I am certainly not certain. But I am certainly intrigued by the depth of the rumors as certainty. Remember, what I said was, "Unless the buyer is already identified, and quietly involved. That appears to be the case with Houston's great restaurateer..." We'll see. I, for one, would prefer another buyer to emerge if Mclane markets the team.
I've dogged McLane in the past and am sure I will again in the future, but I can't see how anybody could be upset with the guy after the money he's shelled out this offseason. While he went a long while without signing any significant free agents, in the past two offseasons he's ponied up the cash for Kent, Pettite, and Clemens. Not many owners can claim to have done more for their team. I think people forget how bad the Astros ownership was before Drayton purchased them.
I don't believe that McLane is judged a cheap and bad owner. I think he is judged by what he said lobbying for the new ballpark. I think he is judged by his steady stream (seemingly) of cries and laments about his losses (oddly they are about equal to the complaint recently lodged in Pittsburgh, after their new park -- yet they draw flies, have less marketing revinue, and a smaller payroll...but they have lost the same as Astros in same time period?). I think he is judged by the allocation of his salaries with Bigg and Bags killing the ability to upgrade at multiple positions. Here I agree with Charlie Pulillo (sp?) about how McLane needs to assign part of both salaries to discretionary or other and use the budget to sign -- Pettite and Clemens, for example.
(oddly they are about equal to the complaint recently lodged in Pittsburgh, after their new park -- yet they draw flies, have less marketing revinue, and a smaller payroll...but they have lost the same as Astros in same time period?). Why is this odd? Less revenues, less expenses = similar profit/loss.
That's exactly what I am referring to. I know exactly how valuation works and that the debts will be held against Drayton and the team's value, but I think Drayton is going for the gold now in hopes of increasing the value of the franchise enough to sell out. National exposure during a World Series will do that to a team's value. Of course, if the Astros don't do anything in the playoffs then it will all backfire in his face because he will have to still pay off those salaries and the franchise value wont be any higher. I am not criticizing him for this, just pointing out what I believe his strategy to be. I am frankly thrilled that the team appears to have a solid chance this next year, even if we do suck for a few in the future as a result.
