The White Sox have traded Adrian Houser to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for infielder Curtis Mead, along with minor league pitchers Duncan Davitt and Benjamin Peoples.
Peoples is a 24-year-old right-handed reliever who owns a 2.65 ERA with 39 punchouts in 37.1 innings in Triple-A this season. Davitt is a 25-year-old right-hander who just reached Triple-A this season. In 103 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, he owns a 4.08 ERA with 105 strikeouts and 1.17 WHIP.
Mead is a former top-100 prospect who ranked as high as 30th overall in baseball in 2023.
After turning heads in the Australian Baseball League, Mead signed with the Phillies in 2018. Eighteen months later, he was dealt to the Rays for reliever Cristopher Sanchez. In 2021, he produced a .911 OPS in 104 games across three levels of the Rays’ minor league system, but an elbow strain suffered in Double-A the following season limited his production.
He reached the majors in 2023 after slashing .294/.385/.515 in 61 games in Triple-A. Since reaching the big leagues, he has appeared in 111 games, hitting .238 with a .629 OPS, five homers and 20 RBIs. He started both Games 1 and 2 of the Rays’ Wild Card Series loss to the Rangers in 2024.
He is still just 24 years old and can play multiple infield positions. While his defense doesn’t provide a ton of value, he still brings a bat with a ton of upside, especially given what Ryan Fuller has been able to do with White Sox hitters this season.
Houser threw his final pitch in a White Sox uniform last Friday night against the Cubs. He left the stadium a winner, tossing 6.2 innings of three-run ball on five hits, three walks, and three strikeouts. He was then scratched from the lineup before his next scheduled start against the Phillies.
It marked the end of an impressive run on the South Side for Houser, who went 6–2 with a 2.10 ERA, 3.0 WAR, and a 47.3% ground ball rate over 68.2 innings. The 32-year-old right-hander delivered nine quality starts in 11 outings for the Sox, consistently giving his team a chance to win while pitching deep into games.
The White Sox signed Houser to a one-year, $1.35 million deal in May—a move that didn’t draw much attention at the time. With Martín Pérez on the injured list, the White Sox needed an innings-eater, and Houser was looking for a path back to the majors after starting the season in Triple-A Round Rock. He had signed with the Rangers but failed to crack their Opening Day roster.
Despite a 5.03 ERA in 39.1 minor league innings, Houser carried an impressive 57.3% ground ball rate, which is one of the reasons the White Sox took a chance on him. That flier turned out to be one of Chris Getz’s most successful moves of the season, as Houser became one of the most consistent arms in the American League, allowing the White Sox to cash in at the deadline.
