The reason I asked is because I've seen a change in philosophy. The goal was never to be competitive. The goal was to win championships. To that end, they gutted the ML product at an unprecedented level and openly accepted the reality that we were not going to be any good by design. Then, after three years of record low attendance and record high losses, they suddenly started upping the payroll to bring in players that would make us competitive. They didn't bring in superstars that would win championships but simply to make the on field product slightly better. If you accept my premise then there are only three reasons they did this:

1: they truly believe these guys like Gattis and Valbuena are kep pieces of a championship team.
Likelihood: low. Based on what they've said about guys like Correa and Moran we know that they don't view Valbuena and Lowrie as the future. Just the right now.

2: they amended their philosophy. Instead of rebuilding to win championships they are now happy with just being competitive. Get a few more fans out to the games and don't be so historically bad that you draw attention to yourself.
Likelihood: medium. If they can keep such a low payroll and be in contention in late August then hey will make their money. People will be fooled by the moves and the rhetoric and ticket sales will be okay. Cranestrike sme as a guy who likes his money.

3: they are simply making a media play and trying to get some guys who fans can cheer for so they can sell more tickets and make more money but they really don't care about winning right now.
Likelihood: med-high. fans love the long ball and everyone and their mothers have been screaming from the rooftops that this team will hit a ton. Seriously. That's the #1 thing every Astros spokesperson and media outlet is saying. I don't think they truly believe they will make the playoffs like they claimed and I think Luhnow is smart enough to know that this team has glaring offensive problems. They didn't sign any major FA to unwieldy long term deals and they didn't sacrifice anything they couldn't afford to in the construction of this team. Most of these guys can easily be cut loose when the prospects are ready and the Astros are ready to pay real free agents. Gotta say, this seems to make an awful lot of sense to me (but I've been drinking with friends so I might be posting this in the Dora the Explorer chat room).