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The lack of moves at the trade deadline has been well covered at this point. The recent struggles of the Twins bullpen, as a group, have led to some crucial losses over the last two weeks, highlighted by designating their lone deadline acquisition, Trevor Richards, for assignment. Taylor Rogers isn't the pitcher he once was with the Minnesota Twins, but would be more than serviceable as a medium-leverage lefty out of his former team's bullpen. Let's take a look at how he's performed for the Giants this year, and how’d he fit into the Twins bullpen hierarchy.
Rogers has been used as a low- to medium-leverage option with the Giants this year, with roughly 90% of his 51 ⅓ innings coming in one of those two situations. He's produced a 2.45 ERA and a sterling 20.6 K%-BB%, but has become a bit more of a fly ball pitcher since his days donning a Twins uniform. His peripherals suggest he’s still a solid reliever, with a 3.44 FIP and a 3.09 SIERA with an elite hard-hit percentage. His sweeper and sinker have both been plus pitches the last two seasons, with run values of 2 and 5, respectively.
Of course, the hang up with the Twins will be the fact he is owed a little more than $2 million for the rest of 2024 and $12 million for all of 2025. For reference, despite the solid season, FanGraphs values his production thus far to be worth just $2.1 million…a far cry from the nearly $10 million the Giants have paid him. While that likely counts the Twins out of making a claim, it really shouldn't, given the state of their bullpen and their standing in the race to October. Hypothetically, if the Twins were to get wild and pay up for a middling reliever, he would help bridge the gap in the middle of the Twins bullpen.
In a peculiar, maybe meaningless turn of events, Rogers has reverse splits in 2024. While he's always dominated lefties throughout his career, this year, he's allowed a .772 OPS to lefties and a .668 OPS to righties. While that’s not necessarily what the Twins are looking for, their recent bullpen implosions indicate they should be willing to accept anyone who can improve the relief corps. And while Twins manager Rocco Baldelli uses his pitchers (well, almost all his players) situationally, Rogers would be the perfect bridge between the low and high-leverage relievers. For me, he would slot just below the likes of Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, and Cole Sands, competing with Jorge Alcalá and Caleb Thielbar for medium-leverage opportunities.
Like they've done too many times to count, the front office has whiffed on pitchers with question marks in 2024. While this is largely because of the self-imposed salary cap from ownership, reuniting with Rogers would be a no-brainer from productivity and morale standpoints. Unfortunately, ownership has shown over and over again they care more about the bottom line than the morale of the team.
Do you think the Twins should add Taylor Rogers? Join the conversation in the comments!
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