Reports: Tension brewing between Porter, Luhnow and Astros front office

In a post on FoxSports.com today, Ken Rosenthal writes that his sources say there is rift in the relationship between Astros manager Bo Porter and general manager Jeff Luhnow.  The main source of the frustration is Porter feels he is being second-guessed by Luhnow, and also feels he does not have enough input with the team.

Those critical of Luhnow say that he keeps a small circle, communicating mostly with director of decision sciences Sig Mejdal and others while rarely consulting the team's on-field staff, executive advisor Nolan Ryan and special assistant to the GM Craig Biggio.

Rosenthal also states that the Appel bullpen session was another source of the issues between the two. Porter feeling that the communication between he and Luhnow put him in an uncomfortable position with his players, that questioned him about it.

So is Porter out after this season?  Is Luhnow?  Maybe both?  With the team trending upward is anyone expendable?  Rosenthal has his ideas.

Crane might resist any change, not wanting to admit that he made a mistake with either hiring. But it's difficult to imagine the Astros starting the 2015 season with the same management team.

UPDATE:

The Houston Chronicle's Evan Drellich adds another layer, and goes into a more indepth timeline of events:

The Chronicle was told this week by a club source of a "heated battle" between Porter and Luhnow, and that Porter recently spoke with the owner about the GM, who is said to have been particularly aggressive in addressing the manager's in-game moves.

Update 2:
Drellich spoke with Bo Porter before tonight's game:

Do you & Jeff have a strong functional rltshp? "I think we function for the overall goal of the Houston Astros organization" which is to win

— Evan Drellich (@EvanDrellich) August 29, 2014