Astros To Designate Jake Meyers For Assignment

The Astros are designating outfielder Jake Meyers for assignment, reports Ari Alexander of 7News. He’d been arbitration-eligible and projected for a $3.6MM salary, per MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz. Houston has five days to trade Meyers or place him on waivers. Outright waivers would be a 48-hour process, so we’ll know the outcome of his DFA within a week’s time.

Meyers, 30, was the Astros’ primary center fielder from 2023-25. He’s a strong defender whose bat had some flashes of potential but wound up grading out below average over that three-year span. In that time, he hit .243/.310/.370 (93 wRC+) with a 22% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate.

The righty-swinging Meyers has slightly better-than-average numbers against southpaws in his career but has been 15% worse than average versus righties, by measure of wRC+. He’s played more than 3800 career innings in center and boasts outstanding marks: 22 Defensive Runs Saved, 43 Outs Above Average, 35 Fielding Run Value.

Injuries have dogged Meyers throughout his career. A shoulder injury suffered during the 2021 postseason required surgery to repair a torn labrum. That procedure limited him to 52 games the following season. He was healthy for the bulk of the next three seasons but did have some brief injury absences due to calf troubles.

In 2026, Meyers suffered a Grade 2 oblique strain and missed about seven weeks from early April into late May. He hit poorly enough upon returning that Houston optioned him to Triple-A in early July. He only briefly returned to the majors, appearing in five more games before season’s end. The writing was largely on the wall for Meyers, given that even down in Triple-A, he batted just .212/.277/.315 while attempting to hit his way back to the majors.

Meyers entered the 2026 season with 4.044 years of major league service and came within about two weeks of reaching five years. He ultimately fell shy, so a claiming team could control him for two more seasons, but his projected salary gives him a chance to clear. It’s feasible that another club will claim him and hope to sign him to a deal at a lower number than his arbitration price tag, but even he does get claimed, he’ll be a non-tender candidate with his next team. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he’ll declare free agency right away and get a jumpstart on looking for a team that could use a glove-first, right-handed-hitting center field option.