The Milwaukee Brewers infamously traded Josh Hader to the San Diego Padres for Dinelson Lamet, Esteury Ruiz, Robert Gasser, and struggling left-handed closer Taylor Rogers. Lamet was waived almost immediately and ended up pitching [well] for the Colorado Rockies. Ruiz was recently traded by the Brewers for All-Star catcher William Contreras. Gasser pitched well for the Brewers Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. Rogers, unfortunately, did not improve with a change of scenery after the trade. Earlier today, it was reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic that Rogers has signed a three-year $33 million contract with the San Francisco Giants.
The Rogers twins are reuniting in San Francisco. Left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers in agreement with Giants on three-year, $33M contract, pending physical, source tells @TheAthletic
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) December 23, 2022
Now the only player left from the Brewers’ trade of Hader is Gasser, who is listed as their 10th ranked prospect by mlb.com. Of course, the Brewers were able to flip Ruiz for an All-Star catcher, a position of great need for Milwaukee. However, the failure of Rogers to improve in Milwaukee just made a the unpopular trade even tougher to swallow.
Taylor Rogers in Milwaukee
After coming to Milwaukee in that unpopular salary-dump of a trade, Taylor Rogers was even worse than he was before losing the closer’s job in San Diego. Prior to the trade, Rogers was 1-5 with a 4.35 ERA and 28 saves. Despite his struggles, he only gave up one home run with the Padres last season.
Unfortunately, Rogers only got worse when he arrived in Milwaukee. As a reliever for the Brewers, Rogers was 3-3 with a 5.48 ERA and three saves. Oh, and he gave up six home runs after the trade.
Evaluating the Taylor Rogers Deal with the Giants
As mentioned previously, Rogers signed a three-year contract worth $33 million with the Giants. This seems like a bit of an overpay, based on last season’s production. That being said, Rogers is not far removed from the 2021 season in which he was an All-Star with the Minnesota Twins. Perhaps the Giants believe they can fix whatever is wrong. If that is the case, it is a terrific signing for them. If Rogers pitches like he did in 2022, though, it will be a tough contract.
One cool aspect of the signing, though, is that Taylor Rogers is now teammates with his twin brother, Tyler Rogers. Tyler led the National League in appearances in 2020 (29) and 2021 (80). Last season, Tyler was 3-4 with a 3.57 ERA in 68 games. Unlike his twin brother, Tyler is a right-handed pitcher.
It’s not like Taylor Rogers asked to be traded to the Brewers for Josh Hader. It’s also not like he tried to underperform in Milwaukee. We can be happy (and confused) that he got a nice contract and gets to team up with his brother.
But that trade still was awful.
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