Per 1560 The Game’s John Granato, who had to have this dictated to the interwebs by Lance Zierlein, Astros owner Drayton McLane will complete the sale of the Astros this year, and likely have it done by the All-Star Break.
McLane has been rumored to be close to completing a sale with Houston businessman Jim Crane, who was rebuffed by Drayton at one point. This time around, McLane is letting Allen and Company, led by Steve Greenberg, handle the sale.
The Astros have continually gained value despite the decay of the on-field product over the past five seasons. McLane was instrumental in their good years, but has been perceived as a meddler who ran former Astros GM Gerry Hunsicker out of town. The Astros will also form their own sports network with the Rockets and Comcast in the near future, further boosting the value of the team.
So while the new owner will have some pretty nice footholds economically, he’ll still have a lot of work to do with the on-field product. The Astros don’t have many good young players just yet, though the lower minor league levels do hold some promise.