Maury Brown's Forbes profile of Jim Crane continues to haunt the Astros owner-to-be. While Major League Baseball was aware of most of the accusations, Phil Rogers of the Chicago Tribune notes that one of them has MLB staffers scrambling to do research, and that it has an 'outside chance' of complicating the sale:
Despite an unflattering profile in Forbes Magazine, which details a long history of employment complaints from minorities and women, Houston businessman Jim Crane still appears on track to be approved as the Astros' new owner. However, one source said Major League Baseball staffers are investigating one allegation raised in the story, with an outside chance it could complicate the transfer.
MLB long ago vetted Crane, who was involved in attempts to purchase the Cubs and Rangers, and excused him in almost all of the cases Forbes raises. But at least one element of the story surprised Selig's staff, requiring additional legwork.
Very interesting. Don't worry though, the source claims it has nothing to do with the recent foibles of Frank McCourt. Of course it doesn't.
I think it's pretty easy to infer that the war profiteering accusations are the ones that MLB did not know about, since Brown pointed that out already in his piece. I really doubt it matters and think that Crane will be approved either way, but Houston fans can't be too thrilled with all the accusations.