Rangers still owe A-Rod, Mickey Tettleton and others some cash
By 'DukYahoo Sports
If you thought all those angry creditors of the Texas Rangers were just jilted beer and jock strap companies, you were, well, wrong. Those still waiting around for the bankrupt team to make good on the money also include players from past and present.The most noteworthy of the crop is, of course, New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez(notes), who is owed $24.9 million by his previous team. He just filed an objection to the upcoming auction of the Rangers because he's not sure the sale price would include settling up on the combined $204 million that's owed to him and all of Texas' other unsecured creditors.
[Photos: See a slideshow of Yankees slugger A-Rod]
(The previous offer of $575 million from Nolan Ryan and Chuck Greenberg would have included the cash to pay everyone who needs to be paid.)
But as Richard Durrett of ESPN Dallas notes, A-Rod isn't the only player still demanding not half, not some, but all.
A few other players and what they're owed:
• Mickey Tettleton, $1.4 million (right): Using that memorable narcoleptic stance, Tettleton hit 59 homers for the Rangers over two-plus seasons from 1995-97. Thirteen years later, the bill for his services rendered still hasn't come off the books.
• Mark McLemore, $970,051.97 (and not a penny less!): The old utility man has been retired since 2004 and hasn't put on a Ranger uniform since playing for the franchise's division winner in 1999. But he's still due a nice sum that's just a bit bigger than the Social Security check he won't be seeing for awhile.
• Kevin Millwood(notes), $12.9 million: The pitcher was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in the offseason. But let's presume he left behind a forwarding address just in case anyone found an extra $13 million lying around.
• Vicente Padilla(notes), $1.7 million: Padilla was painted as a bad teammate when he was released by Texas in 2009. But whether it was true or not doesn't mean the Rangers don't have to settle with him. They can find him with the Los Angeles Dodgers these days.
• Michael Young(notes), $4 million: One might think this would be uber-awkward, considering Young still plays for the Rangers. But what you see as awkward, I see as leverage. The Rangers sure would hate for one of their stars to come down with a Manny Ramirez(notes)-special hamstring pull just before the playoffs, wouldn't they?*
* Not that Young, a standup guy as they'd come, would ever follow such a suggestion from me. (Or would he? All's fair in love and bankrupt baseball teams.)
