The Houston Astros celebrate a September win. (Getty Images)
Potential Houston Astros owner Jim Crane is looking to cut $50 million from the purchase price of the team in exchange for the Astros switching leagues, The Post has learned.
The Houston businessman has been talking to Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig about moving the team to the American League from the National League if Crane is approved as the franchise’s new owner.
Sources told The Post that Crane — who reached a deal in May to buy the Astros from Drayton McLane for $680 million — is asking for a price reduction in the $50 million range to make the move.
On that front, the two sides are in the “ballpark” on the price, although a deal is far from certain, sources said.
Crane argues the move to the AL would hurt the value of the franchise because the Astros would be playing more late-night games against West Coast teams. For Selig’s part, the switch would foster a rivalry between the Astros and the Texas Rangers.
Last year, Crane lost a bid to buy the Rangers out of bankruptcy. Despite Crane’s dangling a higher offer, Selig favored an investor group led that included Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan.
At the time, the possibility of Crane winning approval to buy the Rangers was considered an uphill battle. Crane had backed out of a deal to buy the Astros in 2008, which upset McLane, who sources say is close to Selig.
Crane had other black marks against him, including charges of discrimination and war profiteering against his company. In 2001, he paid $8.5 million to settle a racial and gender discrimination suit against his company, Eagle Global Logistics.
“He had hurdles that he would have had to overcome,” a source with direct knowledge of the situation said.
Now Selig is pushing baseball owners to approve Crane as the new owner of the Astros, in part because of the $680 million purchase price, second only to the $845 million the Chicago Cubs fetched two years ago.
Seventy-five percent of owners need to approve the deal at their meeting in mid-November. MLB is currently trying to hammer out a new labor agreement, and the players want one NL team to move to the AL — with no others coming forward.
One source close to the talks said there is a “65 to 70 percent chance” that Selig and Crane will reach a deal. If not, Crane will likely walk away from buying the Astros. MLB and Crane spokesmen declined comment.