Look again at the end of the season and see what Ragans was worth. Any two of Meyers, Ullola, and Matthews will have more value in my opinion.
Meyers isn't an overpay. Meyers value is at an all time high. Dana will have to add a top prospect to get a deal done for Ragans, he's got potential to be a SP1 if he can stay healthy. His stuff is that good.
Cole Ragans currently projects to be the 6th most valuable pitcher in MLB in 2026. He was the 4th most valuable pitcher in MLB in 2024. Was worth 2.1 wins in 2025 in 1/3 of a season. He is immensely valuable. There is unlikely to be a pitcher traded this offseason who is as valuable as Ragans. At a conservative estimate of $40M/yr in value, he’s got almost $100M in surplus value. Thats easily worth Cam Smith and Jake Meyers plus a lot more. Like I said, if the Astros trade for Ragans, a lot of people are gonna be shocked at how much they give up. (This assumes Ragans medicals are clean. If Houston trades for him without giving up Cam Smith, I will assume there is more injury risk than has been reported that is dragging down his value.)
A glove 1st CF with no power and is terrible with RISP value will go up? I guess he does have room to improve his game. However he's been in the majors for what, 5 years now? Chances are that Meyers is what he is at this point in his career. Ragans on the other hand, if he can stay healthy, with his stuff has all kinds of room to improve. Health will be the key for Ragans.
The Astros have pieces to make just about any deal possible - especially considering the players they are interested. They aren’t trying to deal for Skenes or Skubal. They are looking for good to very good but not great players. The question is really more of how much will the Astros pay.
Ragans is coming off a bad season and injuries - but the stuff was still there and he can easily he a top 5 pitcher in the AL next year…. The Rangers really don’t seem to know pitching worth a damn. They traded him after middling minor league success for a rental closer.
He is coming off injury but NOT a bad season. He had 14 k/9 and 2.9 bb/9. He had some bad batted ball luck but he was utterly dominant otherwise. His injury history definitely dings his value, but that’s the only reason he’s even being discussed in trade talks, because otherwise he is in the same tier as Hunter Brown. If Houston is able to get Ragans without giving up Cam Smith or Jeremy Pena, it’ll be the best trade they’ve made in years.
Tell me when the deal is done- I’ll order Cam and Jake an Uber. Just having Hunter and Cole at the top of a playoff series and Hader and Abreu closing is enough to give the Astros a chance to win any series.
Yes - but I am like Magic Johnson… I like to repeat what someone else says with different words. The only difference is I was trying to convey the Astros have Pena, Cam and Paredes to move if they want to for a position of need.
That’s a non answer to my question - what valuation could possibly have Meyers worth Ragans. Look again at the end of the season ain’t it. Sorry, but neither is “my opinion”. Try looking at Ragan’s Baseball Savant page. And his scouting report. He is a TOR arm. With three years of team control left
There’s a decent amount of smoke for the Royals making Ragans available, as there’s been rumors of him being traded to Boston for Duran and Chicago for Robert in addition to the Astros rumor. In looking at KC’s roster, they do seem to match up well. I don’t think Meyers and Smith is near enough, and this may be too intricate, but here’s a deal I could see: Astros get: SP Cole Ragans OF Kyle Isbel IF Michael Massey Royals: OF Cam Smith IF Brice Matthews SP Spencer Arrighetti OF Jake Meyers OF Jesus Sanchez As an Astros fan that is a painful trade, but that’s generally how it should feel when your favorite team trades for a cheap controllable star player. The Royals get Houston’s entire starting OF plus another top prospect IF and young controllable BoR SP with big upside; it’s a massive haul. The Astros come out of this trade with a cheap controllable ace, 2 LHH bench players, and ~$30M in payroll flexibility, plenty of money to address their remaining needs of adding a LH bat, a backup C, and potentially another decent SP. Technically the only ding to the farm system is Matthews, who would graduate in early 2026 anyway, but there’s no getting around the fact that this is an all-in move for 2026. SS Pena DH Paredes LF Alvarez 3B Correa 2B Altuve 1B Walker RF Yastrzemski ($6M/1yr) C Diaz CF Cole Bench: Massey, Caratini ($16M/2yrs), Allen, Isbel SP: Brown, Ragans, Verlander ($14M/1yr), Javier, Weiss, McCullers RP: Hader, Abreu, King, Sousa, Okert, Pearson, De Los Santos My prediction is that Houston will complete a trade for a SP within the next 96 hours.
No need to include 3 OFs in that trade proposal as it would never happen. Cam himself would be close enough already. Meyers may also net a SP (beit not a #1 or #2). Astros have the opportunity to fleece another team with Cam and Meyers, and it's just a matter of which team will bite.
Maybe just leave Meyers and Isbel out? He is just Jake Meyers - lite. It's like trading Dubon for Allen all over again. And they eill just be kicking the issue down the road and be trying to dump him next year
