ASTRONOMY

A scientific look at how Luhnow built the Astros into best team in baseball

When Jim Crane took over as the Astros’ owner after the 2011 season, he hired Jeff Luhnow as general manager a month later. On Luhnow’s first day, the Astros made a minor acquisition, trading minor leaguer Marco Duarte for Marwin Gonzalez.

As it turns out, that trade was a harbinger for Luhnow’s future with the Astros.

Since that deal, Luhnow has made several moves that seemed minor at the time but ended up helping create the team with the best record in baseball as it heads into a weekend series against the Texas Rangers.

It’s easy to say the Astros’ current success is due to a rebuilding process that included three straight 100-plus loss seasons. Those wretched seasons certainly helped land the likes of shortstop Carlos Correa and third baseman Alex Bregman, but there’s been plenty of shrewd moves besides those draft picks.

Jose Altuve is the only current Astros player on the roster who was in the big leagues when Crane and Luhnow took over. Dallas Keuchel, George Springer and Reymin Guduan were in the team’s minor league system, but Luhnow has had to piece together the rest of the roster with his own moves.

Luhnow occasionally has swung and missed — drafting Mark Appel No. 1 overall in 2013 instead of the Cubs’ Kris Bryant and trading away some promising prospects for Carlos Gomez and Mike Fiers are his most glaring errors — but his batting average on acquisitions is well above average so far.

Below is a step-by-step look at the shrewd moves that have turned the Astros from cellar-dwellers into the best team in baseball.

Michael Ciaglo / Houston Chronicle JUNE 8, 2015 Bringing in Bregman After taking pitcher Brady Aiken No. 1 overall in the 2014 draft, the Astros opted not to sign him after they became concerned about his health. That turned out to be huge. Since they couldn’t reach a deal with Aiken,...

Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle JULY 31, 2014 Going big Despite Jarred Cosart appearing to have a promising future, the Astros packaged him and Kike Hernandez and shipped them to the Marlins for Jake Marisnick, Colin Moran, Francis Martes and a supplemental draft pick that turned...

Jon Shapley / Houston Chronicle JUNE 4, 2012 Draft boon A 106-loss season the year before Crane and Luhnow took over gave the Astros the No. 1 pick, which they used on Carlos Correa, who many had ranked below Byron Buxton – taken by the Twins with the No. 2 pick. Buxton has played...

Eric Christian Smith / AP DEC. 12, 2015 Trading more prospects The Astros needed back-end bullpen help, so they gave up a load of prospects to the Phillies including former No. 1 overall pick Mark Appel and hot pitching prospect Vince Velasquez to acquire closer Ken Giles....

Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle JAN. 14, 2015 Getting Gattis The Astros traded a package of prospects — including pitcher Mike Foltynewicz and third baseman Rio Ruiz — for Evan Gattis and reliever James Hoyt. Foltynewicz and Ruiz are both in the big leagues with the Braves but...

Hannah Foslien / Getty Images NOV. 3 AND NOV. 16, 2016 Sneaky signings The Astros didn’t draw much fanfare when they selected Nori Aoki off waivers from the Mariners and signed Charlie Morton to a two-year, $14 million deal, but both signings have worked out so far. Aoki starts...

Elsa / Getty Images NOV. 17, 2016 Upgrading at catcher One of the Astros’ biggest holes the last few seasons was offensive production at catcher. The Astros filled that by letting Jason Castro walk and trading a couple of young pitching prospects to the Yankees for Brian...

Jim Mone / AP DEC. 8, 2011 Hello, Marwin On Jeff Luhnow’s first official day, the Astros traded minor league pitcher Marco Duarte to the Red Sox for Marwin Gonzalez. Duarte never made it higher than Class AA and is out of baseball. Gonzalez is having an...

Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle DEC. 8, 2013 Starter off the trash heap The Rockies released Collin McHugh after he had a 9.95 ERA in four appearances during the 2013 season. The Astros picked him up for nothing that offseason and made him into the team’s No. 3 or 4 starter.

Brian Blanco / Getty Images FEB. 4, 2013 Added another starter Traded infielder Jed Lowrie and pitcher Fernando Rodriguez to Oakland for Brad Peacock. The Astros also got Chris Carter and Max Stassi in that deal, but Peacock is pitching valuable innings this season.

Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle NOV. 3, 2014 Will Harris in the bargain bin After three middling seasons with the Rockies and the Diamondbacks, Will Harris was waived and ended up with the Astros. He has been one of the team’s best relievers ever since.

Victor Decolongon / Getty Images JULY 21, 2012 Key player to be named later Traded closer Brett Myers to the White Sox for a couple of minor leaguers and a player to be named later — that player ended up being key reliever Chris Devenski.

Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle MAY 1, 2014 Lefty reliever for nothing The Padres gave up on Tony Sipp in the middle of the 2014 season, so the Astros signed him. He was extremely valuable on the 2015 playoff team and has looked better this season after a rough 2016.

Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle JULY 16, 2016 Opening up the pocketbook In a sign that the bargain basement days were behind them, the Astros won a bidding war for Cuban star Yuli Gurriel, signing him to a fiveyear, $47.5 million deal.

Elizabeth Conley / Houston Chronicle JULY 20, 2012 Landing Joe Musgrove Traded big league pitchers J.A. Happ, Brandon Lyon and David Carpenter to the Blue Jays for a minorleague haul that included current starting pitcher Joe Musgrove.

Karen Warren / Houston Chronicle NOV. 23 AND DEC. 5, 2016 Adding veterans The Astros added some solid bats and leaders in the clubhouse by signing veterans Carlos Beltran and Josh Reddick, who are both in the everyday lineup.