Given that the Houston Astros have a pretty cluttered roster and some self-imposed spending limits they need to work around, a certain amount of creativity and a bit of risk-taking were always going to be in play this offseason. While Astros fans have been hoping that Houston would deal with the likely departure of Framber Valdez with another high-profile move, the team could have someone a little off the beaten path in mind instead.
Pitchers coming over from Japan and Korea are very hot commodities at the moment. Tatsuya Imai is one of the most popular free agents on the market period. Cody Ponce turned his career around overseas and is now highly sought after heading into the 2026 season.
While the Astros did not secure either of those arms, Houston did sign Ryan Weiss to a major league deal in an attempt to get plenty of rotation depth ahead of spring training.
Source: The Astros have agreed to a deal with RHP Ryan Weiss, pending a physical. He pitched the last two years in Korea and will be a starter.
Weiss, 28, made 46 starts for the Hanwha Eagles and posted a 3.16 ERA, 1.07 WHIP with 305 strikeouts in 270 1/3 innings in two years.
— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) December 2, 2025Astros make savvy depth move by signing Ryan Weiss fresh off stint in KBO
During the start of his professional career, Weiss had a forgettable first look. Formerly a fourth-round pick by the Diamondbacks, Weiss made it all the way to Triple-A before eventually taking his talents to independent leagues and overseas to the KBO. He was pretty ordinary in Korea in 2023 and 2024, but Weiss flourished last season with a 2.87 ERA and 207 strikeouts in 178.2 innings of work.
A healthy amount of skepticism about KBO stats is warranted, as the level of competition is not the same as MLB and is even a step down from baseball in Japan. However, Weiss’ stuff seems to pass the eye test as being able to miss bats, and at just under 29 years old, there is some room for growth here.
Given the upside, this feels like a very worthy gamble by the Astros. They need rotation help to offset free agent losses, as well as a number of lingering injury problems. Adding Weiss doesn’t close the door on any other additions and gives them a realistic starting option on what is likely to be a very cheap deal. There is a decent chance it doesn’t work out, but Weiss does at least seem like a guy who has an actual shot to contribute, unlike a lot of other fringe roster signings.