Astros gifted Yankees a cheap Jacob Young fallback option with recent DFA

At season's end, Jacob Young was gaining steam as a New York Yankees trade target. He hits right-handed, is athletic, and is a defensive plus in center field. He was also cheap and thought to be available, and the Yankees and Nationals have done business before. He seemed like the perfect Spencer Jones insurance. That is, until Washington decided he was part of their future and handed him a four-year, $23 million contract with a potential fifth year on the end.

In the meantime, fans had become enamored with the idea. After seeing defensive miscues derail another postseason run, getting a rangy center fielder who also didn't block Spencer Jones' development seemed like a perfect outcome. Plus, he's got some really slick plays on his highlight reel.

Young hit .252/.318/.390 with 10 homers in 2026, while striking out just 16.6% of the time. That was good for a 95 wRC+, which was just enough offensive punch to play as more than just a defensive replacement. He seemed to be the only player to fit this bill.

The Houston Astros are one of the last teams that anyone would expect to help the New York Yankees, but they may have done just that. See, they had a Jacob Young-esque figure before Young had even emerged as a valuable asset, and they just cut him loose when they DFA'd Jake Meyers at the beginning of this month.

Former Astros outfielder is a better, cheaper Yankees alternative to Jacob Young

All the buzz about Young this offseason hinged on the value he presented in 2026. Up to that point, the 27-year-old had hit just .247/.310/.316, which was good for a 74 wRC+ that suggested he should get nowhere near semi-regular playing time.

Meyers got the boot because he's been injury-plagued and underperformed at the plate in 2026, hitting just .213/.268/.326 over 57 games, compiling replacement-level 0.0 fWAR in that time. However, it wasn't that long ago that the 30-year-old was an in-demand trade piece, just like Young.

That's because Meyers' 2025 campaign featured a .292/.354/.373 line, which, while a career-best season, was better than anything Young has ever put up in his career. For his career, Meyers has been a fantastic defensive center fielder, posting five defensive runs saved and nine outs above average in 2025.

In fact, one could argue that Meyers is still the superior player. He owns a career .671 OPS versus a .652 career OPS for Young. Young certainly has the advantage of recency bias, but the difference between the two isn't that great.

Young is also officially off the board, but even before the Nationals pulled the plug on New York's trade hopes, the reality of the situation was that the Yankees would've had to part with something of value to lure Young away.

Meyers, however, could be acquired for a song. A free agent now, he's not looking at much more than a league-minimum contract, and in reality, a minor league deal might be in his future. The one big knock on him versus Young is health, but Houston's dealt with a plethora of injuries over the past few years, indicating a larger problem with their organization could be afoot.

So don't fret, the Yankees may have missed out on Young, but they'll have access to a similar option at a fraction of the price. If they end up going the Meyers route, they might end up feeling as if the Nationals did them a favor and owe a big thank you to the Astros, too.

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