If there were one argument that, if forced to defend, I know with 100 percent certainty which side I would want to be on it is this — Jeff Luhnow is the best general manager in the history of Houston sports. During his time as the general manager, he built the Houston Astros from dust into a World Series champion. He was so good that, even after being fired in 2020, the 2022 Astros, also a World Series winner, were largely comprised of Luhnow-acquired players.

Of course, Luhnow eventually was fired, in January 2020, not for performance, but for his role in the Astros’ sign stealing scandal of 2017 and 2018, which, if you choose to believe Luhnow, is the mere fact that it happened while he was in a leadership position, because Luhnow claims to have known nothing about it.

For purposes of what we are about to discuss, that’s neither here nor there. The book is closed, the Astros have moved on, as has Luhnow, who is enjoying his next successful career as the CEO for Blue Crow Sports, which owns several international soccer teams. If you’re looking for an interview where Luhnow discusses who things ended for him in Houston, Vanessa Richardson, then of KPRC Channel 2, did an excellent job with that a few years ago:
Aside from Richardson’s interview with Luhnow, he’s been virtually silent in discussing his time with the Astros. However, Luhnow popped up again this week, sitting down for an excellent, informative 51 minute conversation with Chandler Rome and Tyler Stafford on their Crush City podcast. The entire conversation is here, but I’ll give you the five things I found most interesting below:
Here we go, here are the five parts of the podcast that made me very happy that I listened to all 51 minutes of content:

5. Luhnow confirmed the rumor that he floated Jose Alltuve in a 2013 trade for Eric Hosmer
This was a story making the rounds a few weeks ago, when Hosmer himself revealed on his podcast that Luhnow and then Royals GM Dayton Moore discussed a straight up Altuve-for Hosmer deal back in 2013, well before the Astros became a title contender and well before Altuve morphed into the all around hitter that will walk into Cooperstown someday. Luhnow confirmed:

“We did have a conversation about it. It didn’t go very far. At the time I we weren’t looking to trade Jose Altuve. We were looking to acquire Eric Hosmer. Kansas City who was on the rise, and we tried everything. We didn’t have a lot of players that would bring you an Eric Hosmer. So, at the end of the day, we’re like, “Well, is he gonna trade him or not? Let’s just throw our best guy out there, our best young guy, and see if he’ll even react.” It was not an official trade offer. It was one of those, “Hey, would you consider it?” And it was a very short conversation, so it didn’t go anywhere. But, but also, you have to remember Jose at that time was not what Jose Altuve became. And obviously, we had a lot of confidence in him. we re-signed him to two extensions while I was there. He’s been the franchise player ever since.”

4. Bryce Harper to the Astros was a done deal in 2018, before Washington’s owners nixed it
Talent-wise, the 2018 Houston Astros were every bit as good as the team that won the World Series the year before. That 2018 version of the Astros won 103 games, but they lost in the ALCS to the eventual champion Red Sox. We can only wonder what may have happened if Washington ownership hadn’t nixed a trade of Bryce Harper to the Astros. Luhnow again confirmed that Harper was a done deal until it wasn’t:

“That deal, it was done. Players were agreed to, the only thing left was ownership approval and their ownership said “No,” even though they had kind of pre-cleared the deal. That was huge, and that would have changed a lot of stuff, for sure. Bryce Harper would have looked pretty good. That would have been nice. The day we thought we got [Harper], I called AJ [Hinch], and he’s like ‘Christmas in July, this is the most amazing thing I can even imagine.’”

3. Jim Crane had a LOT to do with the Zack Greinke trade in 2019
Luhnow was asked exactly how “hands on” owner Jim Crane was during Luhnow’s time as GM. Luhnow cited the Zack Greinke trade at the deadline in 2019 as an example of the most involved he saw Crane:

“The trade that [Crane] probably got most involved in, sort of emotionally, was the Greinke trade. We were we were on the fence about the Greinke trade. There were other options that we were considering, but Jim did seem to want that player on our team, and wanted the sort of sex appeal Greinke, and all of that. Would we have made the trade without Jim’s pushing us? I don’t know the answer to that, to be honest. I think he was definitely excited about it, and every time the trade would die, which trades die, uh, a lot, and that one died like four times in the 24 hours before we did it, Jim would say, ‘Well, what about if we took on a little more of his salary,’ and I’d say, ‘Well, in that case, yeah, sure, we’ll go we’ll make another run at it.’ So, that was one where he was he was involved.”

2. Luhnow regrets trading for Robert Osuna in 2018
Luhnow’s most controversial decision, without a doubt, was the 2018 trade for closer Roberto Osuna from the Blue Jays. When acquired, Osuna was finishing up serving a 75 game suspension for domestic violence. The trade did not sit well with many Astro fans, particularly female Astro fans, for obvious reasons. Luhnow said, if given the chance to go back, he’d have not made the trade:

“That’s probably one that falls into the category, if I had to do it all over again, would I do it? The answer is no …. I didn’t take into account, as much as I should have, the impact it would have on our fans, especially our female fans, and how they would feel. And that was a mistake. I did talk about it with female friends and family, but I probably should have spent a little more time thinking about it. But, yes, I made the decision to trade for him. I did not do it unilaterally. The talent checked the box for sure. There was nobody saying ‘Don’t do it,’ because if someone had said ‘Don’t do it,’ obviously. we wouldn’t have done it.”

1. Luhnow has received interest from a few MLB teams
Luhnow is an undeniably talented sports executive. If we’re an MLB owner, I would give serious thought to hiring him, especially if my team was in a rebuild mode. He is innovative, analytical, and always ahead of the curve. The sign stealing scandal happening on his watch is something Luhnow will have to live with, but he says teams have called:

“I’m not going to tell you who, but I’ve had two or three owners contact me and ask me if I was interested in either a role as GM, or another role, maybe where I’d oversee the the sporting operations. In all cases, I said ‘No,’ because at the time, I was raising money and starting my company. I don’t think I’m blackballed from baseball, like some people think. I know I would do a good job. I know that for a fact, but the reality is I’ve moved on. I’m very happy.” 

Again, the full interview is absolutely worth the listen, although there are certainly se a few junctures in the conversation that make you wonder if it would be more than just two World Series championships for the Astros, if Luhnow and A.J. Hinch had survived the fallout from the sign stealing scandal.

Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.