The Astros are staring at the kind of roster move that brings an ugly old mistake back into the light.
On Monday, Houston had to make its decisions with the injured list and the 40-man roster before free agency, and the club chose the cleanest path available: designate Jake Meyers for assignment. With Meyers set to come off the 60-day IL, the move opens a roster spot, but it also leaves the Astros in danger of getting nothing in return for a player they once treated like a future piece.
That outcome lands hard because of how long Houston played this one. When Meyers was struggling and not offering much at the plate, the Astros kept him around.
Even when other teams were willing to take a chance, Houston held tight. Then, once Meyers started to show signs of real production, the market never developed the way the Astros wanted it to.
Their asking price outpaced the interest, and the chance to cash in slipped away.
The timing only made things worse. Meyers had already been demoted earlier in 2026, and after an extended absence because of a kneecap injury, there wasn’t much reason to expect him to help the club going forward.
In that sense, the DFA fits the moment. But it doesn’t erase the larger picture: a player who once had trade value, then lost it, then got hurt, and now may leave Houston for nothing.
There was some bad luck in the mix, including another Meyers injury around last year’s trade deadline. Still, most of this sits squarely on the Astros’ own shoulders. Former general manager Dana Brown kept Meyers through years when he was barely hitting above .220, then Houston found itself unable to move him once his bat started to wake up.
Now the Astros are left hoping another team takes him, but there doesn’t appear to be much fight left in the process. If this is new GM Randy Flores beginning to clear out the leftovers from the previous regime, it also serves as a blunt reminder of how costly the original misread was.
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