The Houston Astros have been connected to other big name pitchers, from Sonny Gray to Yu Darvish to Justin Verlander, so this one is a bit of a head scratcher as there was no buzz leading up to it prior to today. Francisco Liriano has been a starter for the Blue Jays but will most likely end up in the bullpen filling our need for a second left handed reliever alongside Tony Sipp.
Adding Liriano was a cheaper cost than some of the other left handed options at reliever the Astros were tied to such as Zach Britton, Brad Hand and Justin Wilson.