Page 1 of 1

Astros Sold, Moving to AL West in 2013

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:33 pm
by dmiles2186
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/72464 ... proved-mlb
MILWAUKEE -- Baseball owners have unanimously approved the sale of the Houston Astros from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane. The Astros will move from the NL Central to the AL West beginning in the 2013 season, giving each league 15 teams.

As part of the agreement to switch leagues, the sale price was cut from $680 million to $615 million, a person at Thursday's meeting told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details weren't announced,

Major League Baseball will make up part of the $65 million difference, paying McLane $35 million over three years, the person said.

Commissioner Bud Selig said owners also approved two additional wild-card teams for the postseason, meaning 10 of the 30 teams make the playoffs. Selig said the specifics are being worked out. The players' association favors the move.
I feel bad for Astros fans, the DH sucks. But they'll have a rivalry with the Texas Rangers, which could be fun. They've got Carlos Lee for awhile, at least they can move him to DH.

It will be nice to have 15 in each league and only 5 teams in the NL Central, but why move Milwaukee to NL Central from the AL only to move Houston out 10 years later?

Either way, interesting stuff. Those early 00's Astros and Cards teams had a good rivalry going.

Re: Astros Sold, Moving to AL West in 2013

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2011 12:55 pm
by abc789987
We've had a decent rivarly with Astros past few years, so I'm going to miss that a little bit. But having 5 teams in each division is very welcome.