Jeff Luhnow will feel out potential trade partners at this week’s GM meetings.

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow will be among the contingent at Monday morning’s groundbreaking for the Astros’ and Nationals’ spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Fla., along with owner Jim Crane and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred.

Afterward, Luhnow will go to nearby Boca Raton for the start of the annual general managers’ meetings. He’ll have three lieutenants in tow: director of player personnel Quinton McCracken, director of pro scouting Kevin Goldstein, and director of baseball operations Brandon Taubman.

The GM meetings, which run from Monday to Thursday, have become a de facto kickoff to the offseason and a precursor to the winter meetings, to be held in Nashville, Tenn., roughly a month later.

“Really good opportunity to face-to-face interact with the other guys and find out where they are, how quickly they’re going to move, what their goals are, etc.” Luhnow said. “We’ve done a lot of that over the phone anyway in preparation … but it really accelerates it once you get a chance to talk to the person. Whether it’s at the table eating shrimp or having a cocktail or whatever, you get a lot more real information, find out how serious they are about interest in some of your players or whether or not they’re going to trade one of their guys. A lot of feeling out.”

Such a sense is particularly important for the Astros, who could move in several directions this winter. In particular, it could influence how they handle Chris Carter and first base in general. What’s the level of demand for first basemen? Last winter, even though Carter was coming off a 37-homer season in 2014, trade interest in him wasn’t high.

The GM meetings are not reserved for executives. Most player agents make the trip, particularly those with free-agent clients.

“They kind of tell you their lists, and you sort of tell them which guys you might be interested in on their list and start to talk about some rough parameters,” Luhnow said. “You do start to get some early indication for the market for the different players, albeit from the agent perspective.

“So just a lot of touching base and feeling out. End of the meetings, you come out with a prioritized list: ‘These are the five clubs we potentially match up on a deal (with); let’s get serious about working with them. These are the seven or eight free agents that we think are a best fit for us; let’s start to think about offers and that sort of thing.’ Just a lot of information gathering.”

The Astros are unlikely to make a move during the GM meetings.

“Very rarely (does that happen),” Luhnow said. “But I think the groundwork gets laid for conversations that ultimately lead to deals.”