Luhnow has eye on waiver wire for possible trades

PHILADELPHIA -- Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow is keeping a close eye on the waiver wire these days, and won't rule out any further trades. The Astros traded left-hander Wesley Wright to the Rays last August in exchange for cash considerations after he was claimed off waivers.

Now that the non-waiver Trade Deadline has passed, deals involving players on the 40-man roster cannot be made unless the players already have cleared waivers. In other words, the player must be offered to the other teams in reverse order of the standings, and if he is claimed by one of those teams, he cannot be traded. The club that placed the player on waivers can either withdraw the request and keep the player, or trade the player go to the claiming team, which would then have the rights to the player.

Teams will often put many, if not all, of their players on waivers to gauge which teams might be interested in a trade, and the Astros are no different.

"We're always looking at every player that's put on waivers and will make a determination whether or not it's worth us making a claim based on how realistic it really is and whether or not we have a spot or a budget to absorb that player," Luhnow said. "We're going to continue to do that, and I expect if we put our guys on waivers, most of them will get claimed because they're young and affordable, but we're not looking to do anything.

"You go through the process anyway because you never know. Last year, we ended up moving Wesley through that, but we don't anticipate anything this year."