The Houston Astros didn’t get the ending they wanted in 2025, but the season wasn’t a total loss. There were some bright spots-Hunter Brown looked like a Cy Young contender, Jeremy Peña blossomed into the player many believed he could be, and Jake Meyers quietly put together the best season of his career.
Meyers, in particular, turned heads. The center fielder posted career highs in batting average (.292) and on-base percentage (.354), while dramatically cutting down on strikeouts.
This wasn’t just a marginal improvement-Meyers went from striking out over 30% of the time when he debuted in 2021 to just 17.6% in 2025, a rate better than league average. That’s a massive shift, and when you pair that with his consistently strong defense in center field, you’ve got a player who, on paper, looks like he’s turned a corner.
But here’s the thing: the numbers under the hood tell a more complicated story.
Even with the surface-level improvements, there’s still reason to believe Meyers is closer to the player he’s always been than the one who flashed in 2025. His underlying metrics-things like exit velocity, barrel rate, and expected stats-don’t show the kind of leap you’d expect from someone who suddenly became a league-average or better hitter.
Yes, he chased less and made more contact, which is great. But those changes alone don’t fully explain the jump in production.
And when Meyers returned from a calf injury in September, the bat went quiet. From September 6 through the end of the season, he slashed just .204/.271/.204.
No extra-base hits. No power.
No impact. Whether it was rust, lingering injury effects, or just a cold stretch, it served as a reminder of how thin the margin is for a player like Meyers-one who doesn’t bring much pop and relies on contact and defense to carry his value.
That brings us to the Astros’ current dilemma: hold onto Meyers and bank on his breakout being real, or sell high while his value is up.
Earlier this offseason, Houston seemed open to moving him in the right deal, especially while looking to shore up the rotation. But with Tatsuya Imai and Mike Burrows now added to the starting staff, the urgency to move Meyers has cooled.
GM Dana Brown even said, *“Meyers is going to be a guy for us that’s going to play center field, and it looks like he’s the frontline guy as of today.” *
That was before Imai signed. Now, the calculus may have changed.
From a roster construction standpoint, this could be the perfect time for the Astros to make a move. Meyers is under team control for two more seasons and is projected to make just $3.5 million in arbitration. He’s a cost-controlled, plus defender at a premium position-and that’s a commodity in today’s market.
Just look at the options. Cody Bellinger is the top free-agent center fielder, but he’s going to command a massive contract, and his best defensive work has come in the corners.
Harrison Bader is next in line, but he’s battled injuries and inconsistency. The trade market isn’t much better-Luis Robert Jr. is the big name, but he’s coming off a down year at the plate and carries a $20 million price tag for 2026.
In other words, teams that need a center fielder don’t have many good options. That gives the Astros leverage-and a real shot to extract value from Meyers at a time when his stock may never be higher.
If Houston holds onto him and he regresses, the opportunity evaporates. His trade value could plummet, and the team might be facing a tough non-tender decision next winter. But if they move now, they could add real prospect depth to a farm system that could use a boost.
Jake Meyers deserves credit for the strides he made in 2025. But baseball is a game of timing, and right now, the timing lines up perfectly for the Astros to make a proactive move. Wait too long, and they might be left wondering what could’ve been.
