"And to reiterate, Rogers was NOT GOOD this past season. At no point was he a reliable late-inning fixture resembling his prime years in Minnesota. "
Well, for his first 12 appearances of the year he had given up no runs at all. 11 saves, 4 hits total, one walk and one HB. He finally gave up one on May 10th.
Thru May 27th - 20.1 innings, 20 appearances (4 times the dreaded back to back days that he always had trouble with on the Twins), 17 Saves in 17 opportunities, 23 Ks, 4 walks, 3 HB (2 in the game he gave up a run but still got the save), 9 total hits, 1 run, .132 BA against, ,44 ERA and .64 WHIP!
That is Cy Young votes in 2020 for a 2 month season, the kind that made some declare Maeda an Ace! As I was paying attention to it happening, I thought they were using him too much, and that might be the case. But I would say for 2 months, and not "at no point", that he was "a reliable late-inning fixture resembling his prime years in Minnesota", and it might have even been the best consecutive 2 months of his career.
The last 4 months were definitely NOT GOOD, but the first 2 months made Pagan look even more horrid, if that was possible. And the trade for Hader at the end of July (both Hader and Rogers had a magnificent first 2 months and had strugged since).... Hader's July was even worse than Roger's! So it seemed that both San Diego and Milwaukee were betting on each of them returning to form before the end of the year.
The market is overpaying everyone this year. So much for collusion theory....