A few days ago the Houston Astros found out that in 2013 they would become an official member of the AL West. This will be quite a dramatic shift from their cozy spot in the NL Central. A place where they have resided since 1994.
This is big news in the baseball world. First it puts both the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros in the same league/division for the first time in history, creating what is sure to be a solid rivalry. Instead of playing only 6 interleague games against each other. The two teams will now be treated to playing 18 games against one another. Furthermore the games that they play against eachother will matter, as they now find themselves competing for the same elusive playoff spot.
This is good for baseball and it’s good for Texas. Any naysayers should be swayed by the fact that having both Texas’ baseball teams in the same division should improve attendance numbers for both teams because interstate rivalries are usually a big draw. Factor in the amount of times they play and you’re looking at a substantial financial bonus.
This is good for baseball because it finally evens the amount of teams in the AL and NL to a solid 15 a piece. This makes adding another wild card to both leagues more feasible something that will go into effect as soon as next year.
There are a lot of people who don’t want to see the Astro’s go to AL because it changes the dynamic of the team and league. Baseball is different in the AL, as the Astros will now have A DH (designated hiter) and will be faced with having to play high payroll teams like the Yankees and Red Sox on a regular basis.
However this is a change that had to be made and lets face it. Its good for baseball.
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