Lamonte Wade Jr. enters free agency in the winter of 2026-27, and the Houston Astros face an interesting decision. They could bring back the corner outfielder on a small contract or just say ‘goodbye and good luck’ to Wade.

Ninth-Round Pick

Wade was a ninth-round draft pick by the Twins out of the University of Maryland in 2015. He slowly progressed through the Twins system before making his debut in 2019. He played sparingly for the Twins in both 2019 and 2020.

Giants Tenure

He was traded to the Giants in 2021 and posted a 1.4 bWAR followed by a 0.1 bWAR season in 2022.

Wade raised the expectations of his career with great seasons in 2023 and 2024 with the Giants. He posted 2.8 bWAR in 135 games in 2023 and followed that up with a 2.0 bWAR season in 2024 in just 117 games.

Each season his OPS+ was 120 with an OPS of .761 or better. He excelled at getting on base with a .376 on-base percentage in the two seasons combined. His defense was just average in the two seasons, but he made up for it with his bat.

2025 Dropoff

Wade struggled in 2025, falling off dramatically with a combined .524 OPS spending half the season with the Giants and the rest with the Angels. He was traded midseason to Los Angeles (AL). Across both stops, he posted a negative 1.7 bWAR, the lowest in all of baseball.

2026 With The Astros

Wade signed a minor league deal with the White Sox last offseason before eventually being released in early June without playing a game with the big-league club.

The Astros snatched him up four days later. He improved from his 2025 downturn with a .655 OPS in 146 plate appearances and negative 0.2 bWAR overall. He managed to work walks in over 13% of plate appearances as his strongest quality.

His defense wasn’t great, playing mostly left field. He did have a few key hits for the Astros including a grand slam on July 11. His platoon splits were similar with a backwards .670 OPS against lefties and a .653 OPS against righties.

His career numbers indicate a batter who hits over 200 OPS points higher against righties; it just didn’t materialize in the small sample size of 2026.

The Astros could use another left-handed bat in 2027 so they should think about bringing him back. Houston’s outfield is a total question mark outside of Cam Smith, so it would be nice to have a veteran presence patrolling left field if the price is right.

Since the Astros making a big outfield splash in free agency is not in their character, Wade may be just the guy for a platoon role in the outfield if the Astros are interested.