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SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 01: Austin Hays #21 of the Chicago White Sox at bat during a game against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on May 01, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Houston Astros reporter Chandler Rom<\/a>e is reporting that the team is searching for right-handed hitting outfield help.<\/p>\n While the MLB<\/a> trade deadline has come and gone, there are still plenty of capable players who can be picked up via free agency.<\/p>\n MLBTR.com\u2019s Anthony Franco wrote<\/a> (about the Stros\u2019 need for another OF): \u201cIt seems likely they\u2019ll add someone on a major league contract. Signing a recently released player wouldn\u2019t come at much financial cost, as they\u2019d be on the prorated $780K league minimum (with their former teams on the hook for the rest of their salaries).\u201d<\/p>\n Two names that have been mentioned are recently released player Rob Refsnyder<\/a> and Austin Hays.<\/p>\n Hays could be a better fit due to his defensive versatility and ability to play all three OF spots.<\/p>\n More MLB on Heavy: Chicago White Sox Announce Release of Former Orioles Player from Organization<\/a><\/p>\n Should the Astros Target Austin Hays? GettySAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA \u2013 MAY 01: Austin Hays #21 of the Chicago White Sox<\/a> at bat during a game against the San Diego Padres<\/a> at Petco Park on May 01, 2026 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n If the Houston Astros are to sign either Refsnyder or Austin Hays, their salaries would be prorated to league minimum due to both players being released from their respective (former) organizations.<\/p>\n Before their series with the Padres, Houston optioned Zach Dezenzo in favor of Jake Meyers<\/a>, but Meyers doesn\u2019t exactly light up the world on offense. Franco also noted (about) Meyers\u2019 production this season:<\/p>\n \u201cMeyers entered tonight\u2019s game with a .206\/.264\/.316 line in 52 big league contests on the season. He\u2019d hit .211\/.283\/.311 across 24 games in Triple-A since being optioned on July 4. Although Meyers is a quality defender, there\u2019s clear room for an offensive upgrade in that platoon role.\u201d<\/p>\n While Austin Hays has struggled with injuries this season, which has limited his playing time and production at the plate, he\u2019s a much more tenured hitter than both Meyers and Rob Refsnyder.<\/p>\n More MLB on Heavy: San Francisco Giants Demote 4-Year Pitcher Before Tigers Game<\/a><\/p>\n Looking at Austin Hays\u2019 2026 Season\/MLB Career GettyMIAMI, FLORIDA \u2013 MARCH 30: Austin Hays #21 of the Chicago White Sox watches his three-run home run ball in the third inning against the Miami Marlins<\/a> at loanDepot park on March 30, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Austin Hays has played in parts of nine MLB seasons, with the first seven campaigns coming with the Baltimore Orioles<\/a>, where he was an All-Star outfielder in 2023.<\/p>\n In just 12 games (43 at-bats), Austin Hays is batting just .233 this season with one home run and seven RBIs.<\/p>\n However, across 103 games with the Cincinnati Reds<\/a> last season, Hays posted an OPS+ of 108 in 380 at-bats.<\/p>\n Over 2451 career ABs, Austin Hays has batted .262 with 84 home runs, 319 RBI, and a lifetime OPS+ of 106, which signals he\u2019s always been an above-average hitter (when healthy).<\/p>\n It\u2019s certainly a low-cost signing that the Houston Astros should consider to aid in their final regular-season push.<\/p>\n More MLB on Heavy: Philadelphia Phillies Announce Bryce Harper Decision Before Blue Jays Series<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tTJ French<\/a> covers the MLB for Heavy. TJ is a graduate of the University of Georgia. He has 2+ years of writing experience.
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\nFollow TJ French on X: @tj_french5 More about TJ French<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – MAY 01: Austin Hays #21 of the Chicago White Sox at bat during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-401432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}