Chicago White Sox Trade Adrian Houser

CHICAGO –– Adrian Houser is on the move again.

After being scratched from Wednesday's start against the Philadelphia Phillies due to a potential trade, a deal came to fruition Thursday afternoon. The White Sox have traded Houser, 32, to the Tampa Bay Rays, as first reported by Bob Nightengale of USA Today.

In return, the White Sox received major league infielder Curtis Mead and minor league pitching prospects Duncan Davitt and Benjamin Peoples, neither of whom were ranked among the Rays' top 30 prospects, per MLB Pipeline.

White Sox general manager Chris Getz said on June 23 that the biggest value in acquiring Houser midseason was to protect an otherwise young starting rotation from pitching too many innings. He also acknowledged the potential upside of flipping them at the trade deadline.

And from that perspective, the addition of Houser may have played out in the best case scenario. After signing him to a one-year, $1.35 million, he ranked fifth in MLB among qualified pitchers with a 2.10 ERA since May 20, behind only Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal, Framber Valdez and Ranger Suarez.

Houser recorded nine quality starts in 11 outings with the White Sox, totaling 68.2 innings with 47 strikeouts and 22 walks with a 1.22 WHIP. The right-hander posted shutouts against playoff contenders like the Mariners, Mets and Giants, and most recently tossed 6.2 innings with three earned runs in the White Sox lone victory over the Cubs this season.

That made for an impressive turnaround for Houser, who began the season with Triple-A Round Rock in the Rangers organization. In 2024, Houser posted a 5.84 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP in 69.1 innings as a starter and a reliever with the New York Mets. But he made mechanical adjustments in the offseason and became a much-improved pitcher.

Houser was appreciative of his time with the White Sox.

"I'm thankful," he said Friday. "They've given me the opportunity to pitch in the big leagues again. Just trying to get that opportunity and very thankful that I was able to get that opportunity here and from that day I didn't want to let it go to waste. So I'm working my butt off and putting my work in everyday and don't want to go back to the minor leagues. I want to stay up here and keep pitching up here."

Houser is the second White Sox player to be traded close to Thursday's 5 p.m. CT deadline. The team dealt outfielder Austin Slater to the New York Yankees in exchange for minor league pitching prospect Gage Ziehl.