Barring an unforeseen hitch, MLB’s owners will be discussing and putting to vote the sale of the Houston Astros to Jim Crane as part of the upcoming quarterly MLB owners meetings set for August 17-18, according to league sources.

The sale has been held up as the league has addressed the bankruptcy of the Los Angeles Dodgers and looked further into Crane’s background (see Why Jim Crane Could Become Baseball’s Most Controversial Owner) and the financial structure of the $680 million deal which will put Crane in violation of MLB’s debt service rule.

The sale transfer must be approved by 75 percent of the league’s thirty owners. Rarely do votes take place unless Commissioner Selig is aware of their positive outcome.

Maury Brown is the Founder and President of the Business of Sports Network, which includes The Biz of Baseball, The Biz of Football, The Biz of Basketball and The Biz of Hockey, and is a contributor to Forbes SportsMoney blog.. He is available as a freelance writer. Brown's full bio is here. He looks forward to your comments via email and can be contacted through the Business of Sports Network (select his name in the dropdown provided).

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Comments (2)

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Realignment
written by John Sutter, August 02, 2011

Any word if realignment will be a condition of approval of the sale? Either to the AL or the NL West?

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Can the owners just vote McCourt out....
written by F.U. Frank, August 09, 2011

.... while they're at it?

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