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Drayton Negotiating Selling Astros

Discussion in 'Houston Astros' started by pgabriel, Jan 11, 2010.

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cardpire Member

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TheChosenOne said: ↑

That was almost 11 years ago though. Is there any ACTUAL news when it comes to this lately?
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uh, no...let me see if i can find the 2010 article that says he decided to stop being a racist.

#261 cardpire, May 11, 2011

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cardpire said: ↑

uh, no...let me see if i can find the 2010 article that says he decided to stop being a racist.
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See that you do.

#262 TheChosenOne, May 11, 2011
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Mr. Clutch said: ↑

Goodbye Bourn
Click to expand...

Bourn is safe.

You can't fire black guys.

Especially when you want to fire them for being black.

#263 juicystream, May 11, 2011
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TheChosenOne said: ↑

That was almost 11 years ago though. Is there any ACTUAL news when it comes to this lately?
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What I see in that article are allegations...what actually became of all this?

#264 MadMax, May 12, 2011
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MadMax said: ↑

What I see in that article are allegations...what actually became of all this?
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a settlement.

#265 cardpire, May 12, 2011
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cardpire said: ↑

a settlement.
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Again. Let's see what he does as an Astro's owner before we're all outraged over 11 years ago.

#266 TheChosenOne, May 12, 2011
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Not excited about Crane at all.

#267 msn, May 12, 2011

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hsf09 said: ↑

Richard thinks Crane brings in George Postolos, former Rockets President/CEO, and will be in charge of day to day operations

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Moreyball/Moneyball coming to the Stros???

Former Rockets president George Postolos will serve as chief executive officer of the Astros when Jim Crane completes the purchase of the franchise.

Postolos, 47, will oversee day-to-day operations of the club and also have an ownership stake. He’ll report to Crane, who heads a group of at least eight investors and will have the title of managing partner.

Crane could not be reached for comment on the matter, and Postolos declined to comment. However, the positions were confirmed by a person who had seen Crane’s investment presentation.

Crane and his group are putting the finishing touches on the $680 million purchase of the Astros from Drayton McLane. A formal announcement of the sale could come as early as next week.

Ownership of the club would not be transferred until Major League Baseball examined all aspects of the sale, and MLB officials estimate that process will take at least eight weeks.

It could be sped up because baseball is already familiar with — and given its informal stamp of approval to — Crane, who almost bought the Astros in 2009 and attempted to buy the Texas Rangers last summer.

Postolos is a graduate of Harvard College and graduated magna c*m laude from Harvard Law School. He’s a former associate of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.

He was 33 when he joined the Rockets in 1998 after spending two years working for NBA commissioner David Stern. He served as chief operating officer of the Rockets for four years and president and chief executive officer for four years.

He left the club in 2006 to start a company to help groups buy sports franchises.

Since his departure, he has maintained a close relationship with Rockets general manager Daryl Morey. He was also responsible for bringing assistant general manager Sam Hinkie to the Rockets.

His high regard for the two men may offer a glimpse for how the Astros’ baseball operation will be organized under Crane. Morey took the data-driven analysis popularized in baseball by the Oakland A’s, Boston Red Sox and other teams and adapted it to basketball.

Tampa Bay Rays general manager Andrew Friedman, also a disciple of data analysis, is regarded by many as baseball’s best general manager. He also happens to be a Houston native, and it seems logical Crane will gauge his interest in moving back home.

It’s unclear what Crane’s ownership will mean for the current management team at Minute Maid Park. Postolos has had a long friendship with Astros president Pam Gardner and is said to have a high regard for her.

Crane’s most interesting decisions will be on the baseball side. Does general manager Ed Wade stay? Does he attempt to lure former Astros general manager Gerry Hunsicker back?

Those working at Minute Maid Park say they’ve had no indication from anyone connected with the new ownership group about their plans. And they may not know for a couple more months.
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http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2011/05/12/crane-taps-postolos-to-serve-as-ceo-of-astros/

#268 rockets934life, May 12, 2011
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rockets934life said: ↑

Moreyball/Moneyball coming to the Stros???

http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2011/05/12/crane-taps-postolos-to-serve-as-ceo-of-astros/
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Hopefully Postolos cleans house and gets ride of Tal Smith and Ed Wade.

#269 rikesh316, May 12, 2011
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rikesh316 said: ↑

Hopefully Postolos cleans house and gets ride of Tal Smith and Ed Wade.
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Justice tweeted that he'd guess they're both gone, the question is probably when not if.

Another interesting tweet for Justice...

richardjustice

I hear he's a player development guy. RT @RGBIII: @richardjustice is Jim Crane going to spend money or are we going ..
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.

#270 rockets934life, May 12, 2011
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rockets934life said: ↑

Justice tweeted that he'd guess they're both gone, the question is probably when not if.

Another interesting tweet for Justice...

richardjustice
.
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Crane was All-American in college baseball at Central Missouri so he knows the game. I also read somewhere he is hoping to buy the team before the draft in June which is unlikely however so he can have a say in the draft and the raise the budget to sign draft picks. If you are willing to spend money in the baseball draft, you can draft first or second round talents in the eight, ninth, etc. rounds but you would have to pay overslot. The good teams always do that and thats why they have good farm systems.

#271 rikesh316, May 12, 2011
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http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/sports/mlb/110513-mclane-agreement-in-place-to-sell-astros

McLane: Agreement in Place to Sell Astros

Updated: Friday, 13 May 2011, 3:01 PM CDT

MARK BERMAN
Sports Director

HOUSTON - Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane acknowledged Friday prior to a charity event at Minute Maid Park that he has an agreement to sell his franchise to Houston businessman Jim Crane.

McLane also said that agreement still must be documented and signed and then approved by Major League Baseball.

"We have an understanding and Jim's an honorable person and I am too," McLane said in an interview with FOX 26 Sports and MLB.com. "We have an overall agreement, but things come up.

"Lawyers draw up complicated contracts. So we got to get all those portions of it done."

McLane believes the two sides could announce an agreement to begin the transfer of ownership to Crane by next week.

Sources told FOX 26 Sports the two sides will sign off on the sales purchase agreement next week.

"It's complicated," McLane said. "selling a team seems awful simple, but when you get a new buyer and he has a number of partners and then you get their banks involved, Major League Baseball has got to approve all of that.

"So hopefully mid-part of next week something could be announced."

And McLane said that announcement will trigger the next step of Major League Baseball's approval process.

"Just signing the agreement doesn't finish it," McLane said. "When you're married, you're married, when they say 'I do,' but in baseball when you sign the agreement then you have to submit all of that to Major League Baseball.

"That will take four to six weeks."

McLane is not willing to divulge what he is selling his franchise for. However, he said the negotiated price has been agreed upon for quite some time.

"We've been at this price for a long time," McLane said. "There are adjustments that come along and hopefully there are no more adjustments.

"So I feel that is a firm price."

McLane said it's time for him to sell his franchise and move on to the next stage of his life.

"This is the 19th year," McLane said. "You can't do something forever and ever. My parents told me I had to get out of college too and go to work.

"So it's 19 years. It's time to hand off to a high-quality human being like Jim Crane."

McLane is hopeful many of his employees like president of business operations Pam Gardner, president of baseball operations Tal Smith and general manager Ed Wade will have an opportunity to continue working for Crane.

Sources told FOX 26 Sports Wednesday former Houston Rockets president and chief executive officer George Postolos will take over as the Astros CEO when the franchise is transferred to Crane.

"I have negotiated with Jim and he has definitely not told me what his plans for management," McLane said. "We have really an able group of people.

"Pam Gardner is president of the business side. Ed Wade and Tal Smith run the baseball side. They have great people here, but one of the things a new owner can do, he can determine what leaders he wants, but I've encouraged Jim to finish the year with the group he has, but that's his decision."
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#272 rcoleman15, May 13, 2011
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McLane's take: 773 million

680 mil from group headed by Crane.
93 mil from TV deal signed last year.

#273 J.R., May 14, 2011

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Astros Plan to Announce Sale of Franchise Monday

Read more: http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/spo...nounce-sale-of-franchise-monday#ixzz1MTT7fxP3

HOUSTON - FOX 26 Sports has learned the Houston Astros are planning a news conference on Monday to announce owner Drayton McLane has sold the franchise to Houston businessman Jim Crane, pending approval of Major League Baseball.

MLB sources told FOX 26 the two sides have yet to officially sign the agreement, but that is expected to happen Monday.

Crane and his group will buy the franchise for $680 million.

McLane, who declined comment when reached by FOX 26, bought the team in 1992 for $117 million.
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#274 rockets934life, May 15, 2011
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Bring back gerry.

#275 Air Langhi, May 15, 2011
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Link:
http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2011/05/15/astros-sale-crane-ready-for-the-business-of-baseball/

Astros sale: Crane ready for the business of baseball
May 15, 2011 at 12:03 am by DAVID BARRON

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — As he prepares to take the very public step of becoming the next owner of the Houston Astros, Jim Crane enjoyed some private time Friday in the company of old friends.
Crane flew from Houston to Kansas City and drove to CommunityAmerica Ballpark, where he and two former teammates watched their alma mater, the University of Central Missouri, play its first game of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association baseball tournament.

Huddled up behind the Central Missouri dugout on a 50-degree day with 20-mph wind gusts, they traded tales of Crane’s college hairstyle, his red 1969 Camaro 289 convertible and the day he struck out 18 batters for the Mules in the College World Series. They cheered and clapped for this year’s Central Missouri squad and continued reminiscing over lunch.

Friday, as always, baseball was Crane’s pleasure.

This week, it becomes his business.

Crane, 57, chairman of the Houston freight forwarding company Crane Worldwide Logistics, is expected this week to announce he has bought the Astros from Drayton McLane for $680 million. Subject to approval by Major League Baseball owners, he could assume control of the ballclub from McLane, who purchased the team in 1992 for $117 million, by this summer.

“You guys are getting a great owner,” said Kevin Kinsella, Crane’s college teammate, pledge captain and chauffeur from the airport to the ballpark for the Mules’ 4-2 victory over Fort Hays State.

“People here accuse the Royals of having a Wal-Mart mentality (because of owner David Glass, a former Wal-Mart executive). You won’t get that with Jim. He will build that team from the ground up with pitching and defense and good, sound draft choices, and he’ll give his people everything they need to win.

“He’s a businessman, and he’s a crazy baseball guy.”

“He’ll be a Jerry Jones owner,” said Bill LaMothe, the president of a Dallas-based logistics company who played baseball with Crane in high school, made the phone call in 1982 that brought him to Houston and has worked with — and, on occasion, competed against — him ever since.

“Jim isn’t going to promote himself. But he will be there to represent his team and his investment. He’ll be a great owner.”

Now he’s 1-for-4

For the last three years, Crane has gone down swinging in an effort to buy his way into baseball — a tentative deal in 2008 to buy the Astros that fell through and unsuccessful bids for the Chicago Cubs in 2009 and the Texas Rangers last year.

All three efforts, ironically, came after the most public setback of a career that began in 1984, when he founded Eagle USA Airfreight with a $10,000 loan from a family member. He lost control of the company, renamed EGL, in 2007 but emerged with cash from stock sales estimated at more than $330 million.

And now, the proceeds from his first Houston venture have enabled him to buy one of the city’s iconic institutions, giving him an ownership stake in a sport he has loved since childhood.

“I can’t recall when I haven’t seen him with a baseball or a bat in his office,” said John Magee, president of Crane Worldwide, which Crane founded with former EGL colleagues in 2008. “He’ll toss a ball in the air while he’s talking to you, and he’ll have a bat leaning against the wall, and he’ll pick it up and take some practice swings.”

If Friday’s scene is any indication, Crane takes comfort in the rituals of baseball and the company of old friends. They, in turn, relish that he seems to be the same guy they remember from 35 years ago.

“The catalyst was baseball. It brought us together — the competitiveness, the common interest, and we became family,” Kinsella said. “I tell him, ‘I can’t hang out with you. I don’t make enough money.’ But he says, ‘No, no, no.’ We decided years ago we were going to work at being friends. They’re hard to come by.”

“He’s the same old guy, and it’s a pretty neat thing to watch,” said Michael Lansing, Crane’s former catcher with the Mules. “It’s a God-given talent. He’s the same person — competitive, always competitive.

Ultra-competitive

Crane shared that competitive streak with the 2011 Mules on Friday, dangling a carrot of what could lie in store if they keep pushing toward an NCAA Division II title.

“He told us, ‘Good work, way to battle it out,’ ” said first baseman Nick DeBiasse. “And he said if we take it all the way to the World Series, there could be a spring training game for us with the Astros.”

Unlike McLane, who was a novice at the traditions and intricacies of baseball when he bought the Astros, Crane already has a mind for the game and, 40 years ago, had the skills to play it successfully.

He was 21-8 from 1973 through 1976 as a righthander at Central Missouri, located in Warrensburg, about 40 miles southeast of Kansas City. His 18 strikeouts against Ohio Northern in the first round of the 1974 Division II College World Series remains the school record, and he twice was a small-college honorable mention All-American.

In his post-college days, Crane shifted his competitive skills to the golf course. In 2006, Golf World magazine determined that he had the lowest handicap, at 0.8, of any CEO of a Fortune 1,000 firm.
“It’s ridiculous,” LaMothe said, laughing. “Anything that has to do with nonsense like that, he’s excellent at it — bocce ball, croquet, flipping quarters — anything like that.”

Crane, who declined to be interviewed for this story, grew up in the Delwood section of north St. Louis, where his father sold insurance, and was a multi-sport athlete at Lutheran North High School. Kinsella, who played against Crane in high school, said he had a fastball in the 90s but was an unformed talent when he got to college.

“No one had shown him how to throw a curve,” Kinsella said. “Our pitching coach taught him how to pitch. He picked up a palm ball as his changeup, and he got better and better.”

Crane struggled in the classroom and his difficulties were complicated withwithwhen with his father died between his freshman and sophomore years. Dave DeFrain, retired director of Central Missouri’s Department of Athletic Enrichment, said Crane left school and returned to St. Louis before baseball coach Bob Tompkins talked him into returning.

“It was a tough time in his life … ,” DeFrain recalled. “He recognized it was a hard time, and tHe recognized it was a hard time, and the people who were there to help him through it were the ones he has stayed connected to.

“He knows his roots and honors them, and he loves baseball. Baseball is the central core to who he is and what he has become. He isn’t going into baseball just because he loves it. It’s going to be a business, and he will run it well and efficiently.”

Crane suffered shoulder tendinitis between his sophomore and junior seasons, Kinsella said, and was not drafted. He graduated in 1976 with a degree in industrial safety and followed Kinsella into the insurance business, setting up safety programs for clients.

“He hated it,” Kinsella said. “Then he got a call from Bill LaMothe, who had moved to Houston. He told Jim, ‘Look, I know you hate your job. I had somebody approach me six months ago to sell air freight. I’m doing good, and I think you could do it, too.’

“So Jim moved to Houston, and the rest is history.”

Crane has made millions through transportation, first through EGL and now through Crane Worldwide and other ventures.

Unlike UPS or FedEx, Crane Worldwide does not own trucks, planes or ships. It contracts with carriers to move shipments of more than 100 pounds each and sells those supply chain services to shippers.

The company has about 160 employees in Houston and more than 800 worldwide. In its third year of operation, it expects to do about $400 million in business, which Magee said was equal to EGL’s total after 12 years, and it expects to do $1 billion by 2014. It recently broke ground on corporate headquarters near Bush Intercontinental Airport.

Crane also is chairman of Crane Capital, whose interests include Crane Freight Services, which focuses on domestic truckload freight shipments; Champions Energy, a retail electric provider; and Floridian Golf & Yacht Club, which Crane purchased a year ago from Wayne Huizenga, former owner of the Florida Marlins, Florida Panthers and Miami Dolphins.

When Magee joined EGL in 1998, he said sales totaled about $250 million, and he felt he was walking into a giant corporation. Crane, however, had loftier aspirations.

“I walked into headquarters and saw a banner that read ‘Building to a Billion,’ he said. “I was thinking that $250 million was a large company, but Jim was thinking beyond that.”

EGL, which became a publicly traded company in 1995, vaulted past Crane’s goals, expanding from a primarily domestic client base to an international base through a 2000 merger.

Success and controversy

Alongside its successes, however, it also was involved in several controversial legal disputes.

The company in 1998 filed suit against the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, accusing the agency of conducting an investigation that used information obtained in improper fashion from the company’s former general counsel.

The EEOC in 2000 accused EGL of attempting to avoid hiring blacks and women of child-bearing age, creating a hostile working environment for women, paying women and minority employees less than white males who did similar work, failing to investigate employees’ complaints of sexual harassment and destroying evidence that it was instructed to retain as part of the EEOC investigation. The agency sought $20 million from EGL to settle the case.

EGL agreed in 2001 to pay $8.5 million into a settlement fund for back wages and damages for applicants and workers who could document violations, but continued to deny that it violated employment laws and described the EEOC’s investigation as overzealous and vindictive.

In 2005, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes returned about $6 million to EGL after a review found that 203 of 2,073 claims had merit. About $900,000 was paid to applicants or employees, according to the court.

“I know (Crane) was hurt by the claims,” Magee said last week. “I have known him for 18 years, and never once have I seen him act in any of the ways described in the claims. He has a lot of pride and a lot of integrity, and I know that he didn’t want people to believe he was what he was portrayed to be.”

Crane’s association with EGL ended in 2007 after he and a private equity group offered what was described as more than $1 billion to acquire the company from shareholders. In April 2007, Apollo Management, the parent company of Ceva Logistics, alleged in a lawsuit that Crane was using his position as EGL’s CEO to take the company private to his own benefit while ignoring Apollo’s higher bid.

Forced to sit out

A month later, EGL was acquired by Ceva Logistics in a transaction valued at about $2 billion. Crane, who as EGL’s largest shareholder would have received $337 million plus a $30 million termination fee for his takeover bid, left EGL and sat out a one-year non-compete period before launching Crane Worldwide Logistics with several EGL veterans.

“I know it bothered him that he was no longer able to lead the people he had recruited to work for EGL,” Magee said. “But, from a personal standpoint, nobody saw the economic cliff, the financial crisis, sitting in front of us. And the fact that he got out when he did with the multiple that was paid for the company, as the largest shareholder — you can see what that meant for him.”

In addition to his business career, Crane and his wife, Franci, a former partner at the law firm Sussman Godfrey, are active members of Houston’s social set, accompanied on occasion by Crane’s children from an earlier marriage, Jared Crane and Krystal Crane Thompson.

Franci Crane is a trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and a board member of Inprint Houston, and the couple was honored on the opening night of the Houston Grand Opera’s 2010 season.

The Cranes in 2008 committed $1 million to the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s  Hospital, and Crane also has been generous to his alma mater. Jerry Hughes, Central Missouri’s athletic director, said Crane has donated more than $2 million to the school, including $1.2 million for the Mules’ baseball stadium, and funds 2.5 scholarships for players each season.

“He calls all the time to ask how the team is doing. He’s a true baseball guy,” Hughes said. “In 2003, when we won the national title, he would come to the stadium with a bag of peanuts and sit behind home plate, and he didn’t want to talk with anybody. He was focused on the game. As a former pitcher, he focuses on what they do.”

Knows ‘what it takes’

Don Sanders, a former Astros minority owner during the John McMullen era and an investor in EGL through his firm Sanders Morris Harris, believes Crane will emulate another former pitcher — Nolan Ryan, president of the Texas Rangers and Sanders’ partner in minor league teams in Round Rock and Corpus Christi — in his style of ownership.

“Nolan watched what was going on, found out who he could trust, who got the job done, who didn’t get the job done, and it was well into his second year before he started doing anything,” Sanders said.

“I think Jim is going to be a Nolan Ryan type. Jim is smart, he is articulate, he pays attention and he knows baseball. He understands what it takes to have a successful operation as well as a winning ballclub, and he will do everything within his power to hire the right people.

“I think Drayton was an awfully good owner, as I think we all do, but Jim will be more aggressive and more willing to do innovative things.”

Despite their current woeful record, never have the Astros traded ownership during a time of such stability on the business front. Crane is paying a premium for the ballclub and McLane’s share in a new regional sports network, but Magee, a former high school baseball player, cites Crane’s history of increasing the value of his companies.

“Sometimes in life, there comes a time to pass the torch,” he said. “It’s a good time for Drayton, it’s a good time for the city, and it’s something that Jim wants.”
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#276 rcoleman15, May 16, 2011
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exciting change.

#277 MadMax, May 16, 2011
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Good luck, Mr. Crane.

Go Astros!

#278 msn, May 16, 2011

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Maybe this deal gets done and approved before the trade deadline.

#279 juicystream, May 16, 2011
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juicystream said: ↑

Maybe this deal gets done and approved before the trade deadline.
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Still need an upgrade at GM... also, nobody will take Lee. Hell, he has a no-trade clause that he has had no interest waiving in the past.

#280 Nick, May 16, 2011

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