A’s Legend Steps Down From Houston Astros Front Office.
Oakland A’s and New York Yankees legend Reggie Jackson has stepped down from his role with the Houston Astros as a special advisor in the Astros front office after four seasons. Jackson, 78, reportedly wants to spend more time with his family in California.
Is it a coincidence that the man they call “Mr. October” stepped down from his role with Houston after the Astros failed to advance to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2017? Yeah, probably, but let the speculation begin!
Jokes aside, Jackson told the New York Post that he hasn’t ruled out a return to the Yankees. “It’s always been a home for me. I’m a Yankee. I’m still a Yankee.” Jackson joined Houston after leaving the Yankees in a similar role in 2021.
Jackson spent the first nine years of his career with the A’s, first with Kansas City in 1967, then from 1968-75 in Oakland. He was ultimately traded to the Baltimore Orioles along with Ken Holtzman for a return that included Don Baylor. In his time with the A’s, he won three World Series rings from 1972-74, and earned himself American League MVP honors in 1973, leading the league with 99 runs, 32 home runs, and 117 RBI. He also won the World Series MVP that season.
After his year with the Orioles in 1976, Jackson was granted free agency and ended up signing with the New York Yankees. He won the World Series MVP in 1977 after a big three-homer game, his second Series MVP. The Yankees also won in 1978, giving Reggie five World Series titles in the 1970’s.
Jackson once again reached free agency after the 1981 season, and this time signed with the California Angels, where he remained for five seasons before ultimately playing one more year in Oakland in 1987 at 41 years old. That was Mark McGwire’s rookie season, and José Canseco had been around for a couple of seasons, but he was still just 22.
A fact that is a little less known is that he has the most strikeouts over the course of an entire career with 2,597 across 21 seasons. While that is a fact in terms of a lump sum, in terms of a rate stat, he wouldn’t rank quite as poorly. Another A’s legend, Adam Dunn, ranks third on the all-time list (Jim Thome is second) with 2,379 strikeouts, but he played in just 14 MLB seasons. He would have needed a little over one more season to break Reggie’s record.
Looking At The Astros’ Outfield.
Once Kyle Tucker, in what we would eventually learn, fractured his shin in early June, the Astros’ outfield situation devolved from one of the better units in baseball, to dreadful to watch. That’s how much Tucker has meant to this team’s production. Well, other than Yordan Alvarez and Ben Gamel for a spell, but we’re not watching the former for his prowess as an outfielder. In the games when Alvarez was the designated hitter, however, the outfield’s offensive production was a mess, with Chas McCormick leading the way with a 73 wRC+ among non-Alvarez options during Tucker’s absence. Alvarez’s bat is the main reason why the outfield, in terms of fWAR, didn’t finish lower than 17th during Tucker’s prolonged absence.
So, yes, it wasn’t a secret that the outfield was a weakness in Houston. Jake Meyers provided his usual above-average defense in center field, but his bat, other than an 85-plate appearance hot streak in May (.924 OPS), didn’t post an OPS higher than .736 for the rest of the season in a single month. Even that tidbit is a bit misleading as his offensive performance in multiple months never exceeded a .632 OPS, with multiple months with a sub-.600 or even sub-.500 OPS. McCormick was subpar at the plate for most of the season, finishing an uncharacteristically low 66 wRC+. No combination of Mauricio Dubón, Trey Cabbage, Cooper Hummel, Joey Loperfido, and Pedro León could even provide a noticeable lift to a struggling outfield. It became so dire that Ben Gamel and Jason Heyward were picked up as free agents in-season and immediately had crucial at-bats.
For 2025, it’ll likely be more of the same. Having Tucker back, hopefully for a full season, will certainly help matters, but it sounds like the Astros are banking on internal improvement. Based on Dana Brown’s comments last week, it sounds like both Meyers and McCormick will be tendered a contract for next season, which isn’t a surprise. Compared to what they’re forecasted to earn through arbitration, it wouldn’t make much sense to non-tender them right now. Barring an upgrade becoming available and considering the lack of depth in the system, it isn’t prudent to toss aside two outfielders with at least some success, however fleeting. Even with a questionable arm,
Meyers is the club’s best defensive center fielder. Plus, it doesn’t seem likely that McCormick forgot to hit entirely. While he may not reach the offensive output he produced in 2023 (133 wRC+ in 457 plate appearances), he shouldn’t have another season like he did this year at the plate. Include top prospect Jacob Melton in the discussion, and you can see where Brown hopes to have at least a measure of internal improvement. It is up to debate whether that would be enough, however.
