December 31: The Giants are making a deal with a free agent right-hander Tyler Mahle, reports Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s a one-year pact, according to Rubin. The 31-year-old Mahle is a customer of ISE Baseball.
Mahle is coming off an injury-plagued 2025 with the Rangers, though he was productive when healthy. The veteran righty was one of the most pleasant surprises early in the season, posting a 1.64 ERA through the first two months of the season. Mahle allowed two earned runs or fewer in 11 of his first 12 starts to start the campaign. He was knocked around for eight earned runs in his first two starts of June before hitting the IL with shoulder fatigue. Mahle returned for a pair of appearances in September, allowing a run over 9 2/3 innings.
Lingering ailments have limited Mahle to just 125 innings over the past three seasons. He made nine starts in a season and a half with Minnesota and missed time with a strained shoulder and a forearm problem. It was a disappointing result for the Twins, who bowed out Spencer Steer And Christian Encarnacion-Beach 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 at his new club, he suffered from shoulder problems and missed the rest of the year.
Mahle routinely threw more than one batter per inning during his prime years with Cincinnati, but those numbers have dwindled as injuries have mounted. Mahle posted an uninspiring strikeout rate of 19.1% last season. His fastball was sitting at 90 mph, a few ticks shy of his best seasons with the Reds. The ERA estimators all suggest that Mahle’s ERA of 2.18 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 had a lot of luck with home runs (4.9% HR/FB), while also benefiting from a career-high 84.6% LOB%.
In mid-December, it was reported that the Giants were still in the market for pitching after signing Righty Adriaan Huiser. Of 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 Rouppwho missed the final six weeks of the 2025 campaign with a knee injury is also expected to be on staff. Houser and Mahle are the favorites to complete the group.
President of Baseball Operations Buster Posey entered the offseason focused on adding to the rotation and bullpen. While the club is linked to some of the bigger names in the starter market including Framber Valdez And Zac Gallenthe movements have been relatively small so far. Houser came on board via a two-year, $22 million pact with a club option for a third season. The Giants added relievers Jason Foley And Sam Hentz on cheap offers. Mahle now joins the team on a one-year contract.
Given Ray and Mahle’s injury history, plus Roupp’s limited track record, San Francisco will likely have to lean on in-house options for extra innings. Carson Whisenhunt, Carson SeymourAnd Kai-Wei Teng last season they all had chances, but none produced 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 (obtained in the Tyler Rogers trade) missed time with injuries. Trevor McDonald could be the leading candidate to open the year as the sixth starter/injury replacement. The righty finished the year with a pair of stellar performances, pitching six innings of one-run ball against the Dodgers and striking out 10 Rockies over seven frames.
Grid source Currently, the Giants’ payroll is $175 million for 2026. That figure does not include Mahle’s deal or the $17 million payment owed to Blake Snell in mid-January as part of his deferred signing bonus. Add these considerations and the club is on track to far exceed the $177 million it spent on payroll last season. The increase in costs could be why the Giants ultimately rounded out the rotation with cheap veterans in Houser and Mahle. A general reluctance among the front office to pursue long-term deals for starters likely played a role as well.
Photos courtesy of Jerome Miron, Imagn Images
#Giants #sign #Tyler #Mahle