4 Astros who are playing their way out of the team's 2024 plans

Jake Meyers

It was hardly a secret that Dana Brown was looking to trade from Houston's outfield depth at the trade deadline and at the top of the list of available options was Jake Meyers. This makes plenty of sense given that while Meyers is an excellent defender, his .230/.305/.392 line and 94 wRC+ leaves something to be desired. A quick look at Meyers' track record in the minor leagues seems to indicate that this is just who Meyers is as a player.

For a team that is really trying to build on the cheap or who is rebuilding, Meyers would be a perfectly reasonable everyday player. Sure, he can't really hit, but his glove provides enough value to make him appealing. However, for a team like the Astros who may be approaching the back end of their competitive window, they are going to need an outfielder who can hit. Trading Meyers to one of those budget conscious/rebuilding teams to shore up other areas on the roster should be a priority this offseason.

Jose Abreu

This is probably the least likely of the options to actually happen, but wow has Jose Abreu been bad for the Astros this season. Through 464 plate appearances this season, Abreu has posted a shockingly poor 75 wRC+ which is a career-worst for him by a mile while slashing .234/.291/.343. It is probably safe to say that Houston thought they were going to get more than that when they decided to sign Abreu to a three year, $58.5 million contract last offseason.

It is tough to bite the bullet after one bad season from Abreu and essentially write off nearly $40 million, but Houston may have to at least entertain the idea. At 36 years old and dealing with an injury as we speak, is there really a lot of reason right now to think that things are going to get better next season? Ideally, this current downtime with a back issue does Abreu a lot of good and he comes back looking like the hitter we are used to seeing. However, if he doesn't bounce back, the Astros may have a tough choice to make.

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