The Giants are also good Adrian Houser they agreed to a two-year, $22MM contract, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. There is a third season club option. Houser, a BBI Sports Group client, will likely enter San Francisco’s trade next season after the 2025 rematch. The Giants, who also announced a one-year deal with former Tigers closer. Jason Foley Less than an hour ago, 40-man roster spots would have to be freed up, as they were already active before one of those two deals.
Houser, who will turn 33 in February, has been a fixture in the Milwaukee rotation for several years. From 2021-23, Houser started 68 games for the Brewers (plus five relief outings) and logged a 3.94 ERA. His 17.6% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate were both worse than average, but Houser piled up grounders at a 51.3% rate and consistently avoided the long ball (0.83 HR/9).
The Brewers traded Houser to the Mets in the 2023-24 offseason, ahead of what would have been his final season in control of the club. He struggled in his one year in Queens (5.84 ERA in seven innings and 16 relief innings) before he was selected for assignment and retired. He signed a minor league contract with the Rangers in free agency last winter. Texas didn’t bring him to the major leagues before the exit deadline, so Houser returned to the market and signed a major league deal with the White Sox — a decision that would now change his career.
Houser hit the ground running and never looked back. In 11 starts with the ChiSox, he pitched 68 2/3 innings of 2.10 ERA ball. As was the case in Milwaukee, Houser posted a strikeout rate below the league average of 22% (17.1%), but he did so with better command (8% walk rate) and fewer doubles (0.39 HR/9). The oppression of Houser’s home did not seem sustainable; only 4.6% of the fly-balls he gave up for the Sox turned into homers – miles south of the league-average 11.9% mark and his career 11.5%.
After being traded to Tampa Bay, Houser literally saw his family’s fortunes run out. His homer-to-flyball rate increased to 11.9%, and he averaged 1.12 homers per nine frames. The resulting 4.79 ERA was in line with his 4.62 SIERA with Chicago. Still, Houser proved a solid source of innings down the Rays, throwing 56 1/3 frames in 10 starts. Overall, he finished the season with a 3.31 ERA, 17.8% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate, 48.9% groundball rate and 0.73 HR/9.
Houser will step in behind new captain Tony Vitello Logan Webb, Robbie Ray again Landen Roupp. The Giants have a number of candidates for the fifth and final spot on the staff, including (but not limited to) Blade Tidwell, Carson Seymour, Kai-Wei Teng, Trevor McDonald, Hayden Birdsong and well thought out hope Carson Whisenhunt.
The Giants have been looking for rotation help this winter, and while they have been linked to some of the top names on the market, ownership has publicly expressed reluctance to commit long-term to the starting pitcher. That is done to match the jars like Tatsuya Imai, Framber Valdez again Guard Suarez seems unlikely, although it at least seems like the Giants could look to continue expanding their starting staff through the trade market or another short-term deal like today’s Houser deal.
Given Houser’s inconsistent record, the lack of missed at-bats and the uncontrollable level of home run suppression by the White Sox, it’s a small price for the Giants to pay. Then again, Oracle Park in San Francisco is one of the friendliest places in sports. Oracle Park is particularly strong in left-handed home power, which meshes well with Houser’s skill set. He held right-handers to a .249/.293/.320 batting line in 2025 (.234/.296/.339 career) but was marked by lefties with a .274/.356/.456 batting line last season (and .282/.367/.55 for his career).
The addition of Houser pushes San Francisco to nearly $203MM in luxury tax obligations, per RosterResource. The Giants are more than $40MM ahead of the $244MM first-round cap. However, although they have paid tax in the past – doing so as recently as 2024 – it is unclear whether they are free to do so in 2026. Ownership comments downplaying the possibility of adding more long-term deals would raise at least some trepidation about spending on those high-profile deals.
The Giants are still looking for help in the outfield, second base and/or in the bullpen. Although the high-level free agents who were loosely connected to them at the beginning in free agency (eg Imai, Valdez) do not seem like realistic targets, to prevent the face of ownership in the team’s position regarding long-term commitment, there are still various methods to follow. Free agency offers no shortage of veteran hitters and relievers available on short-term deals, and San Francisco is reportedly among the teams in hot pursuit of the Cardinals center fielder/outfielder. Brendan Donovan.
President of baseball operations Buster Posey assuming he has a lot more moves up his sleeve, and while the addition of Houser doesn’t significantly increase the team’s ceiling, it improves a rotation that has been full of question marks beyond the Webb/Ray tandem up top.
