By JOSH REESE & BEN DUBOSE

Editors

HOUSTON — The Astros posted a flurry of moves Thursday in advance of the 10:59 p.m. CT deadline for 40-man rosters, adding pitcher Vincent Velasquez, infielder Ronald Torreyes and pitcher Michael Feliz to the protected list. They also lost reliever Josh Zeid to Detroit on waivers and outrighted reliever Anthony Bass to Triple-A Fresno.

GM Jeff Luhnow said the last-minute addition of Feliz was because the Astros were working on a trade that ultimately did not pan out. He did not confirm whether Feliz was in those discussions.

Luhnow spoke exclusively to the Red & Orange Report on Thursday night following his Astroline Radio appearance at Pluckers Wing Bar in Houston.

AUDIO LINK (Note: this chat came prior to the addition of Feliz to the roster.)

Here is a transcript of our interview:

Josh: Walk us through some of the moves that happened today and the flexibility it gives you going forward:

Luhnow: We added Vincent Velazquez to 40-man roster and Ronald Torreyes, both very deserving of being on the roster. We lost Josh Zeid, the Detroit Tigers claimed him, and Anthony Bass is off the roster. But he could possibly come back with us as a minor-league free agent.

We’re now at 38, and we’re going to need some spots to sign some free agents. I’m sure our fans agree that we need to get some guys in here to help this club out, and that’s where we’re at.



Josh: What’s the latest on Carlos Correa — is he back to 100%?

Luhnow: He hasn’t played baseball yet. He’s been doing a lot of normal activity that he would do during the offseaosn. We expect according to everything that we know him to be 100% from spring training. But coming back from an injury, you just never know until you actually test it out.



Josh: Is it still part of the plan for him to be an everyday shortstop when he comes back?

Luhnow: Yes, absolutely. He’s proven to be an elite shortstop and that’s where he’s going to be.



Josh: Mark Appel — when you go to ST, could he win a [big-league] spot?

Luhnow: Anybody who’s in big-league camp can win a spot. If you haven’t been at Double-A or Triple-A very long, your chances are certainly smaller than someone who has been in the big leagues. But certainly it’s going to be an open competition. And our plan is to take the 25 best guys with us.



Josh: Last year, you missed out on some big-name free agents that you tried to get. This year, with the TV deal, are you more confident that you could get a big-name free agent? Does it help?

Luhnow: We’re trying to get the right player for the Houston Astros. Not really concerned about whether they have a big name or not. We’re concerned about whether they can help us win ballgames. We are pursuing some free agents that we feel fit into that category.

We were able to land Scott Feldman last year and Chad Qualls, and I think those were two very good additions. We’ll find some guys we can add to our team, like we did last year.



Josh: You have four catchers on your roster right now, which is kind of a log jam. You can’t go to camp with four catchers, right?

Luhnow: Oh, we certainly can. We could put two in the big leagues and two in Triple A. I’m not too concerned about it. It gives us flexibility, gives us some currency if other clubs have something that we need. We’re deep at catching, and if they need that, which a lot of clubs do, maybe there’s a deal to be had. It’s not something we’re necessarily overly concerned about right now, but it’s a good position to be in.



Josh: The bullpen was a big issue for the Astros. You’ve mentioned it a few times. Are you looking more for a closer or is Chad Qualls the closer and you’re trying to build behind him?

Luhnow: It depends. If we have an opportunity to get a ninth-inning guy and take some of the pressure off Chad, we would. Otherwise, Chad did a really nice job. We can help him out by getting guys who can hand the ball to him with the lead in tact. We’ll have to see what’s out there and how it plays out.



Josh: Are Astros in the market for a fourth or fifth starting pitcher?

Luhnow: We are looking at starters as well. I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but we’re going to be pursuing a couple of starters.