The Tampa Bay Rays have already been busy this offseason, shaking up their roster, creating room for players to come off the 60-day injured list and rejoin the 40-man roster.
Two of their right-handed relief pitchers, Cole Wilcox and Joey Gerber, were traded to the Seattle Mariners and New York Mets, respectively, after being designated for assignment. They aren’t the only pitchers who are likely going to be on the move.
In a stunning turn of events, the Rays declined the player option they had on closer Pete Fairbanks. He is now the second Major League player on the team who will hit free agency, joining starting pitcher Adrian Houser.
Acquired from the Chicago White Sox ahead of the MLB trade deadline in July, he is hitting the open market again this offseason. Will Laws and Nick Selbe of Sports Illustrated don’t believe he will be back with Tampa Bay, either.
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They have predicted that Houser will sign a deal with the Athletics to help round out their starting rotation. This would be the second winter in a row that a Rays pitcher ends up with the American League West squad after Jeffery Springs was traded to them last year.
He is going to have a lot of appeal to teams who are looking for a reliable backend starter who can effectively eat innings. Some real upside was shown in the first half of the year with the White Sox.
Houser made 11 starts, throwing 68.2 innings with an impressive 2.10 ERA. Unfortunately, he was unable to keep that level of production up with the Rays upon being acquired.
In 10 starts with them, he managed to throw only 56.1 innings with a 4.79 ERA. His 4.38 FIP with Tampa Bay would indicate there was a little bit of bad luck when it came to his inflated ERA, as would the .317 batting average on balls in play.
Another culprit of his struggles with the Rays was a struggle to keep the ball in the park. He gave up seven home runs in those 10 starts after allowing only three with Chicago. That resulted in his HR/9 nearly tripling from 0.4 to 1.1.
Houser still managed to produce a 0.3 bWAR with Tampa Bay despite his numbers dropping so significantly compared to earlier in the year.
However, the issues with keeping the ball in the park are something the Athletics will assuredly be wary of. Pitching in a hitter’s haven at a minor league park, just as the Rays did in 2025, could be disastrous for the veteran right-handed ground ball specialist should he sign with the AL West club.
Alas, with a projected affordable price tag, even the smallest of market teams will likely have interest in him. Tampa Bay has a lot of starting pitching depth and may look to spend money elsewhere, potentially ending Houser’s time with the franchise.