Update – Astros sale almost complete

According to The Associated Press, the Astros sale to Jim Crane and his group of investors will be on the owner’s agenda come next week . It appears an agreement has been reached between Drayton McLane, Jim Crane and MLB concerning the move of the Astros to the American League however details of the compromise weren’t revealed. This, almost certainly, means that the sale will be voted on and approved by MLB owners. It now appears, as clear as ever, that Jim Crane will be the next owner of the Houston Astros, ending the highly successful tenure of Drayton McLane.

"NEW YORK — The proposed sale of the Houston Astros from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane is on the agenda for approval when baseball owners meet next week, The Associated Press has learned.Two people familiar with the negotiations say McLane, Crane and Major League Baseball have reached an understanding on how a possible shift of the franchise to the American League in 2013 would take place. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because MLB had made no announcements."

Update – A few hours after the initial AP report, Sports Illustrated baseball writer Jon Heyman tweeted that Jim Crane is rumored to be receiving as much as an 80 million dollar discount for moving the Astros to the AL.

"SI_JonHeyman Jon HeymanWord going around is that prospective astros owner jim crane is geeting discount to move to AL (as much as $80M)"