There’s much ado about whether the roof at Minute Maid Park should/will be open or closed for the American League Division Series starting Saturday between the Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros.

Of course the decision will be made depending on the weather, but the forecast is for temperatures in the mid-70s with partly cloudy skies and no threat of rain. That’s ideal weather for baseball. Absolutely perfect. Even San Diego would be jealous.

Expect the roof to be closed.

It won’t be because Astros players prefer playing under a closed roof. They believe a closed roof is a big part of their home field advantage. Outfielders don’t have to worry about atmospheric vagaries to catch fly balls. A controlled environment gives an edge to the better team, and that’s the Astros most times. OK, maybe not this year when the Astros had a losing record at home. But still, given a choice, the Astros would rather be playing at home, under a roof, in front of their screaming fans.

During the regular season, Astros management calls the shots on whether the roof will be open or closed at Minute Maid Park. Almost always, the decision is to close the roof. You can count the number of times the roof was open this year on one hand.

For legit reasons. It does get toasty during summer in Houston. Over the years, the Astros have a higher winning percentage with the roof closed than open. It costs about $1,000 an hour to air condition Minute Maid Park, which was only slightly higher than my electric bill this summer.

It used to be that the Astros started night games with the roof open and closed the roof after the sun went down. That stopped in 2005.

But when the post-season rolls around, it’s the commissioner of baseball’s decision whether the roof will be open or closed. Last year, Game 2 of the American League Championship Series was played under the stars at Minute Maid Park, and Yankees manager Aaron Boone blamed the Yankees’ loss on the roof being open. Boone whined that an Aaron Judge fly ball would have been a home run if the roof had been closed, but wind kept the ball inside the park for Kyle Tucker to catch it.

After that, the roof was closed for all three games of the 2022 World Series at Minute Maid Park.

I’m betting the roof will be closed for Games 1 and 2 of the ALDS this weekend because Fox is broadcasting the games and Fox loves the great indoors. TV has a mighty voice in baseball decisions, especially during the playoffs when networks pay big bucks and they want no whammies.

In 2017, the Super Bowl was at NRG Stadium in Houston and Fox did the game. That day was about 66 balmy degrees for the New England Patriots’ comeback win in overtime over the Atlanta Falcons. The roof was closed.

In 2004, the Super Bowl was at NRG Stadium. The temperature was a cool, crisp 62 degrees for the New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers and Janet Jackson’s famous “wardrobe malfunction” at halftime. The roof was closed with CBS doing the game.

A Fox person told me that closing the roof on a sports stadium creates a controlled TV studio. The network doesn’t have to worry about drizzly weather, shadows or the sun dipping in and out from behind clouds. The entire field’s lighting is uniform. Sound technicians don’t have to worry about planes flying overhead or crowd noise evaporating into the open sky.

Unless the MLB commissioner offers divine intervention, expect Justin Verlander to deal with Twins batters under the Minute Maid Park roof.