Mark Cuban walked away frustrated the last time he tried to join baseball's exclusive ownership club two years ago.

Now he's back for more, and it will be interesting to see whether MLB, which lost an impetuous, independent-minded owner when George Steinbrenner died last week, would be willing to make room for another one.

Cuban, the colorful owner of the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, told media outlets in the Dallas area over the weekend that he'd like to buy the bankrupt Rangers on his own or as a major investor in a group that includes Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan, currently the team's president.

Cuban's name had surfaced as a possible buyer a week ago, and he confirmed he became more interested after recent court rulings reduced the amount of debt the new owners would have to absorb. Current Rangers owner Tom Hicks' HSG Sports Group owes more than $400 million to creditors.

Bloomberg reported today that JPMorgan Chase & Co. has sued the Rangers claiming breach of the terms of a loan because of the transfer of the ballpark lease from HSG to the club, which the suit alleges would make it harder for creditors to collect.

"The economics have changed, which has gotten me interested,'' Cuban told the Star-Telegram in Fort Worth, Texas. "My lawyers are still going through everything, but the bigger point is that I now have an interest.''

Will the interest be mutual? Imagine the Cuban-owned Rangers losing a game the way the Giants did yesterday when umpire Phil Cuzzi blew a ninth-inning call at the plate. Think Cuban would take that sitting down and just say, "That's OK. We'll go get 'em tomorrow''?

Bud Selig may have to set a new ceiling for fining owners if Cuban joins in.

Cuban did express a desire to join forces with the group headed by Ryan and Pittsburgh lawyer Chuck Greenberg, who are deemed baseball's preferred buyers. Perhaps that will enhance his chances.

Clearly, he wasn't dissuaded by his failure to acquire the Cubs in 2008.

After pulling out of the bidding for the club, Cuban wrote on his blog: "I never thought it conceivable that it would be hard to spend a billion dollars on a sports team. Add me to the list of people who never want to participate in this type of sales process again. I tried every trick I knew to try to get them to commit to me.''