It seems we're going to get one of these stories every day now. On Wednesday, owners met with Drayton McLane and the man brokering the deal with Jim Crane, Steve Greenberg. Yes, he is the son of Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg, in case you were wondering.
↵There were two meetings mentioned in the story, but neither of them sounded promising. In fact, it sounded like Drayton didn't know what was going on.
↵I don't know what that means for Crane, other than this is less and less of a sure thing. I still think Crane gets approved, but it's going to be a close thing. If I had to guess, all these meetings (especially with the guy brokering the deal) mean MLB is worried more about the debt Crane is taking on to buy the team rather than any transgressions in his past. In that respect, I think the Dodgers situation is holding the deal up, just not in the ways we assumed.
↵Crane is a successful businessman and got to be one not by leveraging his businesses with debt, but by building strong products and services. That's why I think it will ultimately not be a problem for the other owners.
↵Did I mention selling the Astros for $680 million will greatly benefit all of them? Yeah, that's why I think it gets done. It just might not get done as quickly as we fans might like.
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