The ownership change of the Astros has been hanging in the balance for
months, as Jim Crane is awaiting approval to buy the franchise from Drayton
McLane. Wednesday, Peter Gammons of MLB Network reported that the change is
expected to be made in November. OK, that's fine. Not overly newsworthy,
really. But then, Gammons added something that very much does matter, for all
of baseball. The Astros are expected to be moved to the American League.
This has been rumored for some time, but never really reported as something
that will definitely happen. Numerically, the move makes sense. The National
League has 16 teams; the American League 14. The NL Central has six; the AL
West four. Moving the Astros to the AL West makes sense, and they would have
a natural division rivalry with the Texas Rangers