Giants sign 'legitimate fifth starter option' Houser to 2-year deal

The Giants added a veteran arm to their rotation on Friday, signing right-hander Adrian Houser to a two-year deal that includes a club option for 2028. The pact is worth $22 million, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan.

Houser's agreement came shortly after San Francisco announced the signing of former Tigers closer Jason Foley to a one-year deal to bolster its bullpen.

“It’s just the theme of trying to add pitching,” Giants general manager Zack Minasian said on a Zoom call with reporters on Friday. “Adding a starter, adding a reliever -- pitchers that we think can be impactful -- was something we talked about at the onset of the offseason. We’re really happy to add those two.”

Houser was one of the most pleasant surprises during the first half of the 2025 season, even though he didn’t pitch in a game until May 20. He started the year in the Rangers’ system, but Texas released him on May 15 after he logged a 5.03 ERA over nine appearances (eight starts) for Triple-A Round Rock. Houser signed a one-year contract with the White Sox a few days later and then tossed six scoreless innings against the Mariners in his season debut.

Over the next two-plus months, Houser produced a 2.10 ERA across 68 2/3 innings for Chicago and held opposing batters to three home runs, a .661 OPS and a 4.9% barrel rate.

“We really believed in the mechanical changes he made,” Minasian said. “He talked about getting more into his backside and it freeing up his arm path. It led to a two mile per hour velocity increase. I think he commanded the ball better. He spun the ball better. He was able to maybe widen his mix of usable pitches. He's a very athletic pitcher to begin with, and I think when things finally got synced up for him last year, that's when we really saw him take off.”

Minasian said the Giants had interest in acquiring Houser leading up to the 2025 Trade Deadline, but they ended up pivoting to sellers following a rough start to the second half of the season.

On Deadline day, Houser was instead shipped to the Rays, with whom he couldn’t quite replicate his first-half success. His ERA jumped to 4.79 over 56 1/3 frames with Tampa Bay. Batters hit seven homers and recorded a .767 OPS with a 7.9% barrel rate.

Houser, who turns 33 on Feb. 2, has played nine Major League seasons, the first seven of which came with the Brewers. He had a 4.00 ERA through 129 games (97 starts) with Milwaukee before he was traded to the Mets prior to the 2024 season.

He began that season in New York’s rotation but was moved to the bullpen after allowing 32 earned runs in 33 2/3 innings as a starter. Although he had better results as a multi-inning reliever, Houser was released on July 31. He would sign Minor League deals with the Cubs and Orioles later in the season but didn’t make it to the Majors with either club.

Houser has a five-pitch mix, but leans on his 94 mph sinker. He gets 17.1 inches of arm-side horizontal break on that pitch, 1.9 inches more than other sinkers thrown at similar velocities and release points. He has turned in a sub-20% strikeout rate in four of the past five seasons, but he does induce a good amount of grounders. Houser’s 48.9% ground-ball rate last season sat in the 79th percentile in MLB.

In San Francisco, Houser is poised to join a rotation that currently features Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Landen Roupp. Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt, Trevor McDonald and Blade Tidwell could be candidates to round out the staff, but they’re still relatively unproven. The Giants have expressed a desire to add multiple starting pitchers this offseason, so they’re planning to remain active on that front even after bringing Houser into the mix.

“We've talked since the beginning of the offseason that it would be ideal to add two starting pitchers and continue to give those younger arms more time,” Minasian said. “We're going to need them one way or another, but I think getting Adrian in the fold at least gives you some comfort that we have legitimate fifth starter options. But you never stop looking. If we can find somebody that we like through free agency or trade, we'll be active there.”

San Francisco doesn’t seem inclined to splurge on free-agent pitchers, which could put top-tier arms such as Framber Valdez, Tatsuya Imai and Ranger Suárez out of reach. The club could still try to re-sign Justin Verlander or target another veteran arm like Max Scherzer, who is good friends with new manager Tony Vitello. The Giants have also been among the teams tied to the Brewers’ Freddy Peralta, so they could also look to deepen their rotation via trade.