The Astros didn't expect to make the playoffs this season, but ownership also didn't foresee as many losses as the club has piled up. Houston has cut nearly $40 million from their Opening Day roster and had a payroll of around $21.3 million last week. The team has had the worst record in baseball for most of the season. The Astros are 6-36 since they traded Carlos Lee to the Marlins on July 4. "We made a lot of trades and once we made that decision -- Jeff [Luhnow] started moving some of the talent -- we knew we might slide back a little bit, but we didn't think it would be this bad," owner Jim Crane said. After moving Lee, Houston dealt pitchers J.A. Happ, Brandon Lyon, David Carpenter, Brett Myers and Wandy Rodriguez before sending third baseman Chris Johnson to the Diamondbacks. "Some of them, had they gone beyond the trade deadline, we wouldn't have gotten much of anything," Crane said. "I think (Luhnow) got as much as he possibly could. (He) traded hard, and we did pick up a lot of great prospects."