WORCESTER, Mass. - Diamond Baseball Holdings will be the new majority owner of the Worcester Red Sox, the team announced Tuesday.

The sale was approved by Major League Baseball Tuesday afternoon and the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The team will continue to play at Polar Park under the new ownership.

Diamond Baseball Holdings now owns 27 minor league baseball teams, including two other Boston Red Sox affiliates – the double-A Portland Sea Dogs and the single-A Salem Red Sox.

“They have a pretty strong track record of owning minor league baseball teams that are really invested in the community, local value oriented and focused on the fan experience, which I think aligns really well with how we do things in the WooSox,” said general manager Dan Rea.

Last month, the WooSox confirmed principal owner Larry Lucchino was open to selling the team. However, Lucchino is not selling any of his shares in the deal, and will transition from being the majority owner to a minority owner.

Ralph Crowley and Jim Skeffington, Jr. will also retain their shares in the team. The remaining members of the WooSox ownership group are being bought out by Diamond Baseball Holdings.

The team's front office leadership will all retain their current titles - Lucchino as chairman, Charles Steinberg as president and Rea as general manager.

"Larry is the one who keeps us to a really high standard," Rea said. "He's always asking the best of himself and others around him. So to have him remaining in the group with his local knowledge and presence, along with Ralph Crowley, who is Mr. Worcester himself, and then Jim Skeffington, J.r, whose father put the group together with Larry eight years ago, to have that local element of those three gentlemen, along with now the baseball playbook and resources, I think is a tremendous combination for Worcester and Worcester baseball fans."

The partners who sold their take in the team had been involved since the team's days in Pawtucket. The WooSox are now thanking them for their years with the organization.

"That group of 11 people/entities has supported us, has allowed this whole story to play out," Rea said. "So, you know, going back to what I said earlier about gratitude, and that's really an emotion today, knowing that, you know, we have this really great group of business people who have helped us, supported us, been there, and I think brought us to this really historic point today."