Jed Lowrie drawing interest at the Winter Meetings

Funny how things tend to work out in life sometimes. At this time last season the Astros were working on acquiring a shortstop to replace Clint Barmes and soon after would get their guy. Jed Lowrie would be Jeff Luhnow’s first major acquisition as the Stros GM and it was a nice one. Lowrie would run into more injury problems in 2012 but when healthy he would prove to be an offensive spark not seen at the shortstop position since Dickie Thon. Now, Luhnow in an effort to bring in more talent to the Stros organization has heard offers for his prized acquisition from last offseason.

Jed Lowrie: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

All that said, Jeff Luhnow continues to tell teams he isn’t going to come cheap and it’s likely he isn’t getting moved. Maybe that’s the truth and Luhnow has valued him at a much higher level than most people assumed. To the Stros, Lowrie is very important in their world although the argument could be made, how important is Lowrie to a 100 loss team? That said, Luhnow’s approach reeks of value building and possibly creating a bidding war. Lowrie had rumors swirl around him last season before getting hurt, which in turn is why Lowrie isn’t a top target right now. The same reason that allowed the Stros to acquire his caliber of hitter, will be reason that teams won’t be eager to part with their best assets but the Astros should still be able to acquire plenty of value.

Whether Jed is the first Astros domino to fall is still to be seen and while I do think he will be dealt, the price set by Jeff Luhnow will be steep. This situation might not be resolved until much later on but the seeds have been planted. Given Marwin Gonzalez‘ development and Tyler Greene‘s power stroke, the Stros have options. The real question is whether teams will be able to meet his demands or will Luhnow simply hold on to the shortstop until the time is right?