New York, NY – Major League Baseball owners will not vote on approving the sale of the Astros to a group headed by Houston businessman Jim Crane this week.
"The standard due diligence that must be completed before any transaction of this magnitude can close remains ongoing," MLB said in a statement on Monday. "Because that procedure is continuing, it is not expected that the proposed sale of the Astros will go to the approval process at this week's owners meetings. Major League Baseball will continue to work as expeditiously as possible to complete the process."
The Houston Chronicle is reporting MLB has concerns with Crane's past legal issues. The paper reported that in 1997 there were a series of Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner complaints against one of Crane's companies, Eagle USA Airfreight, accusing it of discriminating against blacks and women.
There have also been charges of profiteering during the Iraq war. Crane's Eagle Global Logistics was sued four times by the Department of Justice, and in 2006, paid $4 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the Department of Justice accusing the company of inflating the costs of military shipments to Iraq.
Astros owner Drayton McLane reached an agreement to sell the club to Crane in May for a reported $680 million.
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