After naming Reid Ryan as president of the Houston Astros, owner Jim Crane added another Ryan-related asset to his portfolio with the purchase of the Corpus Christi Hooks (Class AA; Texas League).
It’s been a stated goal of Crane to control his team’s farm system a la the St. Louis Cardinals — where Astros GM Jeff Luhnow spent many years — and he has reportedly been negotiating for the purchase of a Class AAA Pacific Coast League team as well. The purchase of the Hooks from Ryan-Sanders Baseball (where Reid Ryan arrives from) cements the investment in Texas baseball for Crane. No changes are expected to be made to the successful franchise; indeed, Ryan said the purchase only cemented the team’s commitment to Whataburger Field. From the Caller-Times:
“This team is going to be here to stay,” said Ryan, whose only comments to local media were with the Caller-Times. “When I look at where we are, I don’t think it’s any big secret that we have a desire to extend this lease that we have with Whataburger Field. We’ve worked on that in the past and it’s something I’d like to address in the future.
“From the Astros’ standpoint, we’d like to work with the city leaders to try to come up with a plan (where) we could sign the extension now so people could put their minds at ease that the Houston Astros are going to be in Corpus Christi for a long, long time.”
Ryan declined to disclose the terms of the sale. It still needs to be approved by Major League Baseball as well as Minor League Baseball and isn’t expected to be finalized until the fall.
The Hooks are currently a farm team of the Astros; that obviously won’t change.
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