Former Astros GM confirms earth-shattering 2013 trade proposal with KC Royals

Earlier this year, an interesting story about a potential KC Royals trade that almost came to fruition started circulating on the internet. The trade in question reportedly involved the Royals trading Eric Hosmer to the Houston Astros for Jose Altuve back in 2013. It was a trade that would have changed the future and fortune of both clubs in exciting ways.

The trade was first discussed on an episode of a podcast called Diggin' Deep, hosted by the former Royals legend and longtime reliever Peter Moylan. The two former players spoke with ex-Kansas City GM Dayton Moore, who claimed that the two teams had held trade talks. Earlier this week, former Astros GM Jeff Luhnow appeared on the Crush City Territory podcast to confirm the two teams did discuss a deal.

KC Royals trade rumor: 2013 Eric Hosmer–Jose Altuve swap confirmed by former GMs

Luhnow was asked flat out whether the former KC Royals GM was telling the truth about a potential Altuve for Hosmer deal.

"Okay, no, so he's not lying. Dayton is a very honest, high integrity guy. We did have a conversation about it. It didn't go very far. At the time, we weren't looking to trade Jose Altuve. We were looking to acquire Eric Hosmer," Luhnow explained. "Kansas City was on the rise. We tried everything. We didn't have a lot of players that would bring you an Eric Hosmer... "

Luhnow went a bit further to make it clear that Altuve was never that close to leaving town. However, even in this podcast, it's clear he's trying to make sure no angry Astros fan comes after him online.

"It was not an official trade offer. It was one of those, 'Hey, would you consider it?' It was a very short conversation, so it didn't go anywhere," he said.

Luhnow also explained that at the time, Altuve hadn't put together the Hall of Fame career he's had since 2013. "We all have to remember Jose Altuve. At that time, he was not what Jose Altuve became... but, you know, he was not a heralded prospect. He made it up. He was still kind of getting his. He was a high batting average, low OPS, you know."

In the end, the trade didn't go down. The KC Royals kept Hosmer and went to appear in two World Series - winning the second-time around - in the following seasons thanks in no small part to his contributions. Meanwhile, Houston has been to four World Series and won two of them, thanks to Altuve's contributions to that team.