Jon Heyman has a new column up, and along with having the Rangers among the ten teams who have had the best offseasons (they are at #7), he offers this on the Ranger sale process:
Prospective Rangers buyer Chuck Greenberg, a sports attorney from Pittsburgh, issued a statement after Friday's midnight deadline passed and no deal was done with owner Tom Hicks to buy the team. Greenberg said he feels they are extremely close to a deal and should keep negotiating. But MLB has about had it with Hicks, and top officials say they may soon take over the sale of the team, which potentially could bring the other two hopeful buyers back into the picture, those being Houston businessman Jim Crane, and former agent, and current White Sox executive, Dennis Gilbert, who has appeared to be baseball's top choice from the start. The sale price is expected to be $570 million, according to sources. One impediment to a deal has been Hicks' insistence upon maintaining significant power even after collecting the sale proceeds. Greenberg's big edge had been that he was willing to allow Hicks to remain as a board member who'd attend owners meetings.
Obviously, at this point, the signal to noise ratio is very low. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if Heyman's story on MLB's view of Hicks is correct -- and it certainly is consistent with Gil Lebreton's column this past weekend, about Bud Selig getting involved to move things along.