The Giants finalized their one-year, $10MM contract with Tyler Mahle this afternoon. He’s their second short-term free agent rotation addition. They brought in Adrian Houser on a two-year, $22MM deal last month.
Mahle and Houser are back-end types rather than the top-of-the-rotation arm which many fans hoped the Giants would add when president of baseball operations Buster Posey called pitching the offseason focus. The team has consistently downplayed their desire to make expensive or long-term free agent commitments and their first couple moves align with that reluctance. Like every team, they’ll continue to keep an eye on the rotation market, but general manager Zack Minasian suggested the Mahle and Houser moves may complete the rotation.
“We’re very comfortable with the five that we have and then the bundle of arms behind them now to say that our depth is in a much better spot than it was at the beginning of the offseason,” Minasian told reporters (links via John Shea of The San Francisco Standard and Susan Slusser of The San Francisco Chronicle). “We’re happy with where we’re at. We’ll keep working at it but I do think this is a solid five-man rotation going into the spring.”
Mahle and Houser would slot alongside Landen Roupp as the back three starters behind Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. They have a number of intriguing but unproven younger arms who’d compete to be the first one up in the event of an injury. Trevor McDonald, Keaton Winn, Hayden Birdsong, Carson Whisenhunt, Carson Seymour and Blade Tidwell are all on the 40-man roster. Everyone in that group has minor league options remaining and/or could contribute in a multi-inning role out of the bullpen.
While it’s a deeper group than most clubs have, the Giants are arguably lacking at the top end of the staff. Webb is a true ace, of course, but Ray tailed off in the second half. He had a solid year overall, striking out nearly a quarter of opponents with a 3.65 ERA across 182 1/3 innings. His ERA spiked to 5.54 as his strikeout rate dropped by five percentage points after the All-Star Break.
Houser was in Triple-A at the beginning of last season. He had a fantastic ERA over 11 starts for the White Sox but struggled after a deadline trade to Tampa Bay. Mahle is coming off a 2.18 ERA over 16 starts for the Rangers, yet his 19.1% strikeout rate was well below the plus marks he posted early in his career with the Reds. The righty also hasn’t reached 25 starts in any of the past four seasons because of 2022 Tommy John surgery and shoulder issues in each of the last two years.
The Giants opened the 2025 season with a $173MM payroll. RosterResource estimates they’re around $185MM for next season. That doesn’t include a $17MM deferred signing bonus owed to Blake Snell which comes due next week. The Giants have yet to address a wide open right field spot or done anything to add a late-inning reliever after last summer’s Camilo Doval and Tyler Rogers trades and losing Randy Rodríguez to injury. They’re also poking around for an upgrade over Casey Schmitt at second base.
The payroll situation has seemingly taken them out of the mix for the top free agent starters. Trading Ray would offload most or all of his $25MM salary and create some short-term spending capacity if they wanted to upgrade the #2 starter spot, but that’d require a longer deal than their remaining one year commitment to Ray. (Framber Valdez, Ranger Suárez and Zac Gallen are the top unsigned starters.) Trading for a controllable starter like MacKenzie Gore and Edward Cabrera would require significant prospect capital. Even if the Giants turn to the trade market, they may focus more on the other needs and hope that Roupp and/or one of the unproven starters takes a step forward to raise the rotation’s ceiling.
Admittedly, the back end are more “solids” than “changelings”.
Spoken like a true founder.
The founder’s club always gets the best seats at the stadium.
As a Dodger fan I’d like to see them when 99 while they Dodgers win 100. Giants look like they are content to win 80
Suboptimal
Considering just how bad White Sox were, I think Houser had an amazing span of starts for them last season.
Ray pitched poorly after the All-Star break. Then they’ve got 3 number 5 starters. If Minasian thinks that’s a great starting 5 he’s delusional. The Giant’s off-season has been crap so far and Minasian’s words do not instill confidence.
They have been consistent in sending the message of lowered expectations, but I still feel like they are peeing on my head and telling me it’s rain. I’m getting my umbrella out.
He didn’t use the word great. He said they are comfortable. As they should be. It’s a solid rotation. And they have five # 4-5 starters hanging out in AAA.
While I can’t say I’m happy with how the offseason has gone, I can somewhat understand their approach. As much as I’d love to see Ranger, or Framber, they have a bunch of young guys that may, or may not be, solid rotation pieces.
They need to learn what they have, and the only way to do that is give them some innings facing ML hitters. Seeing them in AAA isn’t going to tell them what they need to know. So though I’m skeptical of how good the rotation will be as currently constructed, if they were to sign a big bat, in lieu of a top FA pitcher, I would be a lot happier.
Ya if they end up with Bichette after “poking around “ I will not complain.
If Roupp continues forward in developing and these two additions show their upside along with health, it would be alright. Plenty of young guns for backup.
“If” biggest word in the dictionary. More and more looking at Tucker.
Twice the price of Bo, so doubt it.
Plus Bo probably only becomes possible if Jays spend on Tucker, IMO.
Outfield power plus defense. Give Schmitt second base. Happy with Bichette if they go that way too. Have a feeling that the Giants go big on one more FA.
Only Chapman and Bailey average or above on D.
Adames is above average defensively. Last season he had a OAA of 5. That tied him for 10th overall with Lindor, Perdomo, and Jose Caballero.
Devers actually scored just slightly below average, -1 OAA at 1B, though that’s based on a small sample.
Adames took a step back last year defensively, especially early on. His DRS is one of the worst for qualified SS.
Non Roster Invitee—
No, Willie Adames is above average at SS although he started off badly last season which brought his overall defense down for 2025.
Not really. In 2025 he had -2 DRS, which tied him for 13th among qualifiers. The worst qualified were Xander Bogaerts -4, Elly De la Cruz -5, CJ Abrams -6, Trevor Story -7, and Jacob Wilson -10.
So it’s false to say he was one of the worst. And at 5 OAA (19 OAA for his career), and -2 DRS (3 DRS for his career) it’s safe to say Adames is average at worst. And IMO, he’s above average.
You forgot Bichette and Correa , both were low on DFS. Adames was rated below average in 2025.
No, Adames was rated above average in 2025. You have to look at both stats. And with an OAA at 5, and a DRS at -2 he still grades out as above average.
Hey, you never know right? Roupp was a young gun that stepped foward and earned a spot in the rotation this upcoming season..Birdsong, Wisenhunt, McDonald, Tidwell, Seymour, Teng..there’s six chances that, hopefully, one would step up..
Like McDonald and Tidwell… hope Birdsong figures it out. Whisenhunt needs to get his 3rd / 4th pitch or go to the bullpen, maybe both. Seymour and Teng are long relief at best. Watch out for Bresnahan in AA this year. “If” he continues to pitch like last year, he’s the solution for when Ray leaves next year.
Also, don’t be surprised to see Seymour as a 7th/8th inning setup guy come August.
Giants have the 24th ranked rotation per FanGraphs’ projections
fangraphs.com/depthcharts.aspx?position=SP
That sounds worse than it is, probably.
They are within 1 standard deviation of the mean at .7 standard deviations below.
The worst rotation is the Rockies at a terrible -2.3 standard deviations
The best are the Dodgers and Red Sox at 1.7 standard deviations above.
The averagiest rotation is the Rays at -.01 standard deviations
Such a disappointing off season. These moves are a pathetic response at attempting to compete in the NL West. Posey strapped with same financial constraints as Farhan. Given Posey one more year before he quits. Giants will be lucky to finish their usual .500.
I’ll agree with this… unless they pull off an Edward Cabrera or Donovan/Hoerner trade (or both, God willing). I don’t “buy” the big $ FA rumors, but Posey and Minasian have all but confirmed the trade rumors.
When have they held up a cloak ?
I know it’s a figure a speech, I just don’t think they do it. Give me an example ?
Team is a joke. Any fan that’s supports this team is a joke
Your grammar skills are a joke.
Ha ha. We have a genius in our midst.
The Giants made a major change early this offseason by bringing in Vitello and a coaching staff that promises to be development oriented. So don’t be surprised that the young arms we’ve stockpiled are going to compete for spots this summer. Hummmm Baby!
Putting your foot on the gas only to completely throttle it immediately after is enough to be cheapskate behavior.
Yes, the Giants are spending more money than the small market teams, but their efforts are laughable in the face of the bigger markers and in the face of middling attendance.
Nah mate.
The fan overreaction is laughable.
I just don’t get it either.
They were very transparent on what was going to happen, yet the majority chose to not listen, and believe every other rumor created for clicks. Schwarber ? Pahlease.
Would love to be surprised, but the writing is, and always was on the wall.
I’m fine with the moves so far, and will always support the team.
But let’s not conflate what Greg Johnson says “Giants won’t spend money” with what should actually take place. The Giants aren’t cheap but Johnson’s pronouncements don’t make it right. As Kapler’s Coconut Oil says (above) this is no time to take their foot off the pedal.
You are kidding me, Pete. You and others are in no position to be the arbitrator of what should happen. They know more than you. By a lot.
…..for the right player. This is what they say consistently about the tax. There is quite obviously no right player.
Whoever is getting Minasians GM jobs should be in the Hall of Fame and fuels the thought there has got to be space aliens living on Earth and now they’re just messing with us.
If they are anxious to see how the prospects will perform (Ray is a free agent next year) then the signing of Tyler (IL) Mahle will afford the team plenty of opportunities to get a look at “the kids” perform WHEN Mahle goes on the IL during the 2026 season. Why not package some of them for 2 years of Lopez or Ryan from Minnesota? Remember how the Giants snookered them on the Shaun Anderson and Sam Dyson trades !!!
The Twins have said they aren’t trading either Lopez or Ryan.
What you see is what you get. RF is going to be a mix of Drew Gilbert, Luis Matos and Jerar Encarnacion. I wanted more for the bullpen, but they added a few arms there as well. The real wildcard is Jason Foley, who will be like a trade deadline acquisition when he becomes available mid season. Walker is going to have to bounce back. He was excellent in 2024 but inconsistent/unreliable in 2025.
Could not disagree more. Matos has shown more at his age than Ramos showed at the same age.
Meckler is 2 years older than Matos, so they aren’t comparable. And unlike Matos, Luciano had no position.
Grant McCray is more than a year older than Matos, and could be good if he could hit worth squat. His OPS at AAA is .768, compared to .828 for Matos. Matos has 9 HRs more than McCray in 21 fewer ABs.
Having Matos in AAA, with McCray on the ML roster proves nothing. McCray was a defensive replacement who sat on the bench a lot. They probably wanted Matos to continue to develop by getting regular ABs. I don’t think Matos is going anywhere.
Them sending Matos down, while keeping McCray on the ML roster is a fact. The reason you cite is pure conjecture, and that’s an opinion, not a fact.
It’s common practice to have the player with the best upside play in the minors to give him regular playing time for their development, while keeping the lesser guy on the ML bench.
Since they didn’t give up on Ramos, when he performed worse at the same age, I’m 95% sure Matos is going nowhere. And if it comes down to McCray or Matos, I’m 100% sure it’s McCray that’s good as gone.
It’s your opinion that they kept McCray in SF because they wanted to win. Both you and I have no idea why that decision was made. We have differing opinions. But it’s still an opinion on both our parts, not fact either way. At least I recognize what I don’t know.
The AAA season ended for the River Cats on 9/21/25. The Giants had only 6 games remaining until the end of the season. The Giants were in 4th place in the division, with the Mets, Reds and D’backs all ahead of them for a WC berth, As it is they won 4 of the remaining 6 games but still finished 2 games behind the Reds and Mets both tied for the last WC spot. Only someone completely deluded would think the Giants were still in the race at that point
McCray had all of 2 ABs in the entire month of Sept. It doesn’t sound to me the Giants were relying on McCray to help them win games. Teams don’t keep a lesser player because he has options over a superior one just because he doesn’t. Matos will be on the 2026 ML roster.
But it’s still complete conjecture on your part, your opinion in other words, for why they did what they did. It’s just not fact.
Giants do a good job of getting the most out of pitchers so I don’t hate it,as long as the outfield gets a serious revamp.
Oh you poor thing. Hopefully Mummy can pull out her tissue and wipe it off for you.
He said he is comfortable. Oh the inhumanity. Hang the man. It’s not about you, bro. You are not that important.
I think it’s good to remember that the Giants in their 3 WS titles run employed SP similar to guys like Hauser and Mahle. Vogelsong was traded, released, or granted free-agency 6 times before going to the NPB for 4 seasons. No one knew he’d be an important part of 2 titles.
They also signed guys like Jake Peavy, Tim Hudson, and Todd Wellemeyer, all older guys who were close to the ends of their careers, who contributed to WS wins.
IMO it’s not how good Hauser and Mahle are, but how durable they can be. The 2010, 2012, and 2014 rotations were all very dependable in being able to make the next start. But those rotations had guys similar to Hauser and Mahle in their ability and where they were in their careers.
I’d almost bet that both Houser & Mahle have a better 2026 than Imai does.
I have faith that Buster is far more able to spot talent, and lack of, than anybody on this site.
Yeah, that wouldn’t surprise me at all. I never understood all the Giants’ fans yearning for Imai. Given his size, I have questions about how durable he’ll be in the more rigorous MLB. And the fact that he signed for half the length of what was predicted, for about a third of the money, tells me a lot of GMs and PBOs shared Buster’s opinion.
I read a piece about how they viewed him as a 5th starter at best. The major concerns were pitch mix, and how his fastball would work against MLB. That and when the posting fee was added in it made for a way overpriced, unproven #5 guy. I felt that his under 95 mph 4 seamer lacked movement, and the fact he threw it with the slider 90% of the time would get torched over here.
Cue MadTV’s “Lowered Expectations” jingle