An Inside Look at Astros Offseason Through Luhnow’s Eyes

Luhnow on…Luis Valbuena and Dan Straily

April 5, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; Chicago Cubs third baseman Luis Valbuena (24) fields a ground ball in the seventh inning against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Luhnow said that “we had discussions with several teams about moving Fowler, we had no interest in moving Fowler, but as conversation continued and teams got more interested…it all started to crystallize that we could trade Fowler and improve a couple other positions.”

“we had no interested in moving Fowler, but as conversation continued and teams got more interested…it all started to crystallize that we could trade Fowler and improve ourselves in a couple other areas.”-Jeff Luhnow.

Luhnow said that he had already had conversations with Rasmus, but did not have a place on the team. When the interest in Fowler picked up when teams realized that their outfield was still not to their liking.

Because Luhnow knew that the Astros could get Colby Rasmus to sign by trading Fowler to free up the money, Luhnow felt like the two deals happened simultaneously. “We were able to turn Fowler plus some cash for into Colby Rasmus, Luis Valbuena, and Dan Straily.”

“We were able to turn Fowler plus some cash for into Colby Rasmus, Luis Valbuena, and Dan Straily.”-Jeff Luhnow.

Aug 16, 2014. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

Luhnow thinks that Astros fans should not sleep on Straily, “we asked for Dan Straily in the Jed Lowrie deal two years ago, and he was untouchable. We got Brad Peacock instead.” Straily ended up having a good season in 2013, but struggled in 2014 between Cubs and Athletics. “You don’t get guys (Straily) like that if they had another good year… looking at his stuff….he could win 10 games for us.”

“You don’t get guys (Straily) like that if they had another good year…, looking at his stuff….he could win 10 games for us.”-Jeff Luhnow.

Luhnow was able to get someone to compete with Matt Dominguez at third base. Luhnow was discussing how everyone is getting excited predicting all the home runs each player would hit, and he made an interesting comment. “Valbuena would hit 15 home runs and Dominguez would hit 15 home runs if they share that role.”

He was also able to get a candidate for the rotation with serious rebound potential with the instruction that the Astros coaches offer in Dan Straily.

By the way Jeff, I’m not sure if you are really reading this. But at Climbing Tal’s Hill we had a Let’s Trade Fowler to day, where the writers wrote about potential  trade offers. I actually though of Straily and Valbuena, just thought you would be prospect fishing.

Next: Luhnow on...Colby Rasmus