On February 3 , 1992 — Two years after it was first disclosed that Dr. John McMullen is looking to sell the Astros, he is no closer to finding a buyer. Complicating matters are a $100 million dollar bid from a Japanese group for the Seattle Mariners and McMullen’s minority stake in a horse racing track to be built outside of Houston. Another group is offering to buy the team and move it to Washington, DC. McMullen, who had earlier nixed an $86 million dollar offer for the club, says the record price for the Mariners is not too high. He cites the Denver and Miami expansion clubs, to begin play in 1993, paid $95 million dollars apiece to join.