Astros GM Luhnow disappointed he couldn't close out trades

Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow wanted to make a big trade-deadline splash. It didn't happen, though, and the executive didn't hide his disappointment after the fact.

The Astros were rumored to be in pursuit of relievers Zach Britton and Justin Wilson, and starters Lance Lynn and Ervin Santana, but in the end, the club added only southpaw Francisco Liriano, from Toronto, who will pitch out of the bullpen.

"I'd be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed in not getting some of the moves done that we were working on," Luhnow said Monday post-deadline, according to the Houston Chronicle's Jake Kaplan. "We had some that were close to and almost over the finish line and at times I wouldn't put them at 90-percent plus that we were going to get them done. But there are a lot of dynamics that happen with these deals, and for reasons I can't really talk about they didn't happen.

"But I do believe that this team has what it takes to win in the postseason with the players we have. It doesn't mean we didn't try hard to improve those chances even just a little bit. Each little bit that you can improve your chances of winning in the postseason helps and we tried. Early in the trading season the cost was extremely high on all players. They did come down a little bit in certain areas to the point where we thought we had some deals done. And they were deals that we were excited about getting over the finish line. But they didn't happen and so we move on."

The Astros remain the class of the American League, with the West all but locked up already. It's clear, though, that Luhnow wanted to push his team over the top - much like the Los Angeles Dodgers did in the National League West.