After Maury Brown of the Biz of Baseball tweeted late Sunday night that a vote would be forthcoming to instate Jim Crane as the new owner of the Houston Astros, it looked like this long, drawn-out process would finally have an end date.
↵Now, as Richard Justice reports over at chron.com, that vote is delayed as owners and MLB officials look closer into Crane's background, EEOT lawsuits and charges of Iraqi War profiteering. None of this is new to those of you following this sale, but it was thought at one point last month that MLB was okay with all this and the Crane bid would be approved this month.
↵Oh, how times can change. According to Justice, this newest delay is even catching outgoing owner Drayton McLane by surprise. McLane had been consulting Crane as if the former college baseball player was a lock to get the team. The biggest surprise there is that Crane was consulted on the Brad Arnsberg firing, which was very unpopular with Astros fans.
↵No word on when the vote will be taken. Previously, it was reported that Aug. 22 was the target date. Now? We may be lucky to see this sale go through before the playoffs begin.
↵