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Giants Sign Tyler Mahle

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January 5th: The Giants officially announced the Mahle signing today but still haven’t announced a corresponding 40-man roster move.

January 1st: Mahle is guaranteed $10MM on the deal, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Performance bonuses could bump it up near $13MM, reports Kiley McDaniel of ESPN.

Dec. 31: The Giants are closing in on a deal with free agent right-hander Tyler Mahle, reports Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s a one-year pact, per Rubin. The 31-year-old Mahle is a client of ISE Baseball.

Mahle is coming off an injury-riddled 2025 with the Rangers, though he was productive when healthy. The veteran righty was one of the most pleasant early-season surprises, pitching to a 1.64 ERA over the first two months of the season. Mahle allowed two earned runs or fewer in 11 of his first 12 starts to begin the campaign. He was knocked around for eight earned runs across his first two starts of June, then hit the IL with shoulder fatigue. Mahle returned for a pair of outings in September, allowing a run over 9 2/3 innings.

Persistent maladies have limited Mahle to just 125 innings over the past three seasons. He made nine starts across a season and a half with Minnesota, missing time with a strained shoulder and a forearm issue. It was a disappointing outcome for the Twins, who parted with Spencer Steer and Christian Encarnacion-Strand to land Mahle at the 2022 trade deadline. After signing with Texas in December 2023, Mahle missed the first four months of the year while recovering from elbow surgery. After three games with his new club, he went down with shoulder tightness and missed the rest of the year.

Mahle was routinely striking out more than a batter per inning during his peak years with Cincinnati, but those numbers have tailed off as the injuries have mounted. Mahle posted an uninspiring 19.1% strikeout rate last season. He sat at 92 mph with his fastball, down a couple of ticks from his best seasons with the Reds. The ERA estimators all suggest Mahle’s 2.18 ERA in 2025 should be viewed with skepticism. His xERA and xFIP were both above 4.00, while his SIERA was all the way up at 4.62. Mahle ran hot with home run luck (4.9% HR/FB), while also benefiting from a career-high 84.6% LOB%.

It was reported in mid-December that the Giants were still in the market for pitching after signing righty Adrian Houser. With Justin Verlander hitting free agency, the club entered the offseason with Logan Webb and Robbie Ray as the only guaranteed members of the 2026 rotation. Landen Roupp, who missed the final six weeks of the 2025 campaign with a knee injury, is also expected to be on the staff. Houser and Mahle are the favorites to round out the group.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey entered the offseason focused on adding to the rotation and the bullpen. While the club has been connected to some of the bigger names on the starter market, including Framber Valdez and Zac Gallen, the moves so far have been relatively minor. Houser came on board via a two-year, $22MM pact with a club option for a third season. The Giants added relievers Jason Foley and Sam Hentges on cheap deals. Mahle now joins the squad on a one-year deal.

Given the injury histories for Ray and Mahle, plus the limited track record for Roupp, San Francisco will likely need to lean on internal options for additional innings. Carson Whisenhunt, Carson Seymour, and Kai-Wei Teng all received opportunities last season, but none delivered useful results. Hayden Birdsong graduated from a long relief role to the rotation, but control issues led to a demotion to Triple-A. Keaton Winn and Blade Tidwell (acquired in the Tyler Rogers trade) missed time with injuries. Trevor McDonald might be the leading candidate to open the year as the sixth starter/injury fill-in. The righty closed the year with a pair of stellar outings, tossing six innings of one-run ball against the Dodgers and striking out 10 Rockies over seven frames.

RosterResource currently has the Giants’ payroll at $175MM for 2026. That mark doesn’t include Mahle’s deal or the $17MM payment owed to Blake Snell in mid-January as part of his deferred signing bonus. When adding in those considerations, the club is on track to comfortably exceed the $177MM it spent on payroll last season. The increase in expenses could be the reason the Giants ultimately rounded out the rotation with low-cost veterans in Houser and Mahle. A general hesitation by the front office to pursue long-term deals for starters likely also factored in.

Photos courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images

Giants Sign Buddy Kennedy, Caleb Kilian To Minors Contracts

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The Giants signed infielder Buddy Kennedy and right-hander Caleb Kilian to minor league contracts last month, as per San Francisco’s official transactions page.  The two players each elected minor league free agency following the season.

Kennedy appeared in 13 big league games in 2025, split between the Phillies (four games), Blue Jays (two games), and Dodgers (seven games).  Because Kennedy is out of minor league options, he had to be designated for assignment rather than being simply sent down to Triple-A, resulting in a string of DFAs, outrights, a waiver claim, and two separate stints in Toronto’s organization.  Despite his brief time with both the Dodgers and Blue Jays, Kennedy was assured of a World Series ring no matter who won the Fall Classic, bringing a nice bonus to the end of his fourth MLB season.

Beginning his pro career in the Diamondbacks organization, Kennedy has hit .178/.271/.274 over 181 big league plate appearances over 67 games with five different teams.  His minor league numbers are markedly better (.281/.388/.429 with 33 homers over 1704 career Triple-A PA) but Kennedy’s calling card is his defensive versatility.  Kennedy has a lot of experience at first, second, and third base, plus some work as a shortstop and left fielder.

Playing time figures to be scarce on a Giants’ infield that has a set starter at every position except second base, and even the keystone could be filled with a prominent name given the rumors linking San Francisco to Ketel Marte and Brendan Donovan.  Casey Schmitt would move into a backup infield role in that scenario, and Christian Koss, Tyler Fitzgerald, and Osleivis Basabe are all ahead of Kennedy on the depth chart.  Kennedy’s out-of-option status won’t help his chances of breaking camp, but he could stick at the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate as a depth option.

Kilian began his pro career as an eighth-round pick for the Giants in the 2019 draft, and the righty was one of the two prospects San Francisco dealt to the Cubs for Kris Bryant at the 2021 trade deadline.  Kilian started five of eight games for Chicago scattered across the 2022-24 seasons, and he has a 9.22 ERA and almost as many walks (six) as strikeouts (seven) over his 27 1/3 career Major League innings.

A teres major strain also kept Kilian on the injured list for over half of the 2024 season, and an undisclosed injury while in Triple-A limited the righty to 15 2/3 minor league innings in 2025 and no time on Chicago’s active roster.  Pitching mostly out of the bullpen for the first time in his career, Kilian struggled to a 7.47 ERA in 2025, though his health issues likely impacted that shaky performance.

Though there has been plenty of turnover within San Francisco’s organization since the last time Kilian was there, the 28-year-old could benefit from a familiar environment and some fresh voices to help him get his career on track.  Staying on the field after two injury-marred seasons is the first priority, and the Giants’ pitching development team can then determine if Kilian still has a future as a starter or if a relief role is a better fit.

Giants, Yankees, Mets, Cubs Interested In Edward Cabrera

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9:55PM: The Giants are “also believed [to be] interested” in Cabrera, Jon Heyman of the New York Post writes. San Francisco has already signed Tyler Mahle and Adrian Houser to join Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Landen Roupp in the rotation, but a more controllable pitcher like Cabrera would be useful since Ray and Mahle will be free agents next winter. Beyond that starting five, the Giants have several younger arms but not a lot of experience, and conceivably one or two of these pitchers could be moved to Miami in a hypothetical Cabrera trade package.

12:54PM: The Yankees are discussing the possibility of a trade for right-hander Edward Cabrera with the Marlins, according to a report from Chris Kirschner and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The report also adds that the Yankees remain involved in the market for Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta after their involvement was first reported at the Winter Meetings last month. Meanwhile, Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald reports that the Mets and Cubs have also shown interest in Cabrera.

Cabrera, 27, is an exciting young arm with considerable upside. The righty enjoyed a breakout season last year with Miami, pitching to a 3.53 ERA with a 3.83 FIP in 137 innings of work across 26 starts. That’s decent mid-rotation production already, but what makes Cabrera an especially enticing trade candidate is the possibility he’ll take a step forward in the future. The youngster averaged a career-best 97.0 mph on his fastball this past season despite throwing a career-high in terms of innings, and paired a strong 25.8% strikeout rate with a career-best 8.3% walk rate.

With a solid 47.9% ground ball rate for his career in addition to those strong strikeout and walk numbers, it’s not hard to imagine Cabrera building on his 2025 season to emerge as a dominant starter. The righty is also controlled through the end of the 2028 season, meaning that an acquiring club would have plenty of time to work with him before he reaches free agency.

Of course, that’s not to say there aren’t causes for concern. 2025 was the first year Cabrera crossed the 100 inning threshold at the big league level due to an assortment of injury woes. The most significant of were shoulder problems that limited him in both 2023 and ’24, but even last season saw Cabrera make two trips to the injured list. His second trip to the shelf, which occurred back in September, saw him sidelined due to a right elbow sprain. Elbow injuries are always worrisome for pitchers given that UCL injuries wipe out at least a year of a pitcher’s career when they require surgery, though it’s worth noting that Cabrera still struck out 26.3% of his opponents over his final two starts of the season after he returned from the shelf.

The Yankees, for their part, are seeking at least one starter to add to their rotation with both Gerrit Cole and Carlos Rodon poised to start the season on the injured list, while Clarke Schmidt figures to miss most if not all of the 2026 campaign. Max Fried, Luis Gil, Cam Schlittler, and Will Warren all figure to be part of the Opening Day rotation at this point, but additional injuries could crop up and it makes plenty of sense for the Yankees to add another starter to the mix ahead of depth options like Paul Blackburn and Ryan Yarbrough.

Cabrera could be a particularly appealing addition for New York given that MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him to earn just $3.7MM in arbitration this year. While the Yankees certainly have the budget to afford someone pricier, their primary focus seems to be retaining Cody Bellinger at this point and it’s unclear if the team has the stomach for a second nine-figure deal on top of the one Bellinger is reportedly seeking. That would leave bids of players like Ranger Suarez and Framber Valdez unrealistic, and Cabrera projects to be better than most other starters in free agency at this point.

That affordability also figures to be attractive to the Cubs, who have long been known to be searching for a player to add to the front of their rotation this winter. The club appeared to finish second in the Tatsuya Imai sweepstakes behind the Astros earlier this week, so it’s possible that missing out on Imai could spur the team to more aggressively pursue Cabrera or other starting pitcher.

Cabrera’s affordable salary would be particularly attractive for the Cubs given their reported interest in the infield market. They’ve been connected to each of Kazuma Okamoto, Alex Bregman, Eugenio Suarez, and Bo Bichette on one level or another throughout the offseason, and while Okamoto is off the market the other three remain available. Swinging a deal for Cabrera could allow the Cubs to sign one of those big bats without going over the luxury tax, something they’ve been loath to do in recent years, and that signing of an infielder could lessen the blow to the team’s offense a trade for Cabrera might create.

As for the Mets, the team has made adding to the front-of-their-rotation a stated priority as well but so far have been focused on reworking their position player mix and bullpen. Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz both walked in free agency, while Jorge Polanco, Devin Williams, and Luke Weaver have signed to help make up for those losses. Meanwhile, they’ve shipped out Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil while bringing Marcus Semien into the fold via the trade market.

All that maneuvering has left the starting rotation virtually untouched, and the Mets have made clear that they’re willing to deal from their collection of young infield talent (including Ronny Mauricio, Mark Vientos, and Luisangel Acuna) this winter as they look to improve the rest of their roster. They also have plenty of young pitching of their own, which could be attractive to the Marlins as a way to keep their deep rotation well-stocked with talent even after dealing Cabrera.

NL West Notes: Murakami, Hwang, Closers

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Munetaka Murakami came into the offseason as one of the more intriguing names on the free agent market. He slotted in at No. 4 on our annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list. Despite Murakami’s prolific power in NPB, the reported interest around the young slugger was minimal as the winter progressed. The White Sox and Red Sox were among the only known suitors. Murakami ultimately went to Chicago on a modest two-year, $34MM deal.

The Diamondbacks were among the teams interested in Murakami, reports John Gambadoro of 98.7 Arizona Sports. Gambadoro added that the former Japanese star was “one of a few of the Asian players” the Diamondbacks were considering. He didn’t mention any other names, but the free agent market includes several notable players making the jump stateside, including Tatsuya Imai and Kazuma Okamoto. MLBTR’s Anthony Franco predicted Okamoto would sign with Arizona in the aforementioned Top 50 FAs piece.

Arizona’s connection to Murakami makes sense given the state of the club’s corner infield spots. First baseman Josh Naylor and third baseman Eugenio Suarez were dealt to Seattle in separate deals at the trade deadline. That left Pavin Smith and Tyler Locklear (who came over in the Suarez trade) to handle the majority of the first base reps. Blaze Alexander stepped in as the primary third baseman.

Top prospect Jordan Lawlar is slated to step in at the hot corner in 2026, but first base is a question mark. Locklear had surgery on both his left elbow and shoulder in October. He’s a candidate to begin the season on the injured list. That leaves Smith and utilityman Tim Tawa as the current options at first base. Arizona finished with the 5th-lowest OPS at the position last season. With Murakami off the board, the club could look to pursue at least a right-handed complement to Smith, and perhaps an upgrade altogether.

On the pitching side, Gambadoro mentioned he expects the team to look into the closer market. Arizona will be without top closers Justin Martinez and A.J. Puk for the majority of the season. Both relievers had Tommy John surgery in June. The current closer mix is an uninspiring group that includes Andrew Saalfrank, Ryan Thompson, and Kevin Ginkel.

Arizona’s bullpen ranked 25th in xFIP and 28th in SIERA last season. The club had a whopping 17 pitchers record saves in 2025. Shelby Miller led the way with 10 saves. He was dealt to Milwaukee at the trade deadline. The Diamondbacks had four saves in the final month of the season, and they went to four different pitchers (Jake Woodford, Taylor Rashi, Kyle Backhus, John Curtiss).

Martinez and Puk won’t be out forever, so Arizona doesn’t need a long-term solution. The reliever market is beginning to thin out, but there are still a handful of options with closing experience available. Seranthony Dominguez, Ryan Pressly, or Chad Green could make sense as short-term closers who have been setup men in the past. Arizona’s Opening Day closer will likely slot in behind Martinez and Puk once they return, so experience in the 7th and 8th innings would be useful.

Elsewhere in the NL West, former Giants infielder Jae-gyun Hwang announced his retirement (h/t to J.P. Hoornstra of The Big Lead). Hwang had spent the last eight seasons with the KT Wiz of KBO. He’d been in professional baseball since 2007.

Hwang made the jump to MLB in 2017 after a decade in KBO. He signed a split contract with the Giants in January that year. Hwang posted decent results in Triple-A, hitting .285 with 10 home runs and seven steals across 98 games. He was up and down a couple of times with the big-league club, with unimpressive results. Hwang went 8-for-52 in 18 games with the Giants. He did launch a home run for his first MLB hit, taking Kyle Freeland deep in his third career at-bat.

Hwang was outrighted off the 40-man roster in September 2017. After his lone season with the Giants, the Wiz lured him back to KBO with a four-year, $7.9MM deal. He was a well-above-average hitter for the duration of the agreement and remained productive at the plate for the rest of his career, including a 94 wRC+ as a 37-year-old in his final season.

We at MLBTR wish Hwang the best in his future endeavours beyond baseball.

Photo courtesy of Matt Marton, Imagn Images

Giants Sign Nick Margevicius To Minor League Deal

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The Giants have signed left-hander Nick Margevicius to a minor league contract, according to Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area.  Margevicius will receive a $825K salary if he reaches the majors, MLB Trade Rumors’ Steve Adams reports.  Margevicius will receive an invitation to San Francisco’s big league Spring Training camp.

It has been over four years since Margevicius’ last MLB game, as the southpaw made five appearances for the 2021 Mariners before his season was cut short by thoracic outlet syndrome.  Margevicius spent the 2022-23 seasons in the minors pitching in the Seattle and Atlanta farm systems, then spent 2024 abroad pitching for the TSG Hawks of the Chinese Professional Baseball.  Returning to North America last year, Margevicius began the 2025 campaign in the Mexican League before catching on with the Tigers on a minors contract.

This return to Triple-A ball went pretty well, as Margevicius posted a 3.89 ERA, 22% strikeout rate, and 5.7% walk rate over 74 innings (starting 14 of 17 games) with Triple-A Toledo.  It was a big step up from the ugly numbers the left-hander posted in his last Triple-A stint in 2022-23, and to some extent a continuation of the strong work Margevicius delivered with the Hawks and in Mexico.  While still not a hard thrower, Margevicius upped his fastball velocity a tick to 91.9mph, and he has incorporated a cutter into his repertoire.

Margevicius’ work didn’t earn him a look on Detroit’s MLB roster, but the Giants were apparently intrigued enough to issue the the southpaw a non-roster invite.  Margevicius could be a spot starter or perhaps just a pure Triple-A depth option, or the Giants could conceivably use him as more of a long reliever if his contract gets selected.  San Francisco’s fifth starter competiton features a host of younger arms without much big league experience, though Margevicius’ 32 games with the Padres and Mariners from 2019-21 doesn’t really give him much of an edge in this department given how it was so relatively long ago.

Players In DFA Limbo

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When a team designates a player for assignment, he is removed from that club’s 40-man roster. The team then has a period of time with some ability to impact what is next for that player. This is colloquially referred to as “DFA limbo”.

The team can trade the player to another club, unless the trade deadline has passed and the new offseason has not yet begun. The team can also place the player on outright or release waivers. This limbo period can last as long as seven days. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the team has a maximum of five days to work out a trade.

Or at least that’s the case for most of the year. It’s different around the holidays, with several instances in recent years of players being in DFA limbo for longer than two weeks. For instance, catcher Sam Huff was designated for assignment by the Rangers on December 23rd of 2024. He stayed in DFA limbo until he was claimed off waivers by the Giants on January 8th of 2025, 16 days later.

There has never been an official announcement made about what the rules are but it’s clear there’s some sort of freeze on the DFA clock around the holidays in late December and early January.

In this morning’s edition of The Opener, MLBTR mentioned two players who had been designated for assignment on December 17th, expecting those situations to be resolved today. There have been no updates as of the publication of this post. It’s possible the situations have been resolved but just haven’t been reported publicly because of media/communications people taking time off for the holidays. It’s also possible that those players have had their DFA clocks frozen and will remain in limbo into January.

Below is a list of players who have been designated for assignment in the past week without resolution, listed chronologically.

December 17th

December 19th

December 20th

December 22nd

December 23rd

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

The Giants Should Chase Upside On The Trade Market

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The Giants have been fairly quiet through the offseason's first two months. They've added back-end starter Adrian Houser on a two-year, $22MM deal with a club option. Their only other moves have been cheap fliers on rehabbing relievers Jason Foley and Sam Hentges.

While technically in line with their offseason plan to focus on pitching, their moves to date aren't the type that'll move the needle. Chairman Greg Johnson and general manager Zack Minasian have downplayed the chance of making a long-term investment on the pitching staff. There are still a handful of players on the open market who fit on paper. Any of Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez or Zac Gallen would upgrade the rotation. Top free agent hitters Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger and Bo Bichette happen to fit at their respective biggest problem areas on the position player side (right field and second base, respectively).

It's possible ownership doesn't want to meet the asking prices necessary for anyone in that group. The Giants project for a $176MM payroll, as calculated by RosterResource. That's narrowly above their $173MM Opening Day mark from 2025. That doesn't include the $17MM payment they owe to Blake Snell on January 15, as they agreed to defer the signing bonus on his contract for the '24 season.

They're also on the hook for one of the most expensive managerial situations in MLB. They owe fired skipper Bob Melvin a $4MM salary. They paid a $3MM buyout to the University of Tennessee to get Tony Vitello out of his contract. Vitello is reportedly set for a $3.5MM salary, meaning they're committing $10.5MM to the position for the first season.

Even with an estimated $40MM until they hit the luxury tax threshold, the budget could be tight for a marquee free agent. However, that doesn't mean the offseason needs to be exclusively depth acquisitions. The Giants have a few ways to chase the extra wins needed to push them from their annual .500 finish to more firmly in the Wild Card picture.

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Details On Ketel Marte’s No-Trade Protection

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The seven-year contract extension Ketel Marte signed with the Diamondbacks last April included a five-team no-trade clause, which adds an interesting wrinkle to the trade rumors that have swirled around the former NLCS MVP in recent weeks.  As reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, the Athletics, Cardinals, Giants, Pirates, and Yankees are the five teams included on Marte’s current list, which can be updated every offseason.

There are any number of reasons why a player may include a particular team on a no-trade list, and it is worth noting that Marte could still ultimately approve a deal to any of these clubs.  There is no obvious geographic link between the five teams, and while the Yankees were the only member of the group to reach the 2025 playoffs, the Giants, Pirates, and even the A’s are all looking to compete in 2026.  The Cardinals are in rebuild mode, so it is safe to say they weren’t in the running to acquire Marte anyway.

Interestingly, the Pirates and Giants have been linked to Marte’s trade market.  Now that Pittsburgh has landed Brandon Lowe from the Rays in yesterday’s big three-team swap, the Bucs may feel their second base needs have been addressed, though there is a world where Lowe could be a primary DH and Marte could still be brought aboard.  Still, there’s such a hefty amount of money remaining on Marte’s contract that a trade to the budget-conscious Pirates always seemed like an imperfect fit, and Marte’s no-trade list might well underline his own reservations about joining a team with just one winning season in the last decade.

San Francisco has also topped the .500 mark only once in the last nine seasons, but the Giants have been much more willing to spend in their bid to return to consistent contention.  While ownership is wary about making another long-term financial commitment, Marte’s deal could be viewed as a relative bargain, since he would land way more than $102.5MM on a six-year deal if he was a free agent this winter.

Second base is a need position for the Giants, though perhaps not as pressing as the club’s need for more rotation help.  Making a big splash in acquiring Marte might not be as big a priority, in that case, plus there are the added obstacles of Marte’s no-trade protection and the Diamondbacks’ probable reluctance to move the All-Star to a division rival.  San Francisco is considered to be one of the favorites to pry Brendan Donovan away from the Cardinals, so that might end up being the Giants’ big move to address the keystone.

The Giants and Pirates each play in pitcher-friendly ballparks, which might factor into Marte’s reasoning for including the teams on his list.  Sutter Health Park is extremely hitter-friendly, yet it is fair to wonder if Marte just doesn’t want to play in a minor league stadium for at least the next two seasons while the A’s await the construction of their new ballpark in Las Vegas.

The A’s have a big hole at second base, and acquiring Marte would add another top-tier bat to a lineup that already includes Nick Kurtz, Brent Rooker, Tyler Soderstrom, Jacob Wilson, and Shea Langeliers.  While the A’s have been a bit more willing to spend over the last year, Marte’s remaining salary would represent a new spending frontier for the traditionally low-payroll team.  Hypothetically, Luis Severino could be included in a Marte trade as salary offset, but that assumes Arizona (who needs rotation help) has any interest in Severino in the wake of his uninspiring 2025 season.

The Yankees are the most interesting inclusion on Marte’s list, as one would think he would welcome a chance to join a perennial contender.  Jazz Chisholm Jr. is already playing second base in the Bronx, but Chisholm is a free agent next winter, so Marte would represent a longer-term answer at the position.  Purely speculatively, any kind of Diamondbacks/Yankees trade involving Marte could see Chisholm going the other way, to give Arizona a one-year stopgap at second or third base.

Re-signing Cody Bellinger is thought be the Yankees’ top offseason priority, though New York might pivot to other backup plans should Bellinger sign elsewhere.  Landing Marte would certainly qualify as a substantial Plan B, yet his no-trade clause might make any potential trade a moot point.

Amidst all of the reports and speculation, it remains unclear if the Diamondbacks actually will trade away a star player who received such a lengthy contract extension less than a year ago.  With Lowe now in Pittsburgh, however, one big second-base trade chip has been removed from the board, leaving other teams in need of keystone help perhaps more open to meeting Arizona’s demands for Marte.  Beyond the Pirates and Giants, such teams as the Mariners, Rays, Red Sox, Blue Jays, Phillies, and Tigers have all reportedly shown some degree of interest in a Marte trade this winter.

Giants Designate Wade Meckler For Assignment

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The Giants designated outfielder Wade Meckler for assignment, the club announced to reporters (including Shayna Rubin of The San Francisco Chronicle). They needed to open a 40-man roster spot upon finalizing the Adrian Houser contract this morning.

Meckler received his first MLB call in August 2023. He hit .232 without a home run in 20 games and was optioned back to Triple-A during the first week of September. He has not appeared in the majors since then despite continuing to hold a 40-man spot until tonight. The left-handed hitter has spent the past two-plus seasons on optional assignment while spending a decent chunk of time on the Triple-A injured list.

Listed at 5’10 and 190 pounds, Meckler has a smaller frame that doesn’t lend itself to much power potential. He has posted bottom of the scale hard contact rates while hitting almost everything on the ground. His skillset is built around an excellent understanding of the strike zone. Meckler has walked at a 13.4% clip in nearly 700 Triple-A plate appearances over the last three years. He pairs that with good bat-to-ball skills and has only punched out at a 16.7% rate. Meckler owns a .296/.392/.429 batting line at the top minor league level.

The Giants never gave Meckler much of a look despite mediocre outfield production over the past couple seasons. They’ll have five days to trade him or place him on waivers. The plate discipline and ability to play all three outfield spots could get him some attention from another club. He still has one minor league option year remaining.

Giants Sign Adrian Houser

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December 19th: The Giants have officially announced the Houser signing but haven’t yet announced a corresponding move.

December 16th: The Giants and righty Adrian Houser are in agreement on a two-year, $22MM contract, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. There’s a club option for a third season. Houser, a client of the BBI Sports Group, will presumably step right into San Francisco’s rotation next season after a rebound showing in 2025. The Giants, who also announced a one-year deal with former Tigers closer Jason Foley less than an hour ago, will need to free up a pair of 40-man roster spots, as they were already at capacity prior to either of those two agreements.

Houser, who’ll 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).

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’t 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 — a decision that now stands as a turning point in 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 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’s home run suppression didn’t seem sustainable; only 4.6% of the fly-balls he surrendered with the Sox turned into homers — miles south of the league-average 11.9% mark and his own career mark of 11.5%.

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.

Houser will slot into new skipper Tony Vitello’s rotation behind Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Landen Roupp. The Giants have a host 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-regarded prospect Carson Whisenhunt.

The Giants have been on the hunt for rotation help this winter, and while they’ve been connected to some of the more prominent names on the market, ownership has publicly expressed a reluctance to commit long-term to a starting pitcher. That’s made fits with pitchers like Tatsuya Imai, Framber Valdez and Ranger Suarez seem unlikely, though it’s 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’s Houser agreement.

Given Houser’s inconsistent track record, lack of missed bats and generally unsustainable level of home run suppression with the White Sox, it’s a fairly steep price for the Giants to pay. Then again, San Francisco’s 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’s 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).

The addition of Houser pushes San Francisco to about $203MM of luxury tax obligations, per RosterResource. The Giants are more than $40MM shy of the $244MM first-tier threshold. However, while they’ve paid the tax in the past — doing so as recently as 2024 — it’s not clear whether they’re 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.

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’t seem like realistic targets, barring an about-face from ownership on the team’s 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.

President of baseball operations Buster Posey presumably has several more moves up his sleeve, and while the addition of Houser doesn’t necessarily raise the team’s ceiling much, it does boost the floor of a rotation that was pretty rife with question marks beyond the veteran Webb/Ray tandem up top.

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