If there was a monarchy in Texas baseball, the Ryans would easily be its royal family.
Reid Ryan, the son of all-time strikeout king and Texas Rangers president and CEO Nolan Ryan, is set to be named president of the Houston Astros, according to an MLB.com report. Ryan serves on Minor League Baseball’s board of trustees, in addition to operating the Triple-A Round Rock Express and Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks. Both of those teams are owned by Nolan Ryan and Houston businessman Don Sanders.
According to the report, Reid Ryan will be introduced as Houston’s new president on Friday.
The move is just the latest in a house clearing of the front office in Houston. Since Jim Crane bought the team after the 2011 season, virtually the entire front office has turned over, with Crane notably bringing in a number of former Baseball Prospectus writers and new-age Sabermetric types.
During his time working in the minor leagues, Reid Ryan has had several successes. In addition to seeing attendance skyrocket for both the Express and Hooks, Ryan is credited with playing a large role in bringing professional baseball to Austin and West Texas. His first major challenge will be restoring the Astros to prominence on local television, as a dispute between CSN Houston and several cable providers has left about 60 percent of the market unable to watch the team on TV.
Photo via Twitter/@robertreidryan
