Via Lone Star Ball, Tom Hicks completed the sale of the Rangers.

A definitive agreement in the sale of the Texas Rangers was reached Saturday night as the investment group that includes Nolan Ryan has completed another step toward purchasing the club from Hicks Sports Group.

The deal ends some three weeks of intense negotiations, the final eight days of which took place at the urging of Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig after a 30-day window of exclusive negotiations ended Jan. 15.

Last-minute details were ironed out late Friday night and into Saturday. Now, the likelihood of Ryan becoming a minority owner of the last team for which he played and is currently its team president is seen as a formality.

“We are fortunate to be assuming the stewardship of a franchise poised for greatness,” said Pittsburgh sports attorney Chuck Greenberg, who is leading the 12-investor group that includes Ryan, in a statement.

“The tremendous foundation of talent that has been assembled on both the major- and minor-league levels, combined with our passionate commitment to achieve excellence in every facet of the organization’s operation, and the pent-up thirst for success we observe from our fans every day, creates the opportunity for the Rangers to become one of the great franchises in baseball.”

It appears that the sale pushes Hicks out the door. He maintains a small role in the team, but he’s not the second-largest stake holder.

I didn’t think Hicks was a terrible owner. He put himself in a hole with A-Rod’s contract, but Alex let him off the hook for a lot of that by opting out after seven years. He hired good people in Hart, Daniels and Ryan. The team strikes me as heading in the right direction, and I hope the new ownership continues the trend.