Okay, so lots of info coming out yesterday evening about the Astros final sale price, and just what kind of a discount Jim Crane is getting for moving to the American League, which - as Mark Berman reports - is a condition of the transfer of the franchise.
Richard Justice reported that the final price was $610 million, $70 million less than originally agreed to. Major League Baseball is kicking in $35 million, and Drayton is kicking in $35 million (although, if you recall, Drayton was kicking in some money to Crane and retaining a minority investment) to lower the final price to $610 million for the Astros and the RSN.
So despite Drayton saying that he wouldn't accept less money because any deal was between Crane and MLB, it seems like Drayton either backed down, or was railroaded.
Why give Crane that discount? One MLB Official:
"We understand that Houston has been a National League city for 49 seasons, and there's some resistance about moving. We also understand there could be some damage (to the franchise), and that's what these negotiations were about. We wanted to be fair."
I'm not going to sit here and rail against moving to the AL, and how unfair it is, and OMGWHYNOTMOVETHEBREWERS, because it does absolutely no good now. Moving the Astros to the American League may hurt the franchise, but as long as it's in the "best interests of baseball," Selig can get away with it. The Astros were vulnerable, and they got moved because it was the path of least resistance.
Nolan Ryan, obviously, is very excited, according to the official:
"I spoke to Nolan Ryan, and he's really excited. He thinks it's going to be a very good thing."
Of course he does. The worst team in baseball just got added to his division.
We didn't come out here to play tiddlywinks, son.
-Hal Smith
