Astros to use savings from Lowrie trade on pitching

Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow trimmed his 2016 payroll by $7.5 million when he shipped Jed Lowrie to the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday, affording him some extra cash that could be used to improve his club's pitching staff.

"Given that we had a lot of options at third and first, we (thought we) could take those resources and apply them to an area of our club we didn't have as much depth (or where we) don't have anybody penciled into that spot right now," Luhnow told Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. "Whether it's left-handed relief, right-handed relief or even a starter, those resources will be reallocated to something we believe will help."

Though the Astros fielded one of the American League's strongest rotations in in 2015, Luhnow expressed his desire earlier this offseason to add a "proven veteran pitcher" to the starting corps.

Luhnow remains similarly determined to improve his bullpen too, as teams involved in trade discussions with the Astros said they're "hell-bent" on adding a closer, according to ESPN's Jayson Stark. Earlier this week, Luhnow admitted a right-hander with plus-plus velocity was "the one look we were missing" out of the bullpen in 2015.

Still, whether he decides to augment his staff through free agency or a trade, Luhnow doesn't appear to be under any serious financial constraints. The club's tentative 2016 payroll is poised to be their highest since 2010 - including projected arbitration raises, they're already at $81.5 million - but Luhnow isn't working with a concrete budgetary goal in mind.

"I don't know because we're not operating really towards a number," Luhnow said. "Obviously, I know I'm not going to spend $150, $200 million. But I'm not necessarily trying to hit a number. I'm trying to put together a team. I know it's going to be in some range, but I'm focused way more on putting together a team that works for us rather than hitting a number."