http://tinyurl.com/28cwdwq UPDATE: McLane has called a 2:30pm CT press conference at Minute Maid Park to discuss the sale. Houston Astros owner Drayton McLane has passively trying to sell club for more than two years, but has now reportedly retained the services of New York investment firm Allen & Company to more aggressively sell the club. MLB sources have reportedly told FOX 26 in Houston that Allen & Co. will attempt to sell the Astros franchise for $800 million. The deal would include a stake in the newly created regional sports network CSN Houston that sees Comcast and the NBA Houston Rockets as partners. It is unclear what the total split between the Rockets and Astros comes to, but reports have had the two Houston sports properties owning 77.5 percent to Comcast’s 22.5 percent of the RSN. Earlier this year, McLane entered into an exclusive negotiating window with Great Court Capital of New York to purchase the club. The group included former United States Olympic Committee chief Harvey Schiller and was also the president of the International Baseball Federation. (Read The Biz of Baseball interview with Schiller). That deal was reportedly for $650 million, but fell through. In 2008, Houston businessman Jim Crane backed out of deal at the 11th hour to purchase the club. McLane has owned the Astros since 1993 when he purchased them for $117 million from John McMullen. That deal included the lease on the Astrodome. Forbes valued the Astros at $453 million for last year, ranking 11th out of the 30 clubs. The following shows the Forbes valuations from 2001 to 2009 (see historical Forbes rankings): --

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