In a move that has been widely anticipated for the past few months, the Houston Astros have been officially sold to Jim Crane. Crane has been unanimously approved for the position by the other club owners, and Bud Selig has announced that the Astros will be moving to the American League after the 2012 season. The Astros will play in the AL West division.
As a result of this move, there will be an odd number of teams in both leagues (15), so there will have to be a much greater number of interleague games than before. Interleague games will become an almost daily occurrence, which will make for an interesting change in strategy; American League pitchers better start taking a few more at bats during batting practice, and National League teams may want to think about having a big bat on the bench.
This move is expected to be only one part of the ongoing CBA negotiations between the players and owners, and more details on how baseball will look in 2013 should be coming out within the next few days.
For more on the Astros' move to the AL and the CBA negotiations, follow the action over at Baseball Nation.