And a highly placed National League official, while characterizing the Astros' potential move as in the infancy stage, said today that McLane has not been granted needed permission by baseball's executive council to even initiate negotiations with a prospective buyer.

MacLane requested permission this week, the official said, but the executive council has yet to meet and no negotiations can take place until permission is granted.

The league official stressed that an owner seeking to sell a team must exhaust all prospective buyers willing to keep the team in the city before he can get to first base with the executive council.

McLane, traveling in Texas, could not be reached at his offices in the Astrodome.

Bud Selig, the owner of the Milwaukee Brewers and the acting commissioner of baseball, noted the complicated process required in both the selling and moving of a team, and said: "Drayton hasn't asked for permission to do anything. He has been meeting this week very aggressively with the mayor and the county judge in Houston, as well as leaders of the Houston business community to activate support."

Pointing out that McLane is a native Texan, Selig said, "I know the last thing he'd want to do is move that team out of Houston."