July 27: The Twins announced that Rogers has been placed on the 10-day IL with a left middle finger sprain. Right-hander Beau Burrows is up from Triple-A St. Paul to take his spot on the active roster.
While players on the injured list can technically still be moved, this would seem to all but ensure that Rogers won’t be traded prior to Friday’s deadline.
July 26, 11:55pm: Rogers will undergo imaging on his hand tomorrow to determine the extent of the issue, manager Rocco Baldelli told reporters (Twitter link via Helfand).
10:47pm: Twins closer Taylor Rogers exited Monday night’s game against the Tigers with a sprained middle finger on his pitching hand, the team announced to reporters (Twitter link via Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press). Rogers threw five pitches, missing his spot badly on the fourth offering and checking his left hand. His fifth pitch then sailed a few feet wide of the strike zone, at which point Rogers called to the dugout and quickly departed with the training staff.
This time of season, any injury to a prominent player on a non-contending club is of note. Rogers is hardly considered a lock to be traded — he’s controlled through the 2022 season via arbitration — but the Twins have already begun to turn their eye toward 2022 and beyond, trading Nelson Cruz to the Rays last week. Rogers, Jose Berrios and Michael Pineda are among the team’s other trade candidates, though any sort of IL trip for Rogers would likely preempt a trade.
It’s been another strong season for Rogers, a former 11th-round pick who has gone from minor league starter, to solid middle reliever, to an All-Star reliever in recent years. Rogers debuted with the Twins in 2016 and quickly settled in as a solid arm, but his career took off upon adding a slider to his arsenal in midway through the 2018 campaign. Over the past four seasons, Rogers has pitched to a 2.91 ERA with an excellent 31.2 percent strikeout rate against a tiny 4.9 percent walk rate. This year’s 35.5 percent strikeout rate is a career-high.
Hard-throwing lefties who miss bats and limit walks at premium rates are hard to come by — particularly when they can keep both righties and lefties in check, as Rogers can. The Twins aren’t punting on their 2022 season by any means, but it’s feasible that other clubs could put together a strong enough package that they’d be tempted to part ways with Rogers. He’s playing on a $6MM salary and ought to see a nice raise via arbitration this winter, so a trade could bring in some near-MLB help and save the team some money to spend in free agency over the winter.
It remains to be seen whether Rogers will ultimately require an IL stint, but the mention of a sprain indicates some form of ligament stretching/tearing in Rogers’ finger, which is rather ominous. Every situation is unique, of course, but Cleveland righty Aaron Civale exited a June outing under similar circumstances and has yet to return to the mound.
They should try to get Will Smith from the Braves. I want the Braves to unload that ridiculous contract paying Smith over $13 million a year to be a so-so closer.
Now why on god’s green earth would this even be considered? Do you even baseball?
I wonder if this means he can be gotten on the cheap while on the IL. A lot of us giants fan have been hoping to see a Taylor/Tyler Rogers tandem in the pen
He’s still under contract for 2022, so if his value is affected by the trade then Minnesota will likely just wait until the offseason to trade him and hope that his medicals are clear at that point. No way they sell low.
Plus, it’s a sprained finger. Not exactly a killer injury for any pitcher.
Twins are just having one of those years.
Is there something we don’t know happening with this team? Nothing to do with Rogers injury but Berrios and Buxton don’t seem super interested in hanging around for the long haul in Minnesota. Those are two key players on that roster. Sure it’s a down year but they’re bound to bounce back.
Anyone?
Would love to see them especially Buxton bounce back roaming CF in Queens.
No.. they just want top dollar and Twins can’t pay too dollar.. Berrios wants ace money which he might end up getting elsewhere but Buxton can’t stay healthy and very inconsistent making his demands in a contract crazy… he should be running with a pen to sign an extension worth millions instead of being greedy.. it could backfire big time if injuries continue for him
Berrios always seemed like he was going to bet on himself. Bux might be bitter over them sending him down a couple years ago to get the extra year and I don’t entirely blame him. Though with Bux it could be that he’s never fully put together a strong, healthy year so he might figure he has more to gain if he can finally stay healthy next year.
Just another chapter in the Minnesota Twins Horror Season. A healthy Rogers could have netted a very nice prospect haul; probably one of the best trade deadline packages for a reliever this season given his excellent year to date and team control for 2022. Now they either need to sell low (which would be dumb) or hold onto him until the offseason and determine whether or not they are going to give the AL Central one more shot next year. A major chance to add good young talent is now lost in Minnesota. #HorrorSeason!!!
What about Josh Donaldson? The guy has been great. He’s got 3 more years on his deal, 2 plus a team option. Solid defense.
Milwaukee could use a 3B.
At $23M for each of the next two years and his injury risk, I can’t see the Brewers going after Donaldson.
A strategic move by Taylor so he’s not traded.
Move him in the offseason or just retain him for a run in 2022.
At least it’s not a 60 DL season ender, though I’d bet Rogers will be out until the end of August.