Astros Owner Jim Crane Played Key Role in Igniting This Year's Trade Deadline

The Houston Astros were a winner at the trade deadline.

They pulled off one of the most shocking moves that can be remembered when they acquired Carlos Correa from the Minnesota Twins, bringing back the former face of the franchise to play a key role in helping the Astros compete for a championship this year and going forward.

Rumors swirled that Houston was interested in potentially trading for Correa, but it wasn't clear exactly how something would get done or how much the Twins would sell.

Well, Minnesota sold. And it was a fire sale. Single-handedly igniting the trade deadline beyond what many people were expecting considering how many teams are in the Wild Card hunt.

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With some post-deadline analysis coming out regarding how things happened, Bob Nightengale of USA Today gave some insight into everything that occurred, including how Astros owner Jim Crane was a major reason why so many trades got done.

"Houston Astros owner Jim Crane, who was golfing with Twins Hall of Famer Joe Mauer last weekend in Cooperstown, N.Y., during the Hall of Fame weekend, perhaps lit the first match in the fire sale in a casual conversation at the Leatherstocking Golf Course. He mentioned that they might try to pursue All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa ... Crane returned home and had Astros GM Dana Brown telephone the Twins to inquire if they would be willing to trade Correa and one of their outfielders to the Astros," the insider wrote.

Much of this angling was centered around the debt the Twins are in.

The Pohlad family is trying to sell the team -- a rumored asking price of $1.7 billion -- and might have been persuaded to start offloading contracts to slash their payroll.

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Crane told the Pohlads that a reduced payroll would make their franchise more attractive to potential buyers in a sale, something he kept reiterating when it came to Correa and his high-priced contract.