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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It appears that when the Houston Astros officially come under new ownership, likely at next week's MLB owners' meeting, they will join a new league as well. \u00A0According to an Associated Press report quoted on the Houston Chronicle's Ultimate Astros blog:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Astros owner Drayton McLane, buyer Jim Crane and Major League Baseball have reached an agreement on shifting the franchise to the American League, the Associated Press reported on Friday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The move, if it happens, would reportedly take effect in 2013; spokespeople for all parties involved either declined comment or pled ignorance on the subject.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The move would balance out the two leagues and shrink the largest division in Major League Baseball, which would all likely pave the way for a move to two wildcard teams from each league.\nThe last team to change leagues was the Milwaukee Brewers, who made the opposite move (from American to National League) in 1998.&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/si-wire/2011/11/12/report-houston-astros-to-join-american-league>