Astros End of the Year Press Conference with Luhnow and Hinch

The Houston Astros season had its ups and downs, but there were more ups than there were downs with 84 wins.

Yes, the Astros finished six games above .500, but this was a team built to go to the World Series. During a press conference between General Manager Jeff Luhnow and Manager A.J. Hinch, Hinch said that this was a team designed to win more than 84 games. Any quotes from this post are via Jordan Ray.

Coaching Staff.

On last night’s Talking Stros, we discussed whether or not the coaching staff would remain intact. Our conclusion was that Hinch was not going anywhere, but we could use a change of direction with the hitting coach. While Jose Altuve had his best year in 2016, Carlos Gomez could not hit while with the Astros.

Today, Luhnow squashed that notion of a new hitting coach saying that the entire coaching staff will be returning in 2017. The players are supposed to be professionals who need little day-to-day instructions, but they need a coach to help get out of a slump.

There have been too many players who haven’t thrived under David Hudgens after he became the coach in October of 2014. I’ll agree to disagree there.

Shopping List.

Also of note is Luhnow’s offseason shopping list. Regarding hitters, he mentioned that he would be looking at free agent first baseman, catchers, and outfielders. We discussed this as well on Talking Stros last night. They could use a left fielder who bats left-handed. One person who most likely will not be returning is Colby Rasmus.

“Not sure how or if he (Rasmus) fits into our plans at this point.” This was a quote via Jordan Ray from Luhnow when asked about Mr. Colby Jack. I think all of Houston knows that his time has gone, but you have to remember that Luhnow and Rasmus have a history. For him to say that is a big statement.

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When asked about the trade deadline, had he known that Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers would have been done for the year, he would have done things differently. While he didn’t go into any details, maybe he would have gone harder after Chris Archer or Chris Sale. Luhnow also said that he expects that Keuchel will have a Corey Kluber like bounceback year in 2017.

While he would like to add another top of the rotation pitcher, Luhnow felt like they are not easy to acquire. However, Luhnow said that there are more quality free-agents in the 2017 class than most people realize. This has been a topic on Talking Stros often this year. There may be some top players out there, but how many of them will come to Houston?

Next: Astros: Reflection of the 2016 Season

***More later…All quotes from Jeff Luhnow and A.J. Hinch via Jordan Ray***