The Round Rock Express will soon have a new affiliate after the Houston Astros announced the end of their 12-year partnership, according to a statement issued by the Round Rock Express President Chris Almendarez.

The news was posted to the Round Rock Express Twitter account Nov. 20 after a week of unconfirmed reports that the Astros were moving their AAA team from Round Rock. Almendarez thanked the Astros for their years of partnership as the club’s Triple-A affiliate.

#CantStopThisTrain https://t.co/MrYMhJ7EJU pic.twitter.com/42GF63etJL

— Round Rock Express (@RRExpress) November 20, 2020

The Astros tweeted that their new Triple-A franchise will be the Sugar Land Skeeters.

In the official RRE statement, Almendarez said Round Rock was the Astros’ affiliate from 2005 to 2010 and again from 2019 to 2020. During the 20th season in 2019, the Round Rock Express had a 84-56 record.

We're excited to announce that the @SL_Skeeters are joining the Astros organization and will become our new Triple A franchise.#ForTheH pic.twitter.com/VXjGdqYFP6

— Houston Astros (@astros) November 20, 2020

Negotiations are still underway between Major League Baseball and Minor League Baseball over the next few weeks. A new Round Rock affiliate is expected to be announced soon for the 2021 season at the Dell Diamond.