During the offseason that followed the 2017 season, Jeff Luhnow met with his baseball operations staff and pro scouts. The meeting's agenda was simple: Identify players the Astros could acquire to improve their roster.
Luhnow's team had just won the World Series, but it was clear the bullpen needed an upgrade and it started with the closer. Ken Giles allowed runs in all but one of his seven postseason appearances. He blew the save in game two of the World Series and entered game four with the score tied at 1 in the ninth inning. All three batters he faced reached base and would score after Joe Musgrove replaced him on the mound. Giles didn't appear in the World Series again.
The Astros needed a new closer and the scouts in the room had one name at the top of their list: Roberto Osuna.
"We pounded the table for him," a former Astros scout recounted to SportsRadio 610.
Osuna was an American League All Star in 2017 at just 22 years old. His 3.38 ERA was a little high, but his peripheral numbers told a different story. He finished the season with a 9.2 strikeout/walk ratio and his FIP was a miniscule 1.75.
More importantly, as a 20-year-old, he earned a five-out save in game five of the American League Division Series, and in seven games of the Blue Jays 2016 playoff run, Osuna didn't allow a single run or walk a single batter over nine innings. He allowed just four hits and struck out 10.
"The baseball operations people didn't like him, so that was that," said the scout, who left the Astros more than two years ago.
On May 8, 2018, Osuna was placed on administrative leave by Major League Baseball after he was arrested and charged with assaulting the mother of his three-year-old son. She refused to return to Toronto to testify against Osuna, so the charges were eventually dropped, but Major League Baseball suspended him for 75 games.
Giles was re-inserted as the Astros closer in 2018, but struggled mightily, culminating in a July 10 blowup against the Oakland A's where he couldn't record an out and yelled an expletive at Astros manager A.J. Hinch on his way off the mound, which prompted a demotion to AAA Round Rock.
The Astros needed a closer, and 20 days following Giles' blowup they got one: Osuna.
While Osuna was still serving the suspension for his domestic violence arrest, Luhnow poached him from Toronto for Giles, David Paulino and Hector Perez.
On paper it was a great trade trade. The Astros were getting an all-star caliber closer with three years of club control for pennies on the dollar.
But in reality, the trade was gross. Why would a team of this caliber introduce someone like Osuna into their mix, especially when you consider Luhnow balked at the idea before Osuna's legal troubles. The answer was simple: It cost them nothing.
Making matters worse, in a statement released after the announcement of the deal, the Astros GM said Osuna "will fully comply with our zero-tolerance policy related to abuse of any kind," basically saying what he did before he did in Toronto doesn't matter.
For the most part, Osuna pitched well for the Astros and handled himself the right way, but the team remained defensive about the criticism handed to them for acquiring him in the first place.
That came to a head when assistant general manager Brandon Taubman defended the trade in an expletive filled tirade directed at female reporters in the clubhouse during the Astros ALCS winning celebration. Taubman lied about the incident and was eventually fired during the World Series.
Luhnow met the same fate in January after the findings of Major League Baseball's investigation into the Astros sign-stealing scheme was released.
With Luhnow gone and after an elbow injury forced him to miss all but four games in 2020, the Astros waived Osuna last week. He elected to become a free agent once 29 other teams declined to claim him, and it appears his Astros career is over.
Jeff Luhnow did a lot of good things over his eight years in charge of Astros baseball operations, but he also made a lot of mistakes. Trading for Roberto Osuna was one of his biggest.
