Tim Cowlishaw thinks Mark Cuban's flirtation with the Rangers is a bad thing...some excerpts:
Then there's the bankruptcy case that never ends. And the news that Mark Cuban is interested in being much more than just a minority owner.Is there any way to see that as a good thing?
It came to light in the courtroom yesterday that the Chuck Greenberg/Nolan Ryan funding runs out on Aug. 12. If that group does not win the auction on Aug. 4, or if that auction gets delayed as the lendors are seeking, then I don't think we can consider the Greenberg/Ryan group the front-runners to replace Tom Hicks any longer.
And that's bad.
Because as much as Mark Cuban can say he would want to keep Ryan as president, I don't think that happens. Ryan is clearly sick of being involved in this entire mess. He can afford to walk away if he chooses to.
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Cuban's presence gives the lenders the belief that even if they lose the Greenberg/Ryan money and even if Jim Crane can't get his deal together in time for the Aug. 4 auction, the Cuban money will solve all of their problems.
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If Cuban can pull off buying the team and keeping Ryan and keeping Jon Daniels, then I am wrong and more power to him.
But I don't think that happens. And I think the fans who think Cuban would come in and immediately jack up the Rangers' payroll up to the Yankees' level or even Boston's or the Angels' are out of their minds.
Cuban has made it clear that he wasn't initially interested until it became a better business proposition. I don't see him buying the Rangers in order to lose millions of dollars year after year.
Cuban is a lightning rod. Those Mavs fans that love him do so unconditionally and pay little attention to the fact that the team is not fundamentally better off than it was a decade ago when he purchased it from Ross Perot Jr.
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