May 25, 2010

Texas Rangers' bankruptcy affects players most of all: The top six unsecured creditors in the Texas Rangers' bankruptcy filing are players, including Alex Rodriguez, current Rangers 3B Michael Young and, um, Mickey Tettleton.

posted by werty to baseball at 10:57 AM - 7 comments

Via the Awl, which also noted (right as I was thinking it) that the Mets are paying Bobby Bonilla a million bucks a year until 2035.

posted by werty at 10:57 AM on May 25, 2010

Are the people in the comments portion of the article really that dumb? The point of deferred compensation is to push it out as long as you can. Yes Mickey Tettleton and Mark McLemore have suited up for the team in a while, but that doesn't make their presence on the list that obscene.

If this does show that these guys will be getting pennies on the dollar as some are saying (ok, fine quarters on the dollar), you have to wonder if the union will be looking for a way to make these into secured debts in the next CBA?

posted by Demophon at 12:39 PM on May 25, 2010

Can Michael Young threaten to not play unless he gets paid?

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 12:43 PM on May 25, 2010

Are the people in the comments portion of the article really that dumb?

Dumber. It's funny to see Tettleton and McLemore still on the payroll, but if players would rather stretch their salaries out over decades than count on themselves to invest the money wisely, teams are smart to do that.

Bobby Bonilla has assured himself of a nice paycheck long after many of his peers -- Lenny Dykstra I'm looking at you when I say this -- have blown all of their money.

The league is saying that 100 percent of the creditors will be paid, so there's seemingly no chance the players won't collect. It would be a huge deal if a player didn't get the money he was due because a team has been managed into the crapper by a lousy owner. I don't see the MLB ever allowing that to happen.

posted by rcade at 12:52 PM on May 25, 2010

Please, if there is a god out there, let Tom Hicks sell Liverpool.

posted by Ricardo at 01:12 PM on May 25, 2010

According to the group that is buying the bankupt Rangers, they will be paying off all the players (and other creditors).

At an afternoon press conference today, that possibility was put to rest by attorney Chuck Greenberg, who with his partner, Nolan Ryan, will be taking over control of the Rangers after transfer from the current owner, Tom Hicks' sports-investment company, is completed.

"Every creditor of Texas Rangers will be paid 100 cents on the dollar," Greenberg said at a press conference.

I'm guessing they don't make that statement unless they have the funds to back it up.

posted by grum@work at 01:16 PM on May 25, 2010

From what I understand (which quite possibly is wrong) is that the bankruptcy is just a maneuver to get certain lending creditors to back off their complaint that they will not receive a lot more money upfront than their secured debt from the purchase price. In other words, they want more money now rather than waiting. In bankruptcy, they will likely get paid their secured amount and then stand in line with others, including the players. In the end, the lending creditors holding up the sale might actually get less upfront than they would have otherwise. [Aside: attorneys probably making a lot of money to give advice that costs their clients money.]

posted by graymatters at 04:05 PM on May 25, 2010

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