unless McLane agrees to move them to the AL...but i have a difficult time imagining he'd do that given the backlash...even if he is selig's lap dog. honestly, i'm beginning to think MLB will blink; i don't think selig wants to screw up mclane's deal for mclane...or for the other owners. if i'm crane i'd ask for another interview where i casually slipped in the deadline date and talked more about walking the deal....
What Backlash? You think people will stop showing up to the Ballpark and stop buying $9 beers? That's all Uncle D cares about.
that's already happening. it's not going to get better in the AL West. if they were winning and moved to the AL West, that would be one thing...but coupling losing and being moved out of the NL at the same time? i think that's a recipe for a flat out awful year at the gates and a ton of lost interest from the hardcore fans who keep them going, otherwise. also..there are added costs and potentially smaller revenues (media wise) playing in the AL West...given that, i can't see Drayton agreeing to it unless he, like Crane, is compensated for it.
If they were winning, this wouldn't be an issue. Had this slide not happened and we're talking about 15 years of being in contention, the Astros would not be the team they'd consider moving. Since it's been 5 years of garbage and a potential new ownership, they're easy pickin's. Besides, if this deal doesn't go through, I don't think Drayton will be nearly as friendly to Selig as he was in the past. Especially if the next closest potential owner offers him somewhere in the area of hundreds of millions less.
i agree with everything you just said. excellent point on the 2nd portion. i can't see drayton being real amenable to helping out anyone in MLB if they kill this sweetheart deal for him.
Selig isnt trying to move the Stros becuase of the loses or lack of interest, its because change of ownership is the only way he can. You can't force a team to change leagues but if a team is in a transition of onwership Selig could manipulate and negotiate it it's a case of wrong place, wrong time sadly.
What the heck happened to the realignment talk that had no divisons and the Astros moving to the AL. That was much better
Being mostly irrelevant because of the suckitude certainly helps Selig, et al. The only people complaining are the true fans...the ones that are still posting about them on Clutchfans, etc., in the off season after losing 106 games. The rest of the city and fan base would care if we were talking about this while the Astros were playing in the NLCS.
what's the big deal, are you guys fans of the astros or national league? we suck in the nl central, we'll probably suck in the al west. statistically speaking the nl central is stronger than the al west at this time. the rangers are in the world series so playing out west with pacific time zones isn't hurting wining. and if the DH is good enough for the storied franchises of the yankees and redsox who are we to complain. we've only been around since the 60's. maybe in the Al with a DH the astros would change their close but not close enough history.
yes. I am a fan of the Astros, who are a National League team, and who play *baseball*, not DH-ball. You change a team's league, you change the fabric of that team's identity. People who like *baseball*, that's who we are. The DH is a sissy-rule. Players should play the whole game, or not play at all. It's a gimmick experiment that should have been cast aside after 1973 when they first tried it. The best part of the Yankees' and Red Sox' story, btw, happens *before* the DH.
AstrosCounty Astros County I hope Jim Crane realizes that, in his first owners meeting, he's going to have to shiv another owner to establish that he's not a patsy
well that's my point, the astros identity sucks the last 50 years with the exception of a few years they were close. i would love to try and change the fabric of the teams last 50 years. i'm sure all of the world series titles won by the yankees, red sox, bluejays, twins, etc... since the DH are gimmick world titles. i'll tell you what's a gimmick, the astros history in the NL.
then move the Cubs. their identity of an NL team sucks for over 100 years now. before 2004, we could have moved the Red Sox out of the AL. after all...there were just a few times they were close since before WWI.
apples to orange, neither the cubs or red sox are for sale and both are founding members of the NL and AL. astros didn't exist until '62. also only 2 division's in baseball have a numbers issue, nl central with 6 teams and nl west with 4. every other division already have 5 so something has to give otherwise you have a multiple team shuffle to make the numbers right. me personally, go back to a single table AL (14 teams) and NL (16 teams) have 1 league winner and 3 wildcards. use a balanced schedule to have each AL team play each other 12 times for 156 games. have each NL team play each other 10 times for 150 games. in the end, they have the DH we have less games, seems fair.
How is that fair if the NL plays 6 less games? I'd think 50 years is pretty good length to be considered entrenched.
how is it fair that the redsox get to play with a short porch in left or dodgers with their acreage of foul territory for half of their games. even the astros with their 430'+ center field with a damn hill. also the AL has a DH the NL doesn't. can you imagine if the texans played on a 80 yard field for half of their games, they would be awesome since they currently suck inside the 20. baseball isn't about fair or being exact, it's about charm. So they say...
I'll take Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott's division-clinching gem, Eddie Matthews's 500th, Billy Hatcher's bomb, the Coneheads, the wars with LA, the playoff battles with Atlanta and Saint Louis, Dierker's no-hitters, JR Richard's dominance of LA, and Bagwell-Biggio over the DH every day of the week, and a double-header on Sunday.
...Don Wilson's 2 no-hitters, Ryan passing Walter Johnson, etc. It ain't the Yankees, but it's my team. And I love my team. If you don't, then bully for you. Don't hold your breath waiting for me to care.
I've been watching the Astros play in the National league for almost 50 years, so it is a big deal to me. I'm a fan of the Astros and I'm a fan of the National league, is that so hard to understand? I am disgusted and pissed off about this whole thing, and then you come in here and ask whats the big deal? Get ready for all the loud mouthed Yankee and Red Sox fans to come out of the woodwork to remind all the Astro fans how great their teams are.
At the end of the day, all that matters is that we're a winning ball-club. It's clear that won't happen with Mclane any longer. He had a good run but he's over the hill. Now, if it means that we have to move to the AL to get a new owner, so be it. Like I mentioned, it should put more people in the stands even if we suck.
