The Astros are nearing a deal with Jason Heyward, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com on X. Kiley McDaniel of ESPN relays on X that the deal is done, pending a physical. The outfielder was recently released by the Dodgers. The Astros will need to make a corresponding move to open a spot on the 40-man once the deal is official, as well as a move to open an active roster spot once Heyward reports to the team.
Heyward, 35, was able to engineer a nice bounceback season with the Dodgers last year. After struggling for much of his time with the Cubs, he spent 2023 in Los Angeles, hitting 15 home runs while walking in 9% of his plate appearances. His .269/.340/.473 batting line translated to a 120 wRC+, indicating he was 20% better than league average.
Most of that damage came with the platoon advantage, as the lefty swinger only stepped to the plate 28 times against southpaws, compared to 349 times against righties. But it still allowed him to have a productive season. When combined with strong defense, he was considered to be worth 2.2 wins above replacement by FanGraphs.
He and the Dodgers reunited this winter on a one-year, $9MM deal but the Hollywood sequel wasn’t as satisfying as the original. In 197 plate appearances with the Dodgers this year, Heyward slashed .208/.289/.393 for a wRC+ of 91.
The Dodgers faced a tough roster decision when Mookie Betts was recently returning from the injured list. He had been serving as the club’s everyday shortstop prior to getting hurt but the decision was made to move him back to his customary right field spot for the stretch run and postseason. The club had Teoscar Hernández in left and was planning to use a mixture of Tommy Edman and Kevin Kiermaier in center, with Andy Pages also around as optionable depth. For bench/utility roles, they decided to keep multi-positional guys like Enrique Hernández and Chris Taylor, which nudged Heyward off the roster.
Given Heyward’s diminished performance and notable salary, he unsurprisingly went unclaimed off waivers, but there’s logic to the Astros picking him up now. With Heyward’s recent release, the Dodgers are on the hook for the majority of what is left to be paid out of that salary. The Astros will only have to pay him the prorated portion of the $740K league minimum, making him more or less a free pickup.
It’s also possible that his results this year are a bit based on luck. His .224 batting average on balls in play is well below the .291 mark he had last year and the league-wide average of .290 this year. His average exit velocity and hard hit rate are actually higher than last year’s, according to Statcast, though his launch angle is less than ideal. His 41.4% ground ball rate last year was a career low, as he has pounded the ball into the dirt at a 48.3% clip in his career. That number is up to 51.4% this year, so perhaps he could have some better results if that normalizes by even a few points, getting closer to his career rate.
The Astros have been without their regular right fielder for a long time. Kyle Tucker put up a monster batting line of .266/.395/.584 for a 174 wRC+ in 60 games before fouling a ball off himself in early June. The club announced his injury as a shin contusion and it didn’t seem like he was going to be away from the club for long, but he’s coming close to a three-month absence at this point. The club is hopeful of Tucker returning in September, but as of a few days ago, he still hasn’t been able to sprint at full speed. That suggests there’s still some hurdles to clear before he’s a candidate to return.
On top of that, Yordan Alvarez missed a few days recently due to some neck stiffness, though he was able to return to the lineup last night. Alex Bregman was also taking up the designated hitter spot for a while due to elbow inflammation, though he’s been back at the hot corner for the past three games.
Jake Meyers is the regular in center field. The corner outfield mix consists of Alvarez, Ben Gamel, Mauricio Dubón and Chas McCormick. Gamel is a 32-year-old journeyman who was just claimed off waivers recently. Dubón is a glove-first utility guy. McCormick has some good results on his track record but is having a brutal year, currently slashing .188/.253/.275.
Heyward isn’t a guarantee but he has a decent shot at being an upgrade over that group, and at no real cost to the Astros. Even if his bat doesn’t turn around, he’s still a solid defender at this point in his career. It’s a solid pickup and one that raises the possibility of Heyward perhaps facing his former club in the World Series, if the Astros and Dodgers end up in a rematch of the scandal-plagued 2017 series.