Why the Creditors of the Texas Rangers Got Into a Bidding War with MLB

It was an interesting twist in the midst of the third day of hearings over the voluntary bankruptcy of the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. The Rangers have already tapped $18.45 million in loans from MLB’s credit line, but as part of the voluntary bankruptcy, the “pre-packaged” plan called for $11.5 million in a new line of credit to allow the Rangers to function through the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. During Weds. hearing, the lenders began counter-offers to MLB’s Baseball Finance, LLC credit line. At one point, the lenders offered up $40 million before both sides settled at $21.5 million. The move shocked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Lynn who said that he had never seen a case where the lenders in a bankruptcy case were competing for the right to finance the debtor in a bankruptcy proceeding. “I’m very grateful to both sides for their effort to arrive at something that is most satisfactory for the Rangers, but I really don’t want the evidence changing during the course of t...