Mark Cuban is a hard working, self-made billionaire. He got into sports at the start of the new millennium when he purchased a majority take in the Dallas Mavericks, the NBA franchise where he lived. Under his leadership, the Mavs transformed from a sub-par team to a pretty good team that made it to the NBA Finals in 2005. The same year Cuban showed interest in buying his hometown NHL team, the Pittsburgh Penguins, rumored to be in an investment group that included Hall of Fame quarterback Dan Marino, but the former Penguin Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle ended up buying the franchise. After failing to get the Penguins, Cuban turned to baseball. He had interest in buying the Pittsburgh Pirates, but nothing came of it. He had a strong interest in buying the Chicago Cubs after the Tribune Company put them on the market in 2007. He went as far as submitting a 1.3 billion dollar bid to the MLB for buying the team, but the MLB did not choose him to be part of the final bidding process that went on early last year. Cuban's latest buying quest involved the Texas Rangers this past summer when he tried to swoop in and take them from the Nolan Ryan/Chuck Greenberg group, but he failed again there too. The Houston Astros were recently put up for sale, but Mar Cuban has come out and said he has no interest in buying the Astros and gave no reasons. This bewildered me to no in and so I started to ponder why not.
The Astros have fallen since they made it to the World Series back in 05, and so I can see why Cuban may not want to go there. But ten years ago when he bought the Mavericks they were not a successful team either, so that can't be it. One of the businessmen in Cuban's group to buy the Rangers was from Houston, and so you'd think they would go after the Astros. Maybe Cuban is waiting for a bigger fish to catch. The Los Angeles Dodgers will probably end up going for sale once the McCourt's settle their messy divorce and it is decided who gets the team. Cuban has said he would be interested in buying the Dodgers if they ever did go up for purchase. If you think about it, Cuban is only interested in buying a storied MLB franchise. The Pirates, Cubs, Rangers, and Dodgers all have their back story that makes them appealing to Cuban. The Astros don't have a back story, and so why would Cuban be interested?
Back stories aside, I think Cuban should go after the Astros instead of waiting around for the Dodgers. Why? Well, it'd be easier to buy the Astros than it would be to buy the Dodgers, not to mention a lot cheaper. Cuban is a Texas man, living there for almost 30 years, and Houston is the oldest Texas baseball team (remember the Rangers started in Washington D.C. as the Senators). The Astros also have a lot of young talent mixed with veterans. They could be the next San Francisco Giants or Tampa Bay Rays. The Dodgers may be one of the most storied MLB franchises but it doesn't compare to the opportunity of owning a team in your adopted home state that could have a bright future, and that it why I'd pay a billion for Mark Cuban's thoughts.
References
http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/mlb/news/story?id=5827002
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Cuban
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