We were amused to see the MLB.com headline this morning: “McLane reportedly puts Astros on market.” Well, duh: he’s been trying to sell the Houston Astros since 2008, and the only thing different is that he’s hired an investment firm to help out.
By our reckoning McLane has had the team on the market for three years; in 2008 a sale to Jim Crane fell through, and a sale to Great Court Capital of New York at the beginning of this year fell through as well. In March we made a reference to the team being on the market as well.
So the announcement today by McLane he was selling the team wasn’t quite as surprising as MLB.com would have fans believe. It does mark the end of an era, though: McLane took the Astros from an underperforming team in the Astrodome to a solid franchise in Minute Maid Park. He’s also involved with a sports-cable network and really established a solid foundation for the team. The sale price is expected to be between $700 and $800 million.
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