Tag: Rogers

SAN FRANCISCO — The Giants’ pairing of the Rogers Twins couldn’t have gotten off to a rockier start. Taylor gave up earned runs in four of his first five appearances as Tyler’s teammate, and after a particularly rough appearance against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 12, 2023, he tossed his glove in a dugout trash can. 

From there, everything turned.

For most of the last two seasons, the lefty has given the Giants what they expected, and Tyler continues to churn out one valuable relief season after another. But on Wednesday, the Giants broke the pairing up. 

Taylor and $6 million were sent to the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday, with the Giants getting a relief prospect back in return. The move opens up some bullpen innings, but mostly it gives the Giants salary relief.

Taylor Rogers was due $12 million in the final season of a three-year contract that was given out by Farhan Zaidi. The question for now is whether new president of baseball operations Buster Posey plans to reinvest those savings. 

Team sources said after the trade that no other move appeared imminent, and Posey told The Athletic’s Andrew Bagarly that the Giants would keep looking but “feel pretty set with the roster the way it is right now.” If this is it for the offseason, the Giants will start the year well short of where they were last season in terms of payroll.

The Giants currently are at about $217 million in luxury-tax payroll, according to Roster Resource, well below last year’s estimate of about $252 million. They do not intend to go into the tax this year, as they did last year, but they still have roughly $24 million to spend before they hit that line — if they want to.

The problem at this point is that there aren’t many players to pursue even if the Giants made a late charge. Pete Alonso and Alex Bregman remain on the market, but the latter plays the same position as Matt Chapman and Alonso would cost the Giants multiple draft picks at a time when the farm system is lacking, and he plays the same position as the only top 100 prospect — Bryce Eldridge — in the organization.

Ha-Seong Kim, an early target and a potential option at second base, signed with the Tampa Bay Rays earlier Wednesday. There still are several good veteran relievers on the market, but that’s one area where the Giants are pretty deep.

The bullpen lost some veteran depth with Wednesday’s deal, but Taylor Rogers had fallen down the pecking order under manager Bob Melvin and was pitching earlier in games than he was accustomed to. The new staff decided pretty quickly last season that Erik Miller would be the high-leverage lefty, and with Miller, Ryan Walker, Tyler Rogers, Camilo Doval and Randy Rodriguez, the Giants are pretty well-covered late in games. 

Where they now are lacking is overall depth from the left side, although Joey Lucchesi will be in camp as a non-roster invitee and he can fill that second role. Other options likely will be brought in, as well. 

If the Giants stand pat right now and opt to simply save the $6 million, they always could reinvest at the MLB trade deadline. That, however, would require being in contention, and after a relatively quiet offseason, there are still very valid questions about just how high the ceiling is for this group. 

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