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Baseball Capsules: Hicks trying to keep majority ownership of Rangers
Comments 0 | Recommend 0DALLAS — Texas Rangers owner Tom Hicks is putting together a group of local investors, including Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach, for a bid that would enable him to keep majority ownership of the team.
"I'm exploring my own group," Hicks said in a report on ESPNDallas.com, one of four local media outlets he spoke with Wednesday. "Sizable commitments have been made."
Proposals to buy the Rangers are due Friday.
"To me, local support, sponsorship, and ownership are better for the Rangers," Hicks said.
Groups led by Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg, Houston businessman Jim Crane and White Sox special assistant and former sports agent Dennis Gilbert have been identified as potential bidders, and all have previously met with team officials and toured Rangers Ballpark. Hicks says another group besides his could also submit a proposal.
When contacted Wednesday night by The Associated Press, Hicks said "it's all a process," but wouldn't elaborate. He has owned the team since 1998.
Nolan Ryan, the Hall of Fame pitcher who just completed his second season as the team's president, could become involved in ownership of the team, either with Hicks or another of the potential buyers.
According to the local media reports, Hicks said that once proposals are submitted they will be evaluated to determine which makes the most sense to pay down or eliminate debt accrued by Hicks Sports Group, which earlier this year defaulted on $525 million in loans tied to the Rangers and the NHL's Dallas Stars. Hicks, who is maintaining his ownership of the Stars, said then it was an intentional move to force lenders to renegotiate.
Hicks told the four news outlets that the process of finding a new owner for the Rangers could be completed within the next 45 days. New ownership, even a group led by Hicks, would have to be approved by Major League Baseball, the NHL and a group of 40 lenders holding debt from Hicks Sports Group.
MLB News
Tracy, Scioscia win Manager of the Year awards
NEW YORK — Jim Tracy was out of baseball when Clint Hurdle called last October to talk to him about joining Hurdle's staff in Colorado. Tracy was focused on his duties as bench coach for the Rockies when he came to spring training.
Now, he's the NL Manager of the Year — and has a new contract, too.
Talk about a nice season.
Tracy won the NL award Wednesday while Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels was selected AL Manager of the Year for the second time.
Tracy became the second manager to win the award after taking over during the season, joining Jack McKeon for Florida in 2003. Less than an hour after the honor was announced, the Rockies said Tracy had been rewarded with a three-year deal.
"What we're talking about this afternoon, it's probably as flattering an experience as I've come to realize during the course of my professional career in athletics," Tracy said. "And obviously a new contract is extremely exciting. But what is more intriguing for me is what is still out there for our ballclub."
Tracy received 29 first-place votes and two seconds for 151 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Scioscia got 15 first-place votes, 10 seconds and one third for 106 points.
The Rockies fired Hurdle in late May and handed the job to Tracy, who led the team to the NL wild card. Scioscia kept the Angels going after the death of pitcher Nick Adenhart, and they won their fifth AL West title in six years.
"Those things really weren't about us. That was about the Adenhart family," Scioscia said. "As we supported that family, we got a little measure of peace and I think it helped us to get through the season and just play baseball."
Ron Gardenhire finished second in the AL voting for the second straight year and fifth time during his eight seasons as Minnesota manager. He also placed third in 2002, when Scioscia was honored for the first time, but has never won the award. Tony La Russa of the Cardinals, a four-time winner, was a distant second in the NL with 55 points.
Lou Piniella of the Cubs and Joe Maddon of the Rays were honored last year.
Colorado was 18-28 and 14½ games behind NL West-leading Los Angeles when general manager Dan O'Dowd dismissed Hurdle on May 29 and offered the job to Tracy.
"I didn't immediately say yes," Tracy recalled. "I asked for 60 minutes to think about it and he told me you can have 60 but you can't have 61 because he needed somebody down in the dugout to manage that night."
Tracy, 53, was sold when O'Dowd told him he just wanted to see the team play better. He thought he could take care of that — and the Rockies responded to his steady hand. They went 74-42 the rest of the way, extending the division race to the final weekend before settling for the wild card.
There was no Rocktober this year — Colorado lost to Philadelphia in the division series — but it was still quite the turnaround for the club and Tracy, who was fired after leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 68-94 record in 2007.
Scioscia managed the Angels to their third consecutive division title during one of his most difficult seasons in the dugout. Los Angeles has earned six postseason berths in the last eight years under Scioscia, who was a catcher for the Dodgers for 13 seasons and retired in 1994.
The Angels used 14 starting pitchers and played without sluggers Torii Hunter and Vladimir Guerrero for long stretches due to injuries. The team's biggest challenge was moving past the sorrow it felt when Adenhart was killed in a car accident in April.
"There wasn't one defining moment," Scioscia said. "I think as the season started to evolve guys found that sense of purpose to play baseball again and they played it at a very, very high level."
Scioscia, who turns 51 on Nov. 27, was credited for giving his players time to grieve while gently insisting on accountability as an early slump lingered. Los Angeles responded by surging to another division title and making it to the AL championship series, eliminating postseason nemesis Boston along the way.
"I feel very, very privileged to have an opportunity to not only manage in the major leagues but to manage in an organization moving in the right direction," Scioscia said, "and to have been able to do it in one place for going on 11 years next year."
The baseball honors continue Thursday with the NL Cy Young Award.
-- Jay Cohen
Selig: Baseball will tighten playoff schedule
CHICAGO — Baseball plans to cut down on off days during the postseason next year.
Commissioner Bud Selig said Wednesday he's working on tightening up the 2010 playoff schedule so there will be fewer gaps between games.
Los Angeles Angels manager Mike Scioscia criticized the current format after the Yankees and Angels played only eight times in 20 days going into Game 6 of the AL championship series.
"We're going to change it," Selig said. "I don't disagree with Mike Scioscia. I think he was right, so we're going to try and tighten that up."
Selig also said he would continue to discuss instant replay, but it's not expected to be a major topic when owners have a full meeting Thursday morning even though there were several missed calls by umpires during the postseason.
In the past, Selig has resisted the idea of expanded video replay. Under the current system, it is used only to judge if home runs have cleared the fence or are fair or foul.
"I'm going to talk to a lot of people. I haven't changed my view at all, but I'm always willing to talk to a lot of people and I've talked to a lot of managers and I've talked to a lot of general managers," Selig said. "I haven't heard from anybody about instant replay. The only comments I get are when I call somebody on a bunch of subjects and we talk about it."
Selig said he's still working on details for the new postseason format.
"When you plan the playoff schedule, you don't know how many games the first round would go. So it's difficult," he explained. "There were clubs that sat around. Some were necessary, but some were not."
Starting in 2007, baseball added four extra days off during the postseason at the request of its television partners, shifting the World Series opener to Wednesday from Saturday, usually the lowest-rated night of the week.
The economic disparity between payrolls for some of the large-market teams — such as the New York Yankees — and smaller ones will always be an issue, Selig said.
A salary cap might bridge the disparity between the large-market and small-market teams, but Milwaukee Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said there are other ways to address competitive balance. Or imbalance.
"For example, by changing the draft," he said. "Pretty much in the other sports the best players go to the worst teams. That doesn't always seem to happen in our sport. I think if we can adjust things so that happens that would help."
At a meeting last week, general managers discussed factoring postseason performance into draft position, meaning the World Series winner would pick last. Drafting foreign players could also be a consideration, but that would be subject to collective bargaining.
"I don't know what the mechanics of that would be. Right now, really international is somewhat freeform," Attanasio added.
Under the current system, players outside the United States are not subject to the draft. They are free agents eligible to sign with any team.
Selig favors restructuring the draft, too.
"I've said it: We need a worldwide draft and we need a slotting system. There's no secret about that. It's fair," Selig reiterated.
Revenue sharing was discussed during committee meetings Wednesday.
On another subject, Selig said he's not worried about the ownership situation with the Los Angeles Dodgers that has become messy after Frank McCourt and his wife, Jamie McCourt, separated. After she was fired as the team's chief executive, Jamie McCourt filed for divorce and said she would like to buy the club.
"Look, the Dodgers are in good hands," Selig said. "There's no reason to get into any debate about what's going to happen. The Dodgers are going to be in L.A. for as long as any of us are alive and many generations after."
During a dinner Wednesday night, owners were to welcome Tom Ricketts and his family as new owners of the Chicago Cubs.
"Every franchise is different. Asset values are very important — they're very important to me, they're very important to these 30 people," Selig said. "But the Cubs are a very, very unique franchise. I mean there's no question about it — Wrigley Field and the Cubs and everything about it."
-- Rick Gano
National League
Nationals hire Davey Johnson as senior adviser
WASHINGTON — After years of working with national teams, Davey Johnson is returning to the Nationals.
The longtime major league manager joined the front office of the Washington Nationals on Wednesday. The 66-year-old Johnson will work as a senior adviser to general manager Mike Rizzo.
Johnson has managed and coached several U.S. teams in recent years. He was a coach under manager Buck Martinez during the 2006 World Baseball Classic and guided the U.S. team to the WBC semifinals this year. In between, he led the Americans to a bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics, where he managed emerging phenom — and Nationals' No. 1 overall draft pick — Stephen Strasburg.
"When I first laid eyes on him, I really got nervous," Johnson said. "He threw so good. ... He reminded me of a little bit more advanced Dwight Gooden."
Johnson spent this summer managing amateur players in the Florida Collegiate Summer League. He's most remembered for leading the New York Mets to the 1986 World Series championship and for his two titles as a second baseman for the Baltimore Orioles.
Johnson is on the current ballot for the Hall of Fame as a manager — he will find out next month if he's been elected by the Veterans Committee. He managed four teams over 14 seasons from 1984-2000, compiling a 1148-888 record, a .564 wining percentage.
"He's a deep thinker, and he's done every aspect you can do in the game," Rizzo said. "Just to be around a person of his knowledge and his database, it just helps me out that much better."
Johnson has worked for the Nationals before, as a special consultant to then-general manager Jim Bowden in 2006. He's returning to a team that led the led the majors with 103 losses and will be on hand at spring training.
"I love the game of baseball; I love to see young talent," Johnson said. "I know what a good prospect looks like."
-- Joseph White
American League
Tigers cut some ticket prices, freeze rest for '10
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Tigers are freezing most ticket prices for the 2010 season and lowering season and individual-game ticket prices for the rest.
Season ticket prices are being cut for more than 4,500 seats at Comerica Park and no other season ticket prices will be raised. The Tigers are accepting deposits for 81-, 41- and 27-game plans, all of which guarantee tickets for the April 9 home opener against Cleveland.
Individual ticket prices for lower-box seats in three sections along both the left- and right-field lines are being reduced by up to $9 each. Individual tickets for upper-box seats in four sections are being lowered by $5 apiece.
Tickets for nearly 5,800 seats in the Kaline's Corner, Upper Reserved, Skyline and Bleachers sections will remain priced at $12, $10 and $5.
Elsewhere
Ramirez, Darvish named MVPs of Japanese baseball
TOKYO — Venezuelan outfielder Alex Ramirez was named MVP of Japan's Central League for the second straight year on Wednesday while pitcher Yu Darvish took the Pacific League honors.
The 35-year-old Ramirez hit .322 in helping the Yomiuri Giants to their first Japan Series championship since 2002. He had 31 homers and drove in 103 runs in 144 games this season, his ninth in Japan.
His clutch hitting helped the Giants win the CL pennant with a comfortable 12-game lead over the Chunichi Dragons.
"Playing for the Giants there is a lot of pressure," Ramirez said. "But I'm really happy with the numbers I put up and I want to thank everyone who voted for me who thought I deserved to be MVP in 2009."
Before coming to Japan, Ramirez played in the major leagues for the Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates.
Despite missing almost a month at the end of the season due to back and shoulder injuries, Darvish went 15-5 with 167 strikeouts and a 1.73 ERA for the Nippon Ham Fighters, who lost to the Giants in the Japan Series in six games.
Darvish, 23, missed the first round of the playoffs then made a surprise start to win Game 2 of the Japan Series. It was later revealed he was pitching with a broken finger.
"I was a little surprised to win the MVP because I had a lot of injuries near the end of the season," Darvish said. "But there were a lot good experiences in 2009 and this award adds to that."
Darvish, who was the Pacific League's MVP in 2007, was a member of Japan's championship team at the World Baseball Classic in March.
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