Jim Crane wants $50M discount to move team to AL

[abc12812 ()]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/squeeze_play_is_on_JxoYdIUdQLqGTqw2RpVBDJ

Potential Houston Astros owner Jim Crane is looking to cut $50 million from
the purchase price of the team in exchange for the Astros switching leagues,
The Post has learned.

The Houston businessman has been talking to Major League Baseball
Commissioner Bud Selig about moving the team to the American League from the
National League if Crane is approved as the franchise’s new owner.

Sources told The Post that Crane -- who reached a deal in May to buy the
Astros from Drayton McLane for $680 million -- is asking for a price
reduction in the $50 million range to make the move.

On that front, the two sides are in the “ballpark” on the price, although a
deal is far from certain, sources said.

Crane argues the move to the AL would hurt the value of the franchise because
the Astros would be playing more late-night games against West Coast teams.
For Selig’s part, the switch would foster a rivalry between the Astros and
the Texas Rangers.

Last year, Crane lost a bid to buy the Rangers out of bankruptcy. Despite
Crane’s dangling a higher offer, Selig favored an investor group led that
included Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.

At the time, the possibility of Crane winning approval to buy the Rangers was
considered an uphill battle. Crane had backed out of a deal to buy the Astros
in 2008, which upset McLane, who sources say is close to Selig.

Crane had other black marks against him, including charges of discrimination
and war profiteering against his company. In 2001, he paid $8.5 million to
settle a racial and gender discrimination suit against his company, Eagle
Global Logistics.

“He had hurdles that he would have had to overcome,” a source with direct
knowledge of the situation said.

Now Selig is pushing baseball owners to approve Crane as the new owner of the
Astros, in part because of the $680 million purchase price, second only to
the $845 million the Chicago Cubs fetched two years ago.

Seventy-five percent of owners need to approve the deal at their meeting in
mid-November. MLB is currently trying to hammer out a new labor agreement,
and the players want one NL team to move to the AL -- with no others coming
forward.

One source close to the talks said there is a “65 to 70 percent chance”
 that Selig and Crane will reach a deal. If not, Crane will likely walk away
from buying the Astros. MLB and Crane spokesmen declined comment.

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