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Houser, who\u2019ll turn 33 in February, was a steady presence in the Milwaukee rotation for several years. From 2021-23, Houser started 68 games for the Brewers (in addition to 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 managed to consistently avoid the long ball (0.83 HR\/9).<\/p>\n
The Brewers traded Houser to the Mets in the 2023-24 offseason, ahead of what was set to be his final season of club control. He struggled through his lone year in Queens (5.84 ERA in seven starts and 16 relief outings) before being designated for assignment and cut loose. He wound up settling for a minor league contract with the Rangers in free agency last winter. Texas didn\u2019t bring him up to the big leagues prior to an opt-out date, so Houser returned to the market and signed a big league deal with the White Sox \u2014 a decision that now stands as a turning point in his career.<\/p>\n
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 well shy of the 22% league average (17.1%), but he did so with better command (8% walk rate) and even fewer round-trippers (0.39 HR\/9). Houser\u2019s home run suppression didn\u2019t seem sustainable; only 4.6% of the fly-balls he surrendered with the Sox turned into homers \u2014 miles south of the league-average 11.9% mark and his own career mark of 11.5%.<\/p>\n
Following a trade to Tampa Bay, Houser indeed saw his home run luck run out. His homer-to-flyball rate jumped to 11.9%, and he averaged 1.12 homers per nine frames. The resulting 4.79 ERA was pretty closely in line with his 4.62 SIERA with Chicago. Still, Houser proved a durable source of innings down the stretch for the Rays, pitching 56 1\/3 frames across 10 starts. Overall, he finished out the season with a 3.31 ERA, 17.8% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate, 48.9% ground-ball rate and 0.73 HR\/9.<\/p>\n
Houser will slot into new skipper Tony Vitello\u2019s rotation behind Logan Webb<\/a>, Robbie Ray<\/a> and Landen Roupp<\/a>. The Giants have a host of candidates for the fifth and final spot on the staff, including (but not limited to) Blade Tidwell<\/a>, Carson Seymour<\/a>, Kai-Wei Teng<\/a>, Trevor McDonald<\/a>, Hayden Birdsong<\/a> and well-regarded prospect Carson Whisenhunt<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Giants have been on the hunt for rotation help this winter, and while they\u2019ve been connected to some of the more prominent names on the market, ownership has publicly expressed a reluctance<\/a> to commit long-term to a starting pitcher. That\u2019s made fits with pitchers like Tatsuya Imai<\/a>, Framber Valdez<\/a> and Ranger Suarez<\/a> seem unlikely, though it\u2019s at least plausible that the Giants could look to further augment their starting staff via the trade market or another shorter-term deal such as today\u2019s Houser agreement.<\/p>\n Given Houser\u2019s inconsistent track record, lack of missed bats and generally unsustainable level of home run suppression with the White Sox, it\u2019s a fairly steep price for the Giants to pay. Then again, San Francisco\u2019s Oracle Park is one of the most pitcher-friendly venues in the sport. Oracle Park is particularly tough on left-handed home run power, which dovetails nicely with Houser\u2019s skill set. He held right-handers to an awful .249\/.293\/.320 batting line in 2025 (.234\/.296\/.339 career) but was tagged by lefties for a .274\/.356\/.456 batting line last season (and .282\/.367\/.456 for his career).<\/p>\n The addition of Houser pushes San Francisco to about $203MM of luxury tax obligations, per RosterResource<\/a>. The Giants are more than $40MM shy of the $244MM first-tier threshold. However, while they\u2019ve paid the tax in the past \u2014 doing so as recently as 2024 \u2014 it\u2019s not clear whether they\u2019re comfortable doing so in 2026. Ownership comments downplaying the possibility of adding additional long-term deals would suggest at least some trepidation about spending to those heights.<\/p>\n The Giants are still looking for help in the outfield, at second base and\/or in the bullpen. While the top-end free agents to whom they were loosely linked earlier in free agency (e.g. Imai, Valdez) don\u2019t seem like realistic targets, barring an about-face from ownership on the team\u2019s stance regarding long-term commitments, there are still various avenues to pursue. Free agency offers no shortage of veteran hitters and relievers available on short-term deals, and San Francisco is reportedly among the teams most aggressively pursuing Cardinals infielder\/outfielder Brendan Donovan<\/a>.<\/p>\n