Last week at the Winter Meetings, Astros fans waited for Jeff Luhnow to make a seemingly inevitable move for a top of the rotation starter to go with the established veteran bats acquired over the last few weeks. So while Boston traded their top two prospects for Chris Sale, Luhnow signed a couple of left-handed relievers and...didn’t do anything else.
The Astros’ interest in White Sox left Jose Quintana wasn’t as much a rumor as it was known flirtation. Wanting a starter to go with the veteran bats added to supplement a young core of players 27 and younger, the Astros turned to Quintana, a natural fit for the rotation.