Rangers, Hicks Continue to Speed Date Would-Be Buyers. This Week: Dennis Gilbert.

Last month, the Startlegram outed former Barry Bonds and Jose Canseco agent Dennis Gilbert as a would-be buyer of Your Texas Rangers, which the Beverly Hills-based Gilbert wouldn't confirm at the time. That made sense: He's still in pro ball (he reviews contracts for the Chicago White Sox, where his...

By Robert Wilonsky

October 29, 2009

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Last month, the Startlegram outed former Barry Bonds and Jose Canseco agent Dennis Gilbert as a would-be buyer of Your Texas Rangers, which the Beverly Hills-based Gilbert wouldn't confirm at the time. That made sense: He's still in pro ball (he reviews contracts for the Chicago White Sox, where his title is Special Assistant to the Chairman, which is also what they used to call Joey Bishop), and sources told the paper that, look, he isn't a serious contender because he'll need plenty of outsider investors to foot the bill. But Gilbert, a former minor-leaguer, is an intriguing guy; last month, Lone Star Ball directed our attention to a lengthy 1993 Sports Illustrated profile that compared and contrasted him with Baseball Antichrist Scott Boras.

Nevertheless, one week after Houston freight-man Jim Crane and Pittsburgh attorney Chuck Greenberg made their Arlington pit stops, Gilbert came to town: Last night we received word from Lisa LeMaster, who handles PR for Tom Hicks, that Rangers president Nolan Ryan and GM Jon Daniels were among those sitting down with Gilbert and his people at the Ballpark in Arlington on Wednesday. I had some follow-up questions, but was met, as before, by the cold, hard slap of the final line of the press release: "Neither Hicks Sports Group nor the Rangers will have any further comment regarding today's meeting."

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