Astros shocked they landed Greinke – GM

Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow said he is surprised the MLB franchise acquired Zack Greinke from the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Houston, who had been pursuing a starter for almost all of July, missed out on most of their reported targets but landed Greinke in a deal with the Diamondbacks just before Wednesday's deadline.

The deal to acquire the six-time all-Star and 2009 American League Cy Young Award winner shocked Luhnow, who said: "I can't believe we just added Zack Greinke to this rotation and this team, was probably my first thought.

"I wasn't sure it was going to happen. Throughout the afternoon there were times I thought it was dead and times I thought it was 50/50. At no point did I think it was over 50/50.

"When it all came together we just looked at each other in the room and said 'Is this really happening?' We just kind of had to pinch ourselves. Pretty amazing, pretty special moment."

Zack. Greinke. https://t.co/itdnCJP6sg pic.twitter.com/Beb5gLiFwS

— Houston Astros (@astros) July 31, 2019

Greinke holds a 10-4 record with a 2.87 ERA in 22 starts so far this season. The five-time Gold Glove winner is under contract through the 2021 season after signing a massive six-year, $206.5million deal with Arizona in December 2015.

The Diamondbacks will reportedly send $24m to Houston as part of the deal, covering a significant chunk of the approximately $73m remaining on the pitcher's contract.

"I think it's a reflection of [Astros owner] Jim Crane's commitment to winning and not just bringing one championship, but multiple championships to the city of Houston," Luhnow said. "We've put ourselves in a good position to that. Obviously, the players have to go out and perform, we have to have a little bit of luck. … But, we're in a really good spot right now."

With Zack Greinke, the @astros now have 3 of the top 5 MLB leaders in WHIP (Verlander 1st, Greinke 2nd, Cole 5th).The last time a team finished with 3 of the top 5 leaders in WHIP in a season was the 1925 Reds (Dolf Luque, Pete Donohue, Eppa Rixey).#TakeItBack

— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) July 31, 2019

Houston entered play Wednesday leading the American League West with a 69-39 record. However, the Astros lacked depth in their rotation behind Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and Wade Miley.

"You just don't know when you're going to assemble a group this talented again," Luhnow added. "So, you have to take advantage of it. … We are definitely going for it this year."

The Astros also added right-handers Aaron Sanchez and Joe Biagini in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Published 01 Aug 2019, 06:58 IST

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