Fans of the Round Rock Express are enjoying their 12th season at the Dell Diamond. But for the first time since the team was founded in 2000, the Express is the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers.

I sat down with Express CEO Reid Ryan (yep, Nolan’s son) to talk about making the switch from being the top farm team of the Houston Astros to that of the defending American League Champions.

Mitchell: Switching parent clubs isn’t uncommon for minor-league franchises, but what made 2011 the right time to do that?

Ryan: I think we always knew we’d either be with the Rangers or the Astros. With Nolan being in Arlington, the Rangers’ farm system being so good [and] the excitement of the World Series appearance, it makes all the sense in the world [to make the switch]. It’s going to give our fans a better product because we’ll control what happens on the field from top to bottom. That’s the one thing we’ve always done: Take care of the fans’ best interests.

Mitchell: But that’s not to say there wasn’t some blowback from Astros fans, right?

Ryan: Without a doubt. There are people who are big-time Astros fans, and I’m a big-time Astros fan. We’re glad the Astros took over the Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City (essentially trading places with the Rangers), so we stayed in the same division. A good chunk of our home games this season (eight of them) will be against them. We’re two-and-a-half hours from Houston, we’re two-and-a-half hours from the Metroplex and people kind of pick their teams and are loyal to them, so that’s what makes it fun.

Mitchell: Now that your dad is CEO of the Rangers, do you get the feeling that he’s been looking over your shoulder basically your whole life?

Ryan: [Laughing] Not at all. In fact, I take pride in the fact that I kind of got him back in the game when I suggested he take a player development role with the Astros. His success in helping them get to the World Series in 2005 kind of got his taste buds going a little bit for the management side of baseball.

Mitchell: Has he ever come to you for advice?

Ryan: It’s a father-son thing that I don’t think a father ever comes to his son and says, “Help me out.” But he’s come to me indirectly at times, and I’ll be honest: I give him all the free advice he can handle.

Mitchell: How important was it to shake things up by moving to the Rangers, and was it necessary to breathe some new energy into this franchise?

Ryan: It’s not something that we had to do, but it couldn’t have come at a better time. If you’re the New York Yankees or the Dallas Cowboys, and you’re an icon, you don’t have to shake things up like this every so often. But in our position, unfortunately, we had four straight losing seasons on the field. Our relationship with the Astros had defined us in a lot of ways, and this was our chance to hit the “reset” button; let everybody know we’re affiliated with the Rangers now, [and] it’s a new game; and really get people excited.

Mitchell: Let’s take that a bit further, since you mentioned the disappointing records the Express has posted over the last several seasons. How much better do you expect to be on the field this summer, and how important is that from a fan perspective?

Ryan: We’ve always said this market has very knowledgeable baseball fans. People here know the game, appreciate the game, so the game is always central to our success. And even though Minor League Baseball is fun, and there are fireworks and “Used Car Night” and those kinds of things, it’s the baseball that brings people here. And the baseball here over the last couple of years hasn’t been the quality that it was in the early 2000s. So really, this whole “refresh,” re-branding, new-look effort is to make sure people know this organization as a place that develops talent.

Mitchell: But there’ll still be fireworks, right? And “Used Car Night”?

Ryan: Whether it’s Double-A, Triple-A or the Major Leagues, it’s all the same thing. This is a people business, and it’s about families, kids, companies investing not only their time, but their money to be a part of our organization. So you have to give people a good value, you have to give them a good product and at the end of the day realize that without the fans, none of us have jobs.

Matt Mitchell is a sports reporter for KVUE Sports. For more information, contact him at mmitchell@kvue.com.