Astros Sold, Will Move To American League in 2013
The Houston Astros were sold to businessmen Jim Crane for $680M and as a part of a $70M discount, the team will move from the National League Central to the American League West division starting in the 2013 season, various reports stated at the Major League Baseball winter meetings.
Crane takes over the Astros from Drayton McLane, who owned the Astros for 19 years, and since 1993, Houston went to the playoffs six times (1997-99, 2001, 2004-05), winning the National League pennant in 2005, and also was able to move the team out of their longtime home, the Astrodome for their current home, Minute Maid Park.
The Astros' move (after 50 seasons in the National League) will be beneficial to MLB as a whole, balancing out the two leagues with 15 teams a piece, and giving the first divisional realignment for the first time since 1998, when the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil (now just) Rays joined the league, and the Milwaukee Brewers went from the American League Central to the National League Central. Houston also will now get to have more matchups and create an in-state rivalry with the two-time reigning AL Champion Texas Rangers.
Now with the the balance of teams, there will be other changes in scheduling. With the 15 teams, there will be interleague play every single day, but the American League teams won't have to play division rivals 18 times a season. And the drama of the playoffs will get more interesting with the addition of a second wild card team. Those two wildcard teams will play each other in a one-game playoff, and then the winner will move on to the division series. The one game playoff will be a do-or-die situation, creating more October drama. All of this is contingent on a new labor deal with the players, which should pass without any problem
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