Baseball owners unanimously approved the sale of the Houston Astros from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane on Thursday, which will lead to the team moving from the NL Central to the AL West for the 2013 season.

The decision will give each league 15 teams, baseball's first realignment since the Milwaukee Brewers switched from the AL to the NL after the 1997 season.

As part of the Astros' agreement to switch leagues, the sale price was cut from $680 million to $615 million, a person at Thursday's meeting told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because details weren't announced. - Associated Press, Thursday, November 17, 2011

So we’re just sitting here minding our own business in Astros Fan Park, where we’ve been hanging out contentedly (if not ecstatically) since 1962, and suddenly this armored brigade shows up, turns on a lot of bright lights, and starts screaming at us to get our crap off the plaza.

Posted at 4:00 PM