Reid Ryan’s tenure as president of the Astros began Friday, when Houston announced that the son of Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan would take over the role vacated by George Postolos ... Ryan, previously the president and CEO of Ryan-Sanders Baseball, had been running the Triple-A Round Rock Express (Rangers) and Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, both of which are owned by Nolan Ryan and Houston businessman Don Sanders, though the Astros also announced on Friday that they’ve reached an agreement to purchase the Corpus Christi club from Ryan-Sanders.
I think that last bit about the Astros buying one of Ryan’s minor league teams is most interesting. Makes one wonder if, once its affiliation with the Rangers has expired, the Astros will go back to being an Astros affiliate, as it was between 2005-10. Given the recent trend of big clubs moving their farm teams closer to home, this could be part of a larger effort of the Astros to try to grow the brand farther north. Meanwhile, the Rangers have done stuff like hold exhibition games in San Antonio.
So clearly we’re in for a Texas civil war soon.
