any update on this? in todays day and age, it's just unbelievable that only 40% of Houston can see the Astros.

**yes yes I know, who would want to watch that team blah blah blah**

i'm in dfw, and for years I could watch them on the Fox Sports Southwest "Alternate" channel on DirecTV (Rangers are on regular channel). guess if they can't even watch them in Houston, not likely I can in DFW on DirecTV.

to recap Crane's introduction: take them out of the NL, dump the radio announcers, dump the "talent", then get them taken off TV. stellar! I'm aware there are some positive things happening (farm system etc), I just find that chain of events funny.

Thought I read somewhere that MLB may step in and work with the astros to be distributed more widely. Id gladly pay the 20 bucks a month or whatever is to be able to watch them outside of houston.

From everything I've read its still in limbo as it sits in bankruptcy court. The Astros want their rights back but Comcast is not giving them back for obvious reasons.

There's nothing MLB can do at this point as the Astros legally assigned their rights to the Comcast deal. MLB can't just step in and take them back.

It'll have to get worked out through the courts at this point and even then there's a chance CSN is just restructured and the rights still remain with CSN so no one can watch them still.

There's was a closed session on Friday but no reports about what was discussed.

I'm sure nothing will change for at least a month at the earliest.

Your take on Crane's entrance is severely flawed.

A) Taking the team to the AL was a stipulation by the league in approving him as an owner. They weren't letting it happen without that.
B) Who really cares about radio announcers
C) Did you really think they should have held on to what talent they had knowing they weren't going to be competitive? Everyone agrees thayt getting what you could for those guys before they bolted was the way to do it.
D) The TV deal was already in place when he bought the team and can be put solely on Drayton. Crane had no hand in putting that together.

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Your take on Crane's entrance is severely flawed.

A) Taking the team to the AL was a stipulation by the league in approving him as an owner. They weren't letting it happen without that.
B) Who really cares about radio announcers
C) Did you really think they should have held on to what talent they had knowing they weren't going to be competitive? Everyone agrees thayt getting what you could for those guys before they bolted was the way to do it.
D) The TV deal was already in place when he bought the team and can be put solely on Drayton. Crane had no hand in putting that together.

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Don't you dare bring logic into this!

Mlb rejected their request for a blackout waiver. No Astros on extra innings or mlb.tv in Texas

I'm more mad a MLB over the situation with the Astros than I am at Crane. Either way it will be a long time before the MLB or the Astro's get a dime from me.

Crane fell victim to the old adage about "wanting something so bad" that he didn't do proper due diligence and discover/realize how dire the astros' situation was on many levels both on the field and off

I would agree with that, W. Crane didn't know just how bad that deal was. He should have, but he didn't. Add that into being railroaded into moving the team to the AL/Rangers recent success and it's resulted in a giant erosion of the fanbase.

McLane had made so many bad decisions with this franchise, which is why we had such a big hole to dig out of. The TV deal is just one of many things he left as a giant middle finger to the fans of this city. I didn't think it would happen for anyone, but I hate him more than I hated Bud Adams for destroying this franchise.

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take them out of the NL

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This is not Crane's fault. The dude wanted to own an MLB team really badly. He missed out on the Rangers during their ownership change. He had tried to acquire the Astros previously. Sometimes to get your foot in the door, you have to do some things you don't want to do. The MLB extorted Crane in a roundabout way. I don't blame Crane one bit. MLB teams don't come for sale very often.

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dump the radio announcers

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This doesn't matter as much as you may think. Give Ford and Sparks a chance. Robert Ford is a great great play by play guy. He's also very active on twitter.

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dump the "talent"

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If you thought that he needed to "keep" the talent, then you don't follow baseball very much. I would almost blame this on Drayton more than him. The Astros needed to rebuild in 2008, but Drayton kept signing just enough free agents to keep the team "competitive." Drayton continued to pimp the team as champions! All he was doing was putting a new paint job and redoing the interior on a car that was a about to throw a rod or blow out the transmission. Drayton is the savvy business man that got us into this situation.

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then get them taken off TV

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Yeah you're right. Jim Crane is the one that negotiated this current TV deal we are in. APRIL FOOLS. This was once again our good old friend Drayton. He rushed the TV deal through without securing being carried on any of the major providers so that he could run up his asking price even more. I doubt he let Jim Crane have a whole lot of the details of this transaction during the buying process.

We also can't blame Jim Crane for trying to get the price that many of the other teams have recently gotten. The major providers have just decided to "take a stand" against the Astros since they are at an all-time low. They are trying to break the ridiculous sports network price bubble.

By the way, this sports bubble is all being caused by online streaming and people cutting the cord. The main thing that cord cutters sacrifice is live sports. I know because I am currently in the process. This is why regional sports networks have been able to get teams major major money.

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stellar! I'm aware there are some positive things happening (farm system etc)

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The farm is finally starting to yield some fruit and from this year forward there will be wave after wave of young players filling out our roster.

The current Astros ownership is trying to add the RIGHT talent also. They made a serious run at Tanaka. http://blog.chron.com/ultimateastros/2014/03/31/tanaka-seriously-considered-houstons-offer-before-signing-with-new-york/ and Abreu.





Oh and if you want to know how to watch the Astros with mlb.tv in the blackout zone, please PM me or leave your email and I'll let you know.

[This message has been edited by TexAgBolter (edited 4/1/2014 2:27p).]

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Either way it will be a long time before the MLB or the Astro's get a dime from me.

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You are going to miss out on some fun baseball then, as by the end of the year we will have a lot of the young guys up.

Crane paid Draytie $150M for a worthless 47% stake in a network that didn't even pay it's primary owner their rights fees in the very first season.

Draytie paid $150M to Baylor and got his name on a football stadium.

[This message has been edited by JJxvi (edited 4/1/2014 4:36p).]

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Crane paid Draytie $150M for a worthless 47% stake in a network that didn't even pay it's primary owner their rights fees in the very first season.

Draytie paid $150M to Baylor and got his name on a football stadium.

[This message has been edited by JJxvi (edited 4/1/2014 4:36p).]

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That's exactly right. Eff Drayton.

why the **** is the 790 internet stream not doing the game! or am i a moron??

MLB rules?

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Crane fell victim to the old adage about "wanting something so bad" that he didn't do proper due diligence and discover/realize how dire the astros' situation was on many levels both on the field and off

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Or Crane knew exactly what he was getting in a backroom deal that no one else really understands due to confidentiality.

He bought the team in the nation's 4th biggest city. Perhaps not the 4th biggest market, but he got the team in Houston. That says something.

He didn't buy them for an immediate gain. That I guarantee.

Mlb doesn't allow internet streams of live games.

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You are going to miss out on some fun baseball then, as by the end of the year we will have a lot of the young guys up.

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Maybe, but since there is no way for me to watch games except drive from College Station to Houston it really doesn't matter. I'll be happy to go out to Aggie baseball games and catch the Rangers on TV.

Crane is an idiot, but seeing as he's an Obama supporter I'm not surprised. As long as he keeps his mouth shut and leaves the running of the team to the baseball experts he's hired, they'll be fine. I'm still hoping they bring their AAA team to the Woodlands/Conroe.

That is the plan since he purchased Camp Strake.

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You are going to miss out on some fun baseball then, as by the end of the year we will have a lot of the young guys up.

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Maybe, but since there is no way for me to watch games except drive from College Station to Houston it really doesn't matter. I'll be happy to go out to Aggie baseball games and catch the Rangers on TV.

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So, what you're saying then is your not really an Astros fan.

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I'm still hoping they bring their AAA team to the Woodlands/Conroe.

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Im not sure, but someone told me that theres a rule that makes that impossible. Supposedly its too close to houston?

Hey OP, read this article. It might help you learn a thing or two. After all, you do live in Dallas.

http://grantland.com/features/hoarding-prospects-being-horrible-houston-astros/

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Im not sure, but someone told me that theres a rule that makes that impossible. Supposedly its too close to houston?

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From what I know of minor league baseball, there's nothing to keep that from happening if the Astros will allow it.

Drayton didn't want the Sugar Land team to be a minor league team. That was within his power to do so. But I'm fairly certain that the restrictions lie solely with the major league club.

A few examples of where major-minor league teams are located in close proximity.

Seattle Mariners - Tacoma Mariners (AAA)
Texas Rangers - Frisco Roughriders (AA)
LA Dodgers - Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (A)
Washington Nationals - Potomac Nationals (A) in Woodbridge, VA

Not a ton of them, but there's a few.

Personally I can't imagine that Nolan is going to want to disaffiliate his Express or the Hooks with the Astros. So any move to the Woodlands is going to have to wait until after he finally retires from the Astros (again).

The Express are affiliated with the Rangers.

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The Express are affiliated with the Rangers.

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I'm in Round Rock and I've heard from some Express people that they are switching back to an Astros affiliate. Not sure if its after this season or next.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/nolan-ryans-return-to-houston-astros-may-impact-triple-a-round-rock?ymd=20140213&content_id=67747586&vkey=news_mlb

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That is the plan since he purchased Camp Strake.

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FYI, Jim Crane DID NOT buy Camp Strake.

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The Express are affiliated with the Rangers.

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I'm in Round Rock and I've heard from some Express people that they are switching back to an Astros affiliate. Not sure if its after this season or next.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/nolan-ryans-return-to-houston-astros-may-impact-triple-a-round-rock?ymd=20140213&content_id=67747586&vkey=news_mlb

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It's gonna happen. /linkxmalon



With both Ryans in the Front Office, it will happen soon enough.

I wish the Skeeters could be the low A ball team for the Astros.

Yeah, sorry, I forgot that the Rangers/Astros Round Rock/OKC re-swap hadn't actually happened yet. You can guarantee that it will, though.

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I wish the Skeeters could be the low A ball team for the Astros.

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The problem with that is that there aren't any other Low-A teams around here.

It was not in draytons power to make the skeeters an affiliate. At least not one that mattered.

If an existing tens had moved there, it would be different. But he could not just declare sugar land would be the AA or AAA affiliate and make them take the place of another team.

http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Sugar-Land-buzzing-about-Skeeters-3510871.php

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Sugar Land officials had hoped to attract one of the Astros' minor league affiliates with the new stadium, just as the Dallas suburb of Frisco lured a farm club of the nearby Texas Rangers in 2003. Former Astros owner Drayton McLane, however, rejected the idea, saying a team so close to Minute Maid Park would hurt his attendance.

With McLane's legal right to block any major league club from entering his market with a minor league affiliate, Sugar Land had to go with an independent team.

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The group putting together the team and stadium in Sugar Land would have had to go out and purchase another minor league team and move them to Sugar Land. For example, buy the Zephyrs, and move them from New Orleans to Sugar Land and rebrand them. Which happens all the time in minor league baseball.

Which is exactly what I said.