While the 2009 season was strong on the field, the club saw several off-the-field distractions concerning unpopular owner Tom Hicks. In April, 2009, Hicks announced he would be willing to sell minority interest in the team. In July, 2009 it was reported that Hicks borrowed money from Major League Baseball to meet the team's payrollafter earlier that spring his company, Hicks Sports Group, was reported to have gone into default on a $525 million loan. In May, 2009, Hicks announced he would be willing to sell majority control of the Rangers. After the 2009 season, Hicks began scouting prospective buyers and in December entered into exclusive negotiating rights for sale of the Rangers with a consortium headed by Pittsburgh sports lawyer Chuck Greenberg, and Rangers team president Nolan Ryan.

 
On January 22, 2010, Hicks Sports Group officially reached a formal agreement to sell the Texas Rangers to the group headed by Greenberg and Ryan, now called Rangers Baseball Express, for approximately $570 million.Under the provisions of the deal, former owner Hicks stayed on as a limited minority partner, but was not allowed to retain a seat on the board of governors. Other minority partners included Dallas businessman Ray Davis, and Ft. Worth businessman Bob Simpson. Hicks also sold much of the land surrounding Rangers Ballpark to Rangers Baseball Express in a separate deal. The sale is currently undergoing approval by Major League Baseball owners and the principal lenders holding the debt on Hicks Sports Group. Due to dispute between former owner Hicks and one of HSG's principal lenders Monarch Alternative Capital, the sale that was originally expected to be completed April 1, 2010 has been delayed to the present day.

 
On April 21, Major League Baseball issued a statement declaring the Rangers' sale to be under the control of the Commissioner to expedite the process.Because of public comments made by Hicks deemed detrimental to the process, MLB also stripped Hicks of any responsibility regarding the sale of the team. On May 13, MLB threatened to seize control of the rest of the team's operations if a deal was not completed by the deadline set by the Commissioner.

The Rangers have been on the rise for some time now. They're going to win 94-96 games this year, if they can keep up on this pace.  
 
You just don't hear about them, because they aren't the Yankees or Red Sox.

" I think they should have added Strasburg even if it took away from other guys who are having a good season. My point is that the NL has not won in like 15 years and Strasburg is unhittable for one inning. If this game decides who has homefield in the world series than it should be the players who give the team a best chance to win.  "

I think they should have added Strasburg even if it took away from other guys who are having a good season. My point is that the NL has not won in like 15 years and Strasburg is unhittable for one inning. If this game decides who has homefield in the world series than it should be the players who give the team a best chance to win. 

    Off the bat, I thought I would say that I know this is an odd place to post about sports. I am something of a Journalism student and every summer my writing skills atrophy which leads to poor writing in the Fall, which then leads to a mad scramble to save my grade in December. So I made a 4th of July Resolution to write more. Even if they never see the light of day or are about any particular topic, just the act of tapping on the keyboard will hopefully keep the rust away. Now, movin’ on.
 
     The MLB all star teams were announced over the weekend and for those who don’t know, the starters are chosen by the fan votes and the reserves are chosen by the All Star team manager. Now I am not a fan of fans, and I lose faith in democracy every time "John Coffee" wins a democratic primary in South Carolina, but this year I think the fans put most of the right people in the game. 

     I can’t even argue with the Derek Jeter selection this year, (God knows Id like to, but its not a Yankee thing, its a Jeter thing, today Rob Cano is MVP) but he has been genuinely good. Personally, I would have liked to see the Toronto Blue Jays’ Alex Gonzalez get on the team as he has 7 more home runs and 30 points of OPS on Jeter. But I have come to grips with the fact that I live in a world where The British Bulldog is dead and Jake the Snake is still just walking around in the physical world and Derek Jeter will receive a million All-star votes 3 years after he retires.