Astros outfielder Chas McCormick has cleared waivers and rejected an outright assignment in favor of free agency, reports Chandler Rome of The Athletic. McCormick and four other Astros had been placed on outright waivers earlier this week. With more than three years of MLB service time, McCormick had the right to reject the assignment.
MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had McCormick projected to get $3.4MM in arbitration next season. While that projected salary may have been too high to entice suitors as a waiver claim, teams can now pursue McCormick as a bounce-back candidate at a cheaper price. The 30-year-old is under team control through the 2027 season and was quite productive in the not-too-distant past.
McCormick debuted in 2021 and immediately emerged as a steady producer for Houston. He popped 14 home runs in just 320 plate appearances as a rookie, while providing strong defense. McCormick took a step forward in terms of plate discipline the following season, cutting his strikeout rate by 6.5% and bumping his walk rate to an elite 11.3%. His power numbers took a step back, but the improved contact skills made up for it. The 2023 campaign was McCormick’s breakout year. He fell a stolen base shy of a 20/20 season, slashing .273/.353/.489 over a career-high 457 plate appearances.
Injuries limited McCormick to 267 plate appearances in 2024, and he struggled mightily when healthy. McCormick’s wRC+ was more than cut in half compared to 2023, falling from 132 to 65. He continued to scuffle in 2025, slashing .210/.279/.290 in 66 games. An oblique injury cost him a month of action. McCormick was demoted in September and finished the season at Triple-A Sugar Land.
Houston will have Yordan Alvarez and Cam Smith holding down the corner outfield spots in 2026. Center field is a bit of a question mark, though prospect Zach Cole held his own in his brief debut. Jake Meyers was also having a solid season before a calf injury derailed him.
Yordan Alvarez is mostly a DH. Zack Cole was impressive in a very small sample size but shouldn’t be considered as lock to make the opening day roster. Smith has a lot of
room for growth, though the talent is obvious. Meyers is a defensive whiz that hit for a decent batting average but his power numbers droped significantly. The entire outfield could really stand an upgrade, especially left field where there is no real designated starter. If you decide to put Cole in LF(Alvarez is a DH), Myers in CF and Smith in RF it looks great defensively, but well below average offensively.
The outfield is fine. Astros need to focus entirely on pitching, and spend whatever it takes. Pitching wins games.
If this is “fine” then obviously the organization standards have dropped significantly. Not too long ago we lined up Brantley LF, Springer CF, Reddick in RF. That should be the standard of a championship caliber team, which the Astros are not.
I personally am not “fine” with that. Granted starting pitching is the priority, but when we start considering average as acceptable then it’s pretty obvious the dominate run is over.
A figure of speech, and I don’t disagree with your assessment. nevertheless, I think they should go all in on pitching as an absolute priority.
Elias must not have noticed McCormick on waivers. Whew.
Chas McCormick going to have a big bounce-back career year in ’26, you heard it here first. Don’t think he was happy in Houston with how he was utilized; going back to Dusty Baker. I think as long as he is healthy he can be decent in a new environment.
He had his best season when Dusty was “mistreating” him and completely fell off a cliff when he entered 2024 with an unquestioned starting job so I don’t see how this tracks. He’s a short side platoon guy who went on a Linsanity run then pitchers figured out the holes in his swing.
Thought he had been battling various injuries.
That as well but even when healthy he hasn’t seen a slider he didn’t want to chase.
What is the current rotation? Hunter Brown, Ronel Blanco, JP France, Spencer Arighetti, Jason Alexander…???
Blanco is still recovering from TJS so he’s out until probably the all star break. All of the pitchers you named will have a shot at cracking the opening day roster but certainly not as you have them listed. The rotation as we have it now will be as follow IMO:
1. Brown
2. Javier
3 Arighetti
4 TBD
5. TBD
The Astros are going to hope France and Alexander can maybe get them a few months until they can get a few pitchers off the IL. If you have been watching how the FO goes about FA they dont give out long term or particularly large AAV contracts. It’s going to be an interesting off season for my Stros this year.
He will be the Phillies 4th or 5th outfielder.
He’ll split time with Justin Crawford or serve in a straight bench role.