point MLB took over and kept the Rangers from agreeing to anything near enough.
I am pretty sure that Nolan Ryan didn’t go to the Purke’s, say, “Yes, we’ll give you $6 Mil.” and then not just pay the kid the second the draft was over.
Do I think Purke screwed up by not accepting $4 Mil, yes, but that is a completely different topic.
I hate the way Hicks ran things and while we’ll never know exactly what transpired, I still feel like blaming Hicks is the most logical course of action.
I didn't see this posted here
Hicks said that HSG took on too much debt because teams spent more than the budget allowed.
Does he ever stop lying?
"My expectations today are that we're going to be extremely competitive and if we don't win our division, I'll be disappointed." Nolan Ryan
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