Is Mark Cuban the future owner of the Texas Rangers?
Perhaps you’ve heard the name Mark Cuban before.
For those who don’t know the name, Mark Cuban is the notorious owner of the Dallas Mavericks. He has become famous for his high profile actions on reality TV shows, arguing with NBA referees and executives, and even quarrelling with NBA players. Some people — including other owners in Major League Baseball — are opposed to the idea of Cuban owning a team in their league. He tried to buy the near-bankrupt Chicago Cubs in 2009 but was quickly turned away. This writer thinks he could be very good for the sport, even though he could be the next George Steinbrenner.
Though it’s still one of the most popular sports, professional baseball has become stale in some ways. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig is so set in his ways (which is usually the ways of the owners), that it has become a slow, painful process to get any sort of change in the game. The owners have become an old boys club that stays tightly knit to prevent any changes from coming to their beloved game.
For example, how many years have people been debating the appropriate use replays in baseball? How long have people been calling for a more balanced game with a salary cap?
As it stands, teams in the major markets have an advantage over smaller fan bases. Sure, a team can build themselves up with good trades, great scouting, well run management, and a little bit of luck; but these chances are much more unlikely for the small market team. The window of opportunity closes much faster for a team like Kansas City, which must have everything fall into place for them to contend, not to mention that it takes five to six years to build a team. And if everything does fall into place, they may be able to contend for only two to three seasons before a key player may leave for greener pastures.
On the other hand, a team like the Yankees can spend what they want and keep that window open for years at a time.
You may be asking yourself what all of this have to do with Mark Cuban. Well, first, the Texas Rangers have a chance to get an owner that almost every fan wishes would own their team. Unlike many owners who use their team as a tax write off or bragging point, Cuban has shown that he cares about the same thing that sports fans care about: winning. Cuban is a sports fan who just so happens to be wealthy enough to own professional sports teams. Rangers fans would be lucky to get him as their owner. If he wins the bid, Rangers fans can expect a new era of winning in Texas.
Personally, I am not a Rangers fan. But as a baseball fan, I would love to see a few changes made to the game I love so dearly, and I think Cuban is the fresh face that could catalyze some of those changes. Imagine him kicking in the door of the big-wig baseball owners meetings and nagging those stiffs until they’re forced to concede, or at least to attempt to make a change.
In an era where it seems every umpire call is constantly scrutinized (and it seems with great reason more recently), how is baseball the only sport not utilizing the technology afforded to them? In the past few weeks, there are been a few terrible calls that have changed the outcomes of a few games. Would you know who Jim Joyce is if not for the un-“Perfect Game”?
Bud Selig has done very little to advance this game during his reign as commissioner and continues to drag his feet. He’s very lucky that baseball fans are some of the most loyal fans in all of sports. Mark Cuban could be just the man this sport needs to get things done. When the owner of your team is also the president of a fan club of a player signed to his team (as is Cuban of Dirk Nowitzki of his Mavericks), isn’t that a team you’d want to play for? Isn’t that a team you could feel proud to root for?!
Why would MLB and its owners want to keep Mark Cuban out of their beloved game? The only answer that seems logical is fear. Fear of the winds of change that Cuban would bring.
As crazy as Cuban comes across in the press, he cares about winning, he cares about his team, he cares about his coaches, and he cares about his players. How many owners can you truly say that about?
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