Offseason NY Mets trade target with a .580 OPS just got demoted by the Astros

A weak American League is so weak this year the Houston Astros can’t count themselves out quite yet. A team that has operated in recent years in a manner similar to how David Stearns turned over the New York Mets this offseason, but not always all at once, they’ve shown little mercy with many players. They’ve been able to get away with it because of the championship parades and AL Pennants.

Unable to accept a .580 OPS from one of their players, Jake Meyers is headed to the minors leagues. Batting only .206/.264/.316, he is essentially Tyrone Taylor with even less power.

What does he have to do with the Mets? In the offseason, before they traded for Luis Robert Jr., Meyers was one of the rumored trade targets for the ball club.

The Mets would be kicking themselves if they bought high on Jake Meyers this winter

Meyers had a really good 2025 season. He slashed .292/.354/.373 in 381 plate appearances. Known primarily for his defense, he seemed like a guy David Stearns would crave in center field. Cheap with multiple years of control, a trade for him is difficult to conceive because Houston never did move on.

It does seem as if the Mets may have been destined to fail in center field. The same report that had them considering Meyers along with Cody Bellinger had the Mets targeting Harrison Bader and Brenton Doyle. Bader is hitting below .200. Doyle has been injured for most of the year and wasn’t even having a very good year before he did get hurt.

There should be very little second-guessing with what the Mets did end up doing in center field. Robert didn’t cost them much in terms of prospect. Luisangel Acuna was a DFA candidate waiting to happen. Who knows about Truman Pauley? 

The strangest outcome of all from the trade for Robert is how the Chicago White Sox have successfully replaced him with a David Stearns draft pick. Tristan Peters, who was sent to the White Sox for cash, is essentially doing exactly what Stearns would have wanted in center field to begin the year. They’ve been lucky that A.J. Ewing accelerated up to the majors as quickly as he did.

It’s a very “everything happens for a reason” situation with the Mets and center field. Robert was most likely always a one-year rental with the capacity to stick around for a second year if he had a monster campaign. Potentially a trade chip now, Meyers’ demotion does answer one question: could the Mets have traded for someone worse? Apparently so. The Astros wouldn’t have wanted Acuna and could very well have ended up with a better player or players in return. Worse, Meyers has ridiculously low trade value, that in a lost year, is the one saving grace.

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