On January 13, 2020, Luhnow was fired by the Astros after Major League Baseball suspended him for the entire 2020 season as a result of the electronic sign-stealing scandal.

[4] He graduated from the Webb School of California[5] and holds dual Bachelor of Science degrees from the University of Pennsylvania in economics and engineering.

[6][8] Cardinals owner William DeWitt Jr. had noticed what the Oakland A's had done with their Moneyball tactics and was looking to run his team in a more analytical, data-driven manner when he first hired Luhnow as vice president in 2003.

[6][10] The Cardinals promoted him in 2005 to the role of vice president of player procurement, which made him the director of amateur, international and domestic scouting.

Several players who made important contributions to the Cardinals' victory in the 2011 World Series, including Jaime Garcia, Allen Craig, Jon Jay, and Lance Lynn, were drafted during Luhnow's tenure.

In making the announcement, team president George Postolos cited Luhnow's past successes in player development and scouting with the Cardinals organization.

He also expressed hope that "[Luhnow's] bicultural background [would] be an asset in recruiting players from Latin America and developing the Hispanic market for Los Astros.

"[3] Luhnow "was so devoted to efficiency that he engaged consultants from McKinsey to audit the organization (and, inevitably, to disrupt the org chart) every year".

[16] News of an investigation into potential Cardinals front office personnel hacking into the Astros' baseball operations databases seeking information on player development, evaluation, and compensation broke on June 16, 2015.

According to Manfred, Luhnow adamantly denied knowing about Astros players banging on a trash can to signal specific pitches, or that employees in the replay room were decoding signs and sending them to the dugout.

[22] Subsequently, in January 2022, Jeff Luhnow headed an investment fund that completed the purchase of the Mexican team Cancún that participates in the Liga de Expansión MX.