When you look back at the Houston Astros 2011 season, there are many things that come to mind. I think about the lost chances, the bad baseball, the crazy number of rookies, the fan-crushing trades, but the one continuous thread throughout the 2011 season was the will they / won’t they roller coaster about Jim Crane & Co. being approved as the new owners of the ball club.

The first time we were told officially of the sale was back in May when Drayton McLane had a press conference to announce he’d made a deal with Crane and his group of investors. Bud Selig didn’t want that press conference to happen.

Little did we know that day that the approval of Crane would hinge not on his professional and personal history, but his willingness to give Selig what he’d long wanted: an even number of teams in each league. And so the waiting game and the guessing game and the game of political power matches had to be played out and an agreement to move the Houston Astros to the AL West in 2013 had to happen before the MLB owners would unanimously vote to approve Crane.

It was a hard pill to swallow, but with Crane as the new owner came the chance to really begin rebuilding and the hope of future for the Houston Astros. It didn’t take Crane long to put his stamp on things as he removed both President Tal Smith and GM Ed Wade from the organization.

It’s only fitting then that in the favorite moments of the Astros season that this be included. I know it didn’t happen until the season was long over for this team, but it was the culmination of a year of what ifs and hopefully gives my favorite baseball team a rebirth.

Click the photo to watch the video of Crane’s press conference.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

Perhaps now Ed Wade needs to HAVE a Fairy Godmother more than he needs to BE a Fairy Godmother.

Word on the street is that the new owner of the Houston Astros, Jim Crane, will be sitting down in the coming days (perhaps tomorrow) with General Manager, Ed Wade, to have a little fireside chat. I suddenly have an overwhelming desire to break into the offices at Minute Maid Park and disguise myself as a rubber tree plant sitting in an unnoticed corner. What I wouldn’t give to be in that meeting!

I would imagine the conversation will go something like this:

Crane: So, Ed, this team sucks even more now than when I originally put this deal in place.

Wade: Well, Jim, my hands have been tied. I haven’t had the financial resources that a club like this needs in order to put a winning team on the field and the Phillies were only willing to give me so much for my trade possibilities.

Crane: Guess what? You’re not going to have any additional financial resources now. Money going out cannot be more than money coming in. I’m a businessman, Ed.

Wade: I’m a baseball man, Jim, and perhaps that’s why we don’t see eye to eye on how to go about this rebuild.

Crane: Okay, then go find a team that sees things your way and I’ll find someone to be the GM of the Astros that sees things mine.

*Ed Wade leaves Minute Maid Park and the scene fades to black*

Did you like that little dream sequence of mine? Now before you think I’m all anti-Ed Wade, I’m not. He’s done some great things in Houston and I firmly believe that when this team is good again, we will see his fingerprints on that team. However, he hasn’t done enough. He abandoned the farm system and let it get raped of talent without replenishing until this past year.

Ed Wade is not the right guy at the right time. It’s time to put a fresh face on certain spots in the Houston Astros front office and the GM role is one of them.

Who else do I think will go? I can’t imagine that Bobby Heck will be around that much longer. It’s hard to justify keeping a Head of Scouting that managed to put together the absolute worst farm system in baseball. We’d all love to think we can be really bad at our jobs and still keep them, but generally, that’s not the way the real world works.

Tal Smith is polishing his resume up a bit now as well, I’d suppose. Although I really don’t care if he stays or goes, I’d really like that darn hill in center field that’s named for him to get flattened out. I’m a bit tired of MMP being the putt-putt golf course of Major League Baseball.

There’s a long line of people that would like to see Pam Gardner gone, but alas, with Crane’s EEOC problems, the likelihood of him firing a woman from the front office isn’t that high. So, sadly we may have to listen to them play “Sweet Caroline” the next time the BoSox are in town, *sigh*, although I AM in favor of serving lobster rolls.

Of course, Mr. Crane could fire Pam Gardner if he brought in a woman GM. Hey Kim Ng….watcha’ doing for the 2012 season? Houston could use your stellar baseball wisdom.

Taking "Diehard Astros Fan" To A Whole New Level

Okay, so the Houston Astros have a new ownership team now, led by Jim Crane. They know that in 2013 the team will move from the National League Central Division to the American League Western Division.

Half of Houston is pissed off. Some of Houston doesn’t know anything happened. And then there are the diehards. We just want baseball back.

So now I’m getting back to baseball. Not the business, but baseball. Today’s the deadline for teams to have their 40 man roster set before the Rule 5 Draft and Houston’s been making some moves.

Here are the transactions that the team’s made in the past week:

Signed OF Brad Snyder to a Minor League Deal - He has been invited to Major League Spring Training Camp.

Signed IF Joe Thurston to a Minor League Deal – He has been invited to Major League Spring Training Camp. (For the record, it KILLED me not to call him Thurston Howell III when I typed that!)

Outrighted Catcher Carlos Corporan to AAA Oklahoma City – He has cleared waivers and has the right to elect free agency.

Purchased Contract of RHP Paul Clemens - He has been added to the 40-man roster.

Signed RHP Lance Pendleton to a Minor League Deal - He has been invited to Major League Spring Training Camp.

Houston’s 40-man roster is 38 men at the moment. Let the fun begin!

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

And it’s all official. After a unanimous 30-0 vote by the MLB owners, Jim Crane has been approved as the new owner of the Houston Astros. Bud Selig announced it this morning as well as confirming that they will move to the American League for the 2013 season.

Selig also laid out plans for another WC with the additional playoff being a one game round. The additional WC teams will be set in place for 2012.

I know a lot of people are hurt and angry about the way this all went down, myself included. It felt like Selig was a 5th grade bully picking on a scrawny Kindergartner. I suppose this was a wake up call reminder that baseball is indeed a business.

Now that it’s done, let’s get back to the important things in HTX baseball- strong draft picks, reinforcing the minors, making smart decisions in the majors and putting smiles on the faces of Astros fans again.

We have 93 days until Spring Training. Throw your fit, cry your tears, throw something, get over it. In 93 days we’re back to supporting our boys of summer.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

‘Twas the night before the owner’s vote and all through the town,
The city of Houston was full of fans with a frown.
A new man in charge would come with league change,
As Bud Selig wished for a major rearrange.
So HTX will get Crane and the AL,
But what other changes? No one will tell.
Many fans yelled, protested and cried,
But at this point in this game, I have just sighed.
I’m just glad to know in my town there’ll be ball,
To bring happiness to the the people- you, me and all.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

I could give you all the rundown on transactions this week. I could tell you what minor league contracts were signed. I could tell you that Jordan Schafer’s got some competition in the OF now, but heck, that’s old news. You can find that anywhere. Let’s talk about the epic week we’re in right now.

The MLB Owners are meeting. Thursday they’ll vote to see if Jim Crane is worthy of being the next owner of the Houston Astros. That’s a bit misleading since it’s really a group of MANY investors led by Crane, but hey – he’ll be the guy whose name we’ll hear and be the face and voice of the ownership, so yea, it’s him.

Hanging in the balance on this vote, as we all know is not just the ownership, but which league the team will play in for 2013 and beyond. It’s been rumored that deals are on the table for Crane to receive anywhere from $50 million to $80 million in exchange for a league move by the Astros. The latest report via Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle have the number at $70 million although it appears the move to the American League may not be announced when the vote on Crane is announced.

So buckle up Astros fans. We’re going to the AL. I know that most don’t like it, but it is what it is. Nothing’s going to change now. The wheels are in motion, deals have been made, money’s about to change hands.

When push comes to shove, the Astros will still play ball in Houston. The helmet sundaes will still be filled with Blue Bell Ice Cream. Minute Maid Park will still be a great ballpark to watch a game. You’ll still have a hometown team to teach your son or daughter about your love of the game. The beer will be still be cold.

I’ll be waiting and watching with you this week as we await the final word. Let’s all just sit back, take a deep breath and see how this plays out….just like when your guys are down by 2 in the bottom of 9th at home – you never know what could come.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

Hey boys and girls in offseason-world. How’re you doing? It’s been pretty darn quiet on the Astros front of late, so I thought I’d take this chance to tell you what I think about what you’re wondering on our boys from H-town. These questions were sent to me via text, twitter and Facebook:

1. If the Astros move to the AL West, who do you see as their toughest match-up? Seriously? You think there’s a matchup that won’t be tough for THIS Astros team? I kid, I kid…well, sort of. I think a switch to the AL represents one of the toughest challenges this club would face. Not only will they have to strategically change how they play the game, but they’ll be playing against significantly higher payrolls. There are only 10 MLB teams with payrolls lower than Houston’s. With that said, within the AL West? The Rangers. It’s the team they’re likely to see the most and will never have the “unknown” as an advantage.

2. What are your thoughts on the staff staying as is after last season’s results? Here’s the deal, I’m not a Brad Mills hater. I don’t love him with my whole heart, but I don’t think he’s been given much to work with in his tenure. He’s made some bizarre decisions (bunting and benching come to mind) but he’s at least using his head whether you agree with how or not. Keep in mind he did do some pretty good come-back coaching in 2010. As for the rest of the staff? Frankly, I don’t think the staff’s the problem. I think the lingering ownership change and the GM’s office are the biggest problems. I say what do we have to lose by giving this staff another go?

3. What is your favorite Halloween candy? I’m a full-fledged choco-holic, and what I’m finding myself stealing from the weeone’s trick-0r-treat stash at the moment is Tootsie Rolls. Love. Them. Lots.

4. Heard a rumor that the Bosox are considering Brad Mills. Anything up with that? I’ve got nothing on that. We all know that Mills came to Houston from the Red Sox after spending six seasons as the bench coach under Terry Francona, but I’ve heard nothing even close to official on interest by Boston to bring him back. If I hear anything, I’ll pass it along.

5. Do you think the prices will change if the Astros switch to the American League? And I’m assuming we will have later games? Here in Houston at MM park? Or will they still be at 7 pm our central time when we play at minute maid park? That’s four questions. ;D Prices, oh, prices. Seeing as there were no changes in Season Ticket prices for the 2012 season, all bets are off. I expected a drop in my tickets for next season, but that was not the case. I think an ownership change will determine ticket price more than a switch to AL. Jim Crane will want to fill seats, so I expect to see lots of ticket specials this next year. Then if we do go to the AL, there’s no reason to lower prices as big-name teams will attract fans who don’t currently come to MMP. So I wouldn’t expect a cheaper ticket, that’s for sure.

As for late game starts, if the Astros move the AL West and my calculations are correct, they’ll play about 20 -25 more late games (some Mountain, some Pacific time). Games at Minute Maid Park will still have their 7:05pm-ish start times.

6. With the new ownership will we see many coaching changes? And, why does it appear as if the Astros are being “bullied” into moving to the AL? All of the coaching staff from this past season have already been given one year contracts for the 2012 season, so unless Crane comes in and starts firing people, we should see the same faces leading the team on the field. But I think the reasoning for the one year contracts is in part due to the possibility of an ownership change and leaving the door open for Crane to make any changes he sees fit for the 2013 season.

As for  being bullied, well, they sort of are. The Astros are in a vulnerable position right now. If they’d gone for 106 wins rather than losses this season, we’d be having very different conversations about moving a team to the AL. The fact of the matter is that if they’re going to move a team (and Selig has wanted this for a LONG time) the Astros are the logical and most vulnerable pick right now. It means only moving one team and it’s a team whose fan base is at a major low point both in numbers and morale. If you stuck with the Astros this season, they’re counting on you sticking with them in an AL move as well.

Jarred Cosart

7. Are we making any moves to acquire some help in the bullpen & what do our “prospects” look like? Well, today is the start of Free Agency and although I don’t anticipate the Astros doing much playing in the FA game this offseason, you never know. As for prospects? The trades made this past season did a LOT to bolster our minor league system and give us a nice list of prospects that are working their way through the ranks.

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus just took a look at the Houston system and gave 4 stars to three players in the Astros’ system: Jarred Cosart (RHP), George Springer (OF), Jonathon Singleton (1B). Beyond those three, we have Brett Oberholtzer (LHP), Jonathon Villar (SS), and several others who look really promising. I would say that the minor system the Astros have today is infinitely better than what we saw this time last year. This minors system was in ruins before the 2011 season.  There’s hope on the horizon, that’s for sure and it’s with thanks to the trades that were made in 2011, popular or not.

So there you have it. You Asked. I Answered. If you have a question you’d like me to give my 2 cents on next time, feel free to email, tweet or Facebook me. In the meantime, today we start watching Free Agents negotiate their way to possible new teams and we have only 12 more days until the next MLB owners meeting where we hope they’ll give Jim Crane a rose and approve his bid to buy the Astros.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

It’s been an interesting couple of weeks. As I run into and chat with other Houston Astros fans, the most common question has been, “Now what?” After setting a franchise record for games lost (106) and spending a season wondering if new ownership would or would not happen, fans are still left in limbo.

I bet Ed Wade is waiting too...to see if he still has a job.

The discussion of whether the move to the American League will happen and should happen has pretty much been hashed out. If you’re going to have an opinion or argument on it, you already do. By the way, it’s never to late to contact Bud Selig and Drayton McLane and tell them what you think. While you’re at it, flood Jim Crane’s office with faxes. ;D

And so now we all sit and wait. We wait for the mid-November owner’s meeting. We wait for the winter meetings and free agency hoopla to begin. We wait to see who is invited to Spring Training. We wait to see if we have a chance in hell of having anything to look forward to in 2012.

That’s a lot of waiting. So, how are you killing the time? I’ve been learning about hockey. I’m watching the World Series. What are you doing?

We’ve all been waiting and watching and reading and speculating not just on whether Jim Crane gets approved as the new owner for the Houston Astros (which seems imminent now), but whether or not he’ll agree to move the team to the American League.

Fans are in a frenzy more so about the AL move than the ownership change. My timeline on twitter in recent weeks has been filled with #SaveOurStros and #DefendHouston – fans cyber-protesting the idea of tossing 50 years of National League heritage to move the team to the American League.

As we’ve heard reports of Jim Crane meeting with Bud Selig in recent weeks, the idea of Crane being approved as the new owner seems set in stone, but the move to the AL is one that fans were mostly hoping could be avoided. Now a report from the NY Post has everyone thinking the move to the AL is all but certain.

Sources told The Post that Crane — who reached a deal in May to buy the Astros from Drayton McLane for $680 million — is asking for a price reduction in the $50 million range to make the move.

On that front, the two sides are in the “ballpark” on the price, although a deal is far from certain, sources said.

Now what? Now we continue to sit and wait. The MLB owner’s will likely vote on Jim Crane as the next owner of the Houston Astros during their meeting November 15-16th (they need 75% of owners to vote “yay” for Crane to be handed a rose) and I would imagine that he’ll be approved and an announcement of the move to the AL will follow soon after.

The problem with all of this? Getting the Astros fan base to swallow it. It’s no secret that there’s opposition among Houstonians. You can google just about any Astros blog at this point and find polls showing that fans don’t want to move. After a historic 106 loss season the fan base had already been cut in large numbers. The big looming question though is will the remaining fans follow the team regardless of the move?

Some in Houston have said they’ll no longer support the team if the Astros move to the AL. There are those who say they’ll find a new NL team and other who say they’ll cheer for the Rangers. I don’t get that, because if you’ve read this blog before you know I believe fandom is fandom for life, so no matter how bad the Astros are and no matter what division or league they play in, you can count on me cheering for them.

So, Jim Crane, you may have yourself a major league baseball team soon and you may even get $50 million dollars off the price to move them to the American League, but I’m wondering, other than me, will you have any fans?

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.

This morning sportswriter Peter Gammons took to twitter to say this -

Say it isn’t so!!! You’ve heard me lament about this. I don’t wanna go! I don’t want a DH, I don’t want 9pm start times, I don’t want the Rangers and Yankees and BoSox and Orioles. I like my rivalries just fine, thank you. *sigh*

Jim Crane’s camp is saying nothing’s been discussed in terms of moving the Astros to the American League and if it was Crane would expect some sort of compensation for it to happen. So where does that leave us? Still speculating.

I suppose now it’s time for me to get over it. The Astros will get to celebrate 50 years of NL ball for the 2012 season while still in the National League. And when push comes to shove, I love baseball, no matter which league Bud Selig puts the Astros.

And look at the bright side…this ownership thing looks to be wrapping up. It’s time for it. I’m ready to have a new owner in place to start plotting, planning and strategizing to continue the rebuild with this club.

Terri Schlather (AGirlintheSouth) is the tortured Senior Houston Astros Writer for Aerys Sports. You can read her Astros blog at www.talesfromthejuicebox.com, email her at agirlinthesouth@gmail.com, or follow her ridiculous ramblings on sports, vodka and the weeone on twitter @agirlinthesouth.