Projected 2026 Outfield: LF Jesús Sánchez, CF Jake Meyers, RF Cam Smith/Zach Cole
What a long and winding road it has been since the 2022 World Series, in which Houston’s primary outfield trio was Yordan Alvarez, Chas McCormick and Kyle Tucker.
Both Jake Meyers and Cam Smith got out to impressive starts to this season, and Jesús Sánchez’s first month with Houston after the trade deadline was respectable enough. None of the three did much of anything in September to prevent the Astros’ collapse, though, and the prospect of entering 2026 with this as Plan A—or, worse, Alvarez regularly playing in left field after his injury-plagued 2025 campaign—has to be a bit terrifying for the Astros faithful.
However, if they sign Grisham and get him to hit at anything close to the level of excellence with which he has typically hit against them, that’s a game-changer.
In 19 career games against Houston, Grisham has triple-slashed .290/.355/.623 with seven home runs. That .978 OPS is his best against any team. And adding him would allow them to put an end to the five-year-long platoon of Meyers and McCormick posting a combined OPS of around .700 in center field.
Even with Framber Valdez headed for free agency, though, money could be tight.
Cristian Javier ($10.4M to $21.4M) and Yordan Alvarez ($15.8M to $26.8M) are each making $11M more in 2026 than they did in 2025. And while the Twins included a nice bag of cash in the trade deadline blockbuster, owing Carlos Correa $21.5M next season wasn’t part of the plan a few months ago.
With seven players already owed at least $17.7M apiece and the rotation arguably needing more work than the outfield, Grisham might not fit in the budget.