There is but One

Well, we all know how the old saying goes - where there's smoke there's fire. There has been a lot of smoke coming from Rangers and Stars owner Tom Hicks lately. He has talked openly of defaulting on his loans for his professional sports franchises and he is openly seeking someone to buy a minority share of his teams.

Before I go any further let me say that I am blogging this as a Rangers fan. To be totally honest, I really couldn't care what happens to the Stars. I know they were the Metroplex's last championship team but I am just not in to them and I don't like the idea of sharing Rangers' baseball money with them - don't even get me started on Mr. Hicks' soccer exploits.

Since he has owned the Rangers, Mr. Hicks has envisioned his team as a knock-off New York Yankees franchise but he has always tried to run them on a Pittsburgh Pirate Budget. The Rangers are a top-five market team, meaning there are more potential fans here than most other teams have access to. The problem is the team is budgeted like a bottom-five market team. There are many problems with the Rangers but the biggest one is that they have an owner who is not willing to spend the big bucks where he needs to.

A few years ago, the Rangers money whipped Alex Rodriguez to get him to come to Texas but then wouldn't pay to put a team around him. The Rangers operate in a league without a salary cap. Operating in a non-salary cap system with an owner unable to spend some money is a recipe for failure. Last year, the Tampa Bay Rays were hugely successful with home-grown talented young players and a low budget. However, mark my words, when the contacts of these young players expire, these players will walk to the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers of the big leagues.

The Rangers have a great nucleus of young players with the best minor-league system in baseball. Imagine what kind of team Texas would have if they could continue to develop talent as they have been able to as of late while supplanting their roster with some key off-season free-agent signings. This will never happen with the current ownership in place. We must begin looking for a new owner, an owner chosen by the people. He must be a baseball fan and must have a vested interest in the metroplex.

There is but one individual for this job - the incomparable Mark Cuban. I think Mark Cuban is a bit of a nut job. His antics wear me out but he is a good owner to his team. He spends money where he should and has made a team relevant that had previously been a running joke in the NBA for a decade. He can do this for the Rangers as well. The Rangers and the Nationals (formerly the Expos) are the only major league teams to have never made it to their respective League Championship Series. Cuban could change this. We know he would like to own a baseball team because of his flirtation with the Chicago Cubs. Please join me in humbly asking Mr. Cuban to save us from penny-pinching and mediocrity. Mark, if you're out there reading this, go find Tom the next time you are both around the AAC and make the man an offer he can't refuse. Who knows, he may even pay you to take the Stars.