The San Diego Padres signed free agent Ryan Weiss on Tuesday, handing the right-hander a one-year MLB contract as their rotation rebuild begins.
After a 7.62 ERA in nine games, the Houston Astros — who had signed Weiss after his solid, two-year stint pitching in Korea — demoted Weiss to Triple-A, designated him for assignment and declined a $5 million option, so why would San Diego take the gamble?
The deal pays Weiss $1.85 million plus performance bonuses, and a 2028 club option guarantees $4 million, with incentives that can lift it to $5.5 million, according to ESPN reporter Jesse Rogers.
Weiss signed a major league contract rather than a minor league deal, so he enters big league camp with a chance to win a rotation job, according to MLB.com. He has one minor league option year left, which lets the Padres shuttle him between San Diego and Triple-A El Paso if the competition gets crowded.
Ryan Weiss’s Road From Diamondbacks Draft Pick to Korea
Weiss was a catcher in high school, then walked on at Wright State throwing about 83 mph. Weight room injuries left him with a herniated disc and a fractured vertebra, and he sat out the whole first year. In 2017 he posted the league’s best ERA, 2.13, and took home Horizon League Freshman of the Year.
The Arizona Diamondbacks selected him in the fourth round of the 2018 draft, 129th overall, and signed him for a $400,000 bonus. By 2019, Weiss rose as high as No. 18 on the Diamondbacks’ prospect rankings, as determined by MLB Pipeline.
The results stalled at the top of the minor league ladder. Weiss compiled a 6.72 ERA in 70 Triple-A outings across the Arizona and Kansas City systems. Arizona designated him for assignment on June 26, 2022. The Kansas City Royals claimed him, but released him in May 2023. He never pitched in the majors for either the D-backs or Royals.
He then left the country. Weiss pitched for the independent Atlantic League’s High Point Rockers, then jumped to Asia where he posted an impressive 4-1 record and 2.32 ERA for Taiwan’s Fubon Guardians late in 2023. The KBO’s Hanwha Eagles bought his contract from High Point in 2024, and he produced a 3.16 ERA with 305 strikeouts in 270 1/3 innings across two seasons in the KBO.
The 2025 season stood out, at 16-5, a 2.87 ERA and 207 strikeouts in 178 2/3 innings, as he led Hanwha to the Korean Series.
That run drew Houston’s attention. The Astros needed pitching with Framber Valdez expected to leave in free agency and Ronel Blanco and Hayden Wesneski recovering from elbow surgeries. Houston wanted to “create a little more depth and solidify the back half of the rotation,” then-general manager Dana Brown said, as quoted by the Houston Chronicle.
Weiss also added a kick changeup late in 2025. Hanwha tried to keep him, yet the Astros’ one-year, $2.6 million offer lured him to the majors.
San Diego Padres’ Plan for Ryan Weiss After Houston Astros Exit
His major league debut came in 2026, at age 29, and it went badly. Weiss posted a 7.62 ERA over 26 innings, and Houston optioned him to Triple-A Sugar Land on May 5. He had an 8.41 ERA in his first five starts there before the Astros designated him for assignment on June 12.
Weiss went 5-5 with a 5.42 ERA at Sugar Land overall, but closed with a 1.37 ERA and 24 strikeouts over his last four outings, covering 19 2/3 innings.
The Padres have jobs available. Seven starters from last season reached free agency, and Randy Vásquez is the main in-house option while Joe Musgrove’s health and Yu Darvish’s status remain unsettled. General manager A.J. Preller addressed the rotation at the general managers meetings in Las Vegas.
“You can never have too much, from a starting pitching standpoint,” Preller said, as quoted by MLB.com.
Weiss turns 30 on Dec. 10. Spring training will show whether the pitcher who starred in Korea or the one who struggled in Houston arrives in camp.
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