Mahle and Houser are back-end types instead of the top-of-the-rotation arm that many fans hoped the Giants would add when president of baseball operations Buster Posey called pitching the focus this offseason. The team has consistently downplayed their desire to make expensive or long-term commitments to free agents, and their first few moves are in line with that reluctance. Like any team, they will continue to monitor the rotation market, but general manager Zack Minasian suggested the moves of Mahle and Houser could complete the rotation.
“We feel very comfortable with the five that we have and then the bundle of weapons behind it, to now say our depth is in a much better place than it was at the start of the offseason,” Minasian told reporters (left via John Shea of the San Francisco Standard And Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle). “We’re happy with where we are right now. We’ll continue to work on it, but I do think this is a solid five-man rotation going into the spring.”
Mahle and Houser would come alongside Landen Roupp as the back three starters behind Logan Webb And Robbie Ray. They have some intriguing but unproven younger arms who would compete to be the first 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 a deeper group than most clubs, the Giants are arguably lacking at the top of the staff. Webb is of course a real winner, but Ray stopped in the second half. He had a solid year overall, shutting out nearly a quarter of opponents with a 3.65 ERA over 182 1/3 innings. His ERA rose to 5.54 as his strikeout rate dropped five percentage points after the All-Star Break.
Houser played in Triple-A early last season. He had a fantastic ERA over 11 starts for the White Sox, but struggled following a deadline trade to Tampa Bay. Mahle has a 2.18 ERA over 16 starts for the Rangers, but his 19.1% strikeout rate was well below the plus marks he posted early in his career with the Reds. The right back has not made 25 starts in any of the past four seasons due to Tommy John surgery in 2022 and shoulder issues in each of the past two years.
The Giants opened the 2025 season with a payroll of $173 million. Grid source estimates they are around $185 million for next season. That doesn’t include a $17 million deferred signing bonus owed to Blake Snell which should be released next week. The Giants haven’t yet addressed a wide-open right field spot or done anything to add a late-inning reliever after last summer’s game. Camilo Doval And Tyler Rogers transactions and losses Randy Rodriguez to injury. They are also shopping around for an upgrade Casey Schmitt at second base.
The salary situation has seemingly taken them out of the mix for top free agent starters. Trading Ray would forgive most or all of his $25 million salary and create some short-term spending capacity if they wanted to upgrade the #2 starting spot, but that would require a longer deal than their remaining one-year commitment to Ray. (Framber Valdez, Ranger Suarez And Zac Gallen are the best starters without a contract.) Trade 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 can 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.
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