The betting sites are still trying to keep up with all of the changes happening with the Houston Astros. The Astros now have a new owner that seems to be dedicated to winning. But before MLB would approve the sale, the new owner had to agree to move the team to the AL in 2013. With that deal struck, the sale of the team to Jim Crane went through and Crane started to make some major changes.

The most significant change that Crane has made to date is to hire a new general manager. Crane has decided on former St. Louis Cardinals’ vice president of player procurement Jeff Luhnow., according to price per head sports sources. Luhnow was instrumental in putting together the Cardinals’ World Series team and is expected to make some significant changes to the Astros’ roster in the off-season.

The Toronto Blue Jays have started to appreciate the need for a bigger payroll and have announced that the team had raised its personal payroll cap for 2011 and will do so again in 2012. No exact figures have been released and the Blue Jays have not been major players in any of the free agency news so far this off-season. But the team says that it wants to start improving its roster and prepare to compete for a playoff spot in 2012. One move the Jays did make was to extend an arbitration offer to slugger Kelly Johnson for more than the $5.85 million that Johnson made in 2011 and reports are that Johnson has signed the deal.