Not saying this is the case here- but a reminder that last time Dana said he's not in the market for starting pitching, he was in the middle of talks with the Mets for JV.
Edit to add: I haven't heard anything specifically other than that the Hader/Snell trade last deadline was very, very close to getting done before falling apart in the last minute. That's when Houston pivoted to JV and the deal got done pretty quick. The Houston organization loves Snell and I've been told they've been in contact with him. Now, to what extent? I'm not sure. But they were in contact before the news about JV was known (or at least made public). Could easily be Dana and his team doing their due diligence.
Edit to add: I haven't heard anything specifically other than that the Hader/Snell trade last deadline was very, very close to getting done before falling apart in the last minute. That's when Houston pivoted to JV and the deal got done pretty quick. The Houston organization loves Snell and I've been told they've been in contact with him. Now, to what extent? I'm not sure. But they were in contact before the news about JV was known (or at least made public). Could easily be Dana and his team doing their due diligence.