We have the first big affiliate shift in Minor Legue Baseball, as the Round Rock Express will announce later this morning that the Pacific Coast League team is shifting parents from the Houston Astros to the Texas Rangers.
No surprise: we reported a month ago the shift was likely to happen. The reason behind the shift: Express owner Ryan is now an owner of the Rangers.
Not all the teams owned by Ryan-Sanders Baseball is following the shift: the Corpus Christi Hooks (Class AA; Texas League) will remain an affiliate of the Houston Astros for two more years, while the Rangers retained the Frisco RoughRiders (Class AA; Texas League) as a farm team.
The challenge for the Oklahoma City RedHawks (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League): replacing the Rangers. We’d be very surprised of the new owners of the RedHawks, Mandalay Baseball, weren’t in talks with the Astros; they’d make a logical replacement.
Here’s a look at the current affiliate status.
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