Once again, a national writer is insisting that the Astros sale to Jim Crane hinges on the team moving to the American League West. Once again, the Chronicle refutes the report by saying that Crane has still not been contacted about a move to the AL.
↵None of this is new, but it is important that the national report from Peter Gammons seemed to suggest Crane would be approved as the new owner in mid-November. That's the first time I've seen optimism for the deal coming out of someone with good sources in baseball.
↵Does that mean Houston will be moving to the AL? Not necessarily. As we found out when Crane sat down with the Chronicle's editorial board, he'll move if he's compensated by baseball. That plus this newest tweet leads me to believe both things will happen, but not until Crane is given some sort of money from MLB to make it.
↵Again, we won't see any news from MLB until after the playoffs are over, which is why things got pushed back to mid-November. I'll believe it when I see it, but if you read between the lines, things are moving in a positive direction for the first time since May.
↵