Houston Astros Officially Moving To AL By 2013 Says Selig

One thing we have constantly been ridiculing in the Astros section of the blogosphere over the last six months is that they have a rivalry with the Texas Rangers. Sure, there is a certain amount of dislike for our northern cousins, but frankly they regard us with more apathy than anything else.

In order for Bud Selig to sell the move, he has to talk up the reasons for the Astros shifting to the American League, and the AL West in 2013, mowing down the barriers such as time differences and the like. One of his, and others, main arguments has been the idea of a great rivalry between the two Lone Star State teams.

And Jim Crane, new owner of the Houston Astros, in his infinite wisdom, seems to be drinking from the same Kool Aid.

He said:

“Talked to Nolan Ryan last night and he said its really going to be great when we are both contending for the divison title and we’re going back and forth so in the long run there could be a lot of positives and there is a natural rivalry with Houston and Dallas, those of you from Texas.”

Well, yes, anyone knows there is something of a rivalry between any two cities that are in close proximity to each other. Frankly I would like to stick it to Nolan Ryan, whose comments have been a bit of a sore over the past few months. Apart from that, I’m not really feeling it.

With a new CBA in baseball within reach, Bud Selig, MLB's commissioner announced that the Houston Astros would be moving to the AL by 2013, creating two 15-team leagues:

"It's a historical day," Selig told reporters at a press conference Thursday.

The players association had long wanted to have an equal number of teams in each league, and the Astros' impending sale to Houston businessman Jim Crane gave Selig the leverage to finally make that happen. 

In return for reducing the price of the club by $80 million, Crane agreed to give up Houston's long-standing rivalries in the NL Central and move to the far-flung AL West. They will have a more natural in-state rival in the Texas Rangers, but they will also have to travel up and down the West Coast, two time zones behind Houston, to play the Oakland A's, Seattle Mariners and LA Angels.

The AL, with its bigger-market teams as well as the extra DH slot, is considered the more competitive league, which will make the Astros' rebuilding project all the more difficult. And while they will no longer have to contend with the St. Louis Cardinals, the Rangers and the Angels, two well-run franchises in huge markets, will present formidable long-term challenges for Houston's baseball staff.

With an odd number of teams in each league, interleague play will have to be expanded to a nearly year-round basis.

Selig also confirmed that there will now be two wild-card teams in each league, though he did not specify how the new post-season format would work.

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The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Major League Baseball is so adamant that the Houston Astros leave the six team National League Central and balance both leagues by joining the four team American League West that it gave prospective new Astros owner Jim Crane a $70 million discount on the purchase of the franchise.

The Chronicle report details that half of the $70 million would come from current owner Drayton McClane, and half from MLB itself. Why the aggressive cost-cutting? Because with a balanced alignment of six, five-team divisions and two leagues, MLB can pursue expanding the amount of wildcards in future playoffs. 

All parties involved are hoping that fans will latch onto a potential in-state rivalry between the Astros and Texas Rangers. Rangers owner Nolan Ryan has repeatedly expressed his support of the move. Still, the Astros have been a NL ball club their entire existence, and will mortgage several long rivalries (namely with division opponents like the Cubs and Cardinals) in addition to playing more games on the west coast. The Chronicle quoted an anonymous source involved in the purchase regarding the move:

"Listen," the official said on Tuesday, "we understand that Houston has been a National League city for (50) seasons, and there’s some resistance about moving. We also understand there could be some damage (to the franchise), and that’s what these negotiations were about. We wanted to be fair."

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According to SI.com baseball writer Jon Heyman, prospective owner Jim Crane has agreed to relocate the Houston Astros to the American League in 2013. For agreeing to the move, Heyman also reports that Crane will receive about $50 million dollar discount for agreeing to the move.

Prospective astros owner Jim crane has agreed to go to AL in 2013. He gets about $50M discount to go. He still needs vote of owners

If the move is successful, then the Astros would likely join the AL West where they would begin an in-state rivalry with the Texas Rangers. The move would also balance the number of teams in each league and likely pave the way to adding two more wildcard entries into the playoffs. The Rangers have supported the move but Crane still needs a vote of the rest of the other MLB owners. 

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