Comments (0) Best Franchise Owner - 2004
Drayton McLane Up until this year, grocery magnate Drayton McLane had been drawing the ire of loyal Astros fans for his discount shopping of free agents, near-worship of Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio and refusal to increase the team's payroll. That changed, however, when the club lured Deer Park natives and future Hall of Famers Roger Clemens (one year for $5 million) and Andy Pettitte (three years for $31.5 million), and then topped it off with a trade for slugging outfielder Carlos Beltran. So while we'd had it up to here with McLane's annoying "What have you done today to be a champion?" line, even naysayers knew his acquisition of the trifecta screamed "Win now!" before he even scheduled the press conference. And to add to the fat wave of good PR McLane was riding, Major League Baseball's All-Star Game -- easily one of its most popular events -- was played in his very own ballpark. McLane was finally in the spotlight for doing it right, and provided he doesn't relegate the team to the two-for-one aisle again, he'll stay there.
