The 2012 MLB Winter Meetings have already resulted in some major structural changes in both the American and National Leagues. Earlier today, the MLB unanimously approved the sale of the Houston Astros to Jim Crane, thereby moving the Astros from the NL Central to the AL West.
The move causes a couple of changes. First of all, it changes the NL Central from six teams to five, and the AL West from four teams to five:
The byproduct of this move, however, is that both the NL and the AL will have 15 total teams, meaning there will need to be interleague play every day, all season long. Commissioner Bud Selig confirmed this, saying: "We'll have interleague play from Opening Day on."
In addition to the Astros move, the MLB announced they will add a second Wild Card team in both leagues, as well as a one-game playoff for the Wild Card teams.
The Colorado Rockies, who finished below .500 last year, have won the NL Wild Card twice in the past five seasons. With the changes to interleague schedules, the Rockies may look to keep a DH-type on their bench for the duration of the season.
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