How does it do it?

Every year we make at least one strawberry-rhubarb pie. It's a spring tradition here, and we've used the same recipe for nigh on twenty years. At some point, however, something changed (maybe the fruit got juicier?) and the pies started coming out soupy. Swimming in juice. Still good, but almost requiring a ladle to serve.

I had a bit of a brainstorm, and last year I dried slices of some three full flats of strawberries. I put the slices in a jar and stored them in the cellar. When I bought rhubarb today, I did not buy strawberries... instead, I scattered the dried ones amongst the fresh rhubarb, added the usual flour/sugar mix, and figured that it would take care of some of the juiciness. The rhubarb was kind of rubbery anyway, so it must be slightly dehydrated itself, and if the strawberries soak up juice rather than adding it... right?

I just pulled the pie out, and it's just as soupy as ever. WTF?

Is there some gnome in the oven dumping water on my pies?