The Reds have acquired left-hander Taylor Rogers and cash considerations from the Giants, per announcements from both clubs. Minor league right-hander Braxton Roxby heads the other way. The cash going to Cincinnati is reportedly $6MM, half of Rogers’ salary this year. The Reds designated right-hander Owen White for assignment to open a 40-man spot.
Rogers, 34, has been one of the better lefty relievers in the league for quite a while now. Dating back to 2016, he has thrown 490 2/3 innings, allowing 3.34 earned runs per nine. He has struck out 28.2% of batters faced, limited walks to a 7% clip and also kept balls in play on the ground at a 46.3% rate.
He has occasionally been deployed as a closer, with a couple of seasons with 30-plus saves, but has mostly been a really good setup guy. He has 98 holds in his career. From 2016 through 2024, only ten pitchers racked up more holds. Héctor Neris is the only guy with both more saves and more holds than Rogers in that span.
The southpaw has spent the past two years with the Giants. He signed a three-year, $33MM deal with that club going into 2023. That was broken up into a $9MM salary in 2023, followed by $12MM in the final two seasons. That signing allowed him to play on the same team as his brother, righty Tyler Rogers.
As a Giant, the left-handed Rogers continued to post good numbers overall. He had a 3.83 ERA in 2023 and dropped that to 2.40 last year. It’s possible that the club saw some yellow flags under the hood last year, however. He averaged 93 miles per hour on his sinker, a career low and the third straight season in which that number dropped. He was at 95.7 mph in 2021 but then went to 94.3 and 93.6 in the next two years. His strikeout rate has also been falling in step, going from 35.7% to 30.7, 29.6 and 25.7% over the past four seasons.
He did still manage a shiny ERA in 2024 but there may have been some luck there. His 81.8% strand rate was well above the 72.1% league average, perhaps why his 3.75 FIP and 3.47 SIERA were both more than a run higher than his ERA. The Giants placed him on waivers in August last year, meaning any club could have just grabbed him if they were willing to take on the remainder of his contract, but no club did.
Those adjusted numbers are still decent, so it’s a sensible pickup for the Reds. Their relievers had a collective 4.09 ERA last year, placing them 18th out of the 30 clubs in the majors. They lost Buck Farmer and Justin Wilson to free agency. They traded Fernando Cruz to the Yankees for catcher Jose Trevino.
Adding to that bullpen has clearly been part of their plans. They have been connected to reliever Carlos Estévez multiple times this offseason but it’s been unclear how much spending capacity they have.
A couple of weeks ago, they signed a new TV deal with Main Street Sports, which prompted president of baseball operations Nick Krall to say that the club could perhaps direct some extra funding into building the roster. In recent days, they have agreed to sign Austin Hays to a $5MM deal and acquire Rogers as well as $6MM of his $12MM salary. They also agreed to a minor league deal with Wade Miley, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery but would make a $2.5MM base salary if he eventually makes the club.
Bringing in Rogers will hopefully upgrade the bullpen and give them a third lefty alongside Brent Suter and Sam Moll. Whether they still have funds available to go after Estévez or any other free agent remains to be seen. RosterResource estimates the club’s payroll at $110MM, about $10MM above last year. As of this writing, that doesn’t include Rogers, so adding in $6MM for him should push them up to a $16MM difference.
For the Giants, they have essentially cut the left-handed portion of their bullpen in half. Rogers and Erik Miller were the only southpaw relievers to toss more than an inning for the club last year, so they are now down to just Miller.
As mentioned, Rogers has been declining in terms of velocity and strikeouts, so perhaps the Giants expected those trends to continue and just wanted to get out now. In the process, they have saved $6MM, which could be redirected towards another part of the roster. RosterResource calculates their competitive balance tax number at $211MM, $30MM below the base threshold of $241MM. They paid the tax last year but it’s unclear if they plan to do so again in 2025. They have been connected to notable free agents such as Pete Alonso and Jack Flaherty this winter, so perhaps the savings could help them land one of those guys or some other free agent of note.
Of course, they are also adding some young talent in the form of Roxby. 26 in March, Roxby was signed by the Reds as an undrafted free agent in 2020. Due to the pandemic, that year featured a truncated draft of just five rounds.
Exclusively a reliever in his career thus far, Roxby has thrown 169 2/3 innings across multiple levels over the past four years with a 4.30 ERA. His 10.4% walk rate is a bit high but his 30.6% strikeout rate quite strong. Back in April, Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs ranked him as the #38 prospect in the Cincinnati system, noting that he’s a sidearming righty with two breaking balls. Geoff Pontes and J.J. Cooper of Baseball America highlighted Roxby ahead of the 2023 Rule 5 draft but he didn’t get selected that year nor in 2024.
Robert Murray of FanSided first reported the Rogers-Roxby swap. Mark Sheldon of MLB.com first reported the $6MM heading to the Reds.
You can’t break up the twins!!!!
They are keeping the submarine side-armer Tyler and dumping the lefty Taylor. Salary savings?
Taylor was going to make $12M in 2025, and word was Bob Melvin didn’t trust him in high leverage situations. Still, a shake they broke up the twins.
His numbers were very solid and the Giants are paying half of his salary so it’s minor savings.
This fan didn’t trust him in high leverage situations. The numbers surprise me. He wasn’t good for my nerves.
he threw out his glove for a reason
This MIGHT allow the Giants to bring Carson Whisenhunt along at the Major League level as a reliever, adding another lefty to the bullpen. I can’t see the Giants going into the season with only the LH Miller in the pen.
So this guy was available for a trade, And Hoyer is signing guys like Theilbar and Zastryzny? I’m not positive but I’m pretty sure the Cubs could have done better than than Brandon Roxby whoever he is. Sorry if I misjudged his talent level but I’ve never heard of him.
I thought the courts had struck down MLB’s Family Separation Policy.
Rogers kids were deported too…
I can’t tell one from the other!!! They look exactly the same!!! How do the Reds know they aren’t getting Tyler?? They need to do periodic DNA checks with these jokers, make sure the correct one is where he is supposed to be, sheesh.
I think the Reds will notice pretty quickly if Taylor tries throwing righty
I think their DNA would be the same so that would not work. Perhaps each have a mole in a different spot. Lol.
cool then trade them both.
They should have traded them both to Minnesota. C’mon it was a no brainer..
It’s not like they were Chang and Eng.
If Chang and Eng came in to pitch, would a position player be forced to sub off to accommodate them?
You know I blame their parents, if they named one of them Bartholomew and the other one Ned it would be so much easier to distinguish the one from the other. But oh no, the parents had to get cutesy and name them almost exactly the same name, when they look alike to boot!!! Sheesh smh
A trade! Woo hoo. So few of them these days.
Yeah, but it’s a salary dump. *Trade
The Giants need to have a “Night At The Roxby” bobblehead giveaway, if and when, he gets called up…
Based on his minor league numbers, that bobblehead night may need to be in Richmond.
Unexpected from the Reds! I wonder what Rogers is going to do in such a hitter-friendly ballpark.
What does any pitcher do … best they can and hope the bats win the game.
You do realize that Hunter Greene did pretty well in GABP, correct? But yes, some pitchers may have too much anxiety about pitching in the ballpark and that may keep them from signing with the Reds.
*how Rogers is
Give up fat dongs
@Kirk – Did Lent start already or was that your New Yeat’s resolution? 😉 (Joking of course, couldn’t help myself).
46 percent ground ball rate. Should be fine.
So Taylor goes and Tyler stays? They are identical twins! But not Minnesota Twins.
They’re triplets, they have a brother who’s job is a tailor.
And another who lays kitchen and bathroom tile
They’re fraternal twins, not identical.
Nope, they’re identical twins. Even their Giants teammates had trouble telling them apart.
they’re called mirror twins
Free up some $ for ALONSO I suspect.
@Cambo – mmmm, prolly not. However maybe G-Men sign Flaherty?
I think the likelier option is they’ll pocket the savings or use that money for a right-handed bat like Randal Grichuk. And in the off chance that everything falls into place and they’re trying to add pieces at the deadline, the payroll space would allow them to make a splash while possibly staying under the luxury tax.
Considering they used Taylor Rogers as basically a 6th inning middle reliever last year. They were paying him setup money but using him more for mop up duty, so I think saving $6M or using that cash for a mildly productive bat is reasonable. Therefore, I don’t think this move needs to be a first step towards a big deal for someone like Alonso. It’s a justifiable, if un-exciting, trade on its own merits.
Not happening. Signing Alonso costs money. Remember Johnson is the largest shareholder and doesn’t give a damn about the team.
Signing Alonzo would also cost two draft picks. Hard to call the owner cheap when the team top ten in payroll
Cambo
I would hope not. Alonso does not make sense on the Giants roster—especially at that price (whatever that price will be).
I think Alonso makes sense on the roster, but the cost (both in terms of money and draft picks) doesn’t add up — especially with ownership set on going under the luxury tax.
The Giants could absolutely carve out every day at bats for Alonso at first base, which would push LaMonte Wade Jr and Wilmer Flores into a strict DH platoon. Those two players come with health concerns (Flores especially, though Wade’s power has been completely sapped by leg troubles even when he’s been healthy enough to play). There’s a world where one or both of those players miss huge chunks of time or decline, leaving the current roster with no clear options at first base and DH — the two most offensive-focused positions.
So I do think Alonso would help tremendously to deepen the roster, and his right handed power would diversify the lineup that currently lacks a true power threat.
But again, the price is steep for a team that sort of wants to contend in 2025 but also doesn’t want to go all-in (despite spending $333M on Chapman and Adames, as well as having four prime years of Logan Webb left).
The San Francisco Giants continue their blazing trail to 4th place in the NL West.
Seriously, I was hoping this kind of thing would stop after they let Zaidi go. Paying the Reds 6 mill to take a 2.4 era reliever off our hands…. now they can afford to sign Alonso to a 6 year deal with 5 opt outs!
He was used mostly in a mop up roll. Seemed to crumble in the pressure siltations. If you read the article all his numbers except era have been continuing to decline. Cleared 6m and picked up a lottery arm.
I know it was a shaky sub 3 era but that’s still a quality contributor, even on the low end of pressure situations. For a team with money to spend that seems like a player you don’t just jettison for short term salary concerns. Using that 6 mill to back him up with another middle relief signing seemed like the better play.
Well I know I’m really glad to have a mop up roll when I finish a plate of good pasta lol.
THE REDS HAVE TOO MANY PLAYERS. THE SYSTEM IS BROKEN
Your caps lock key is also broken, screamer
They are not done yet! They are bound to sign Buck Farmer for the 27th consecutive year.
2 moves in two days, Castellini must have woken up from hibernation early this year
Alonso is not coming to the Giants
Not happening. See my previous comment.
As a matter Pirates fan, the Reds try and have added good major league players to their team. The Bucs other hand have greatly again shown their owners cheap true colors
You can always be a Reds fan Steve. They have a lot of roots in West Virginia. They had a minor league team in Wheeling for years and the Reds caravan always makes a few stops in the Mountaineer state.
lol. Nice pitch @joeitall
I used to love hanging curveballs like that.
I am between Charleston and Huntington. Both had a single a team hear at different times. Emotional ties to the pirates though. A lot of family roots for Reds.
And pick one whole game in the standings
Salary dump plain & simple.
SF will no longer be the home of:
MR ROGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD !!
This is not unexpected. Taylor Rogers lost the confidence of Bob Melvin and wasn’t being used as a high leverage reliever.
Is this worth it to cause a rift in the clubhouse?
The jung contract looks terrible already. And the 25 a year for Robbie as well. Get rid of these contracts too if they can. Chapman and Webb are anchors. Farhan really enjoyed tinkering to a fault. Making moves to make moves. Glad he’s gone.
you can’t say the lee contract looks bad – the dude had less than a half a season before he got injured, honestly this offseason has been horrible and I honestly have no faith in the direction of the front office. Farhan at least moved pieces around to try to improve the club, this offseason seems a lot more like the 2015-2018 offseasons of non baseball moves to make the team more attractive to ticket sales while tanking the record
Farhan was a joke, a guy with no feel for baseball. Let’s see what Buster can do. It’s not going to happen all in one off season.
buster is part of ownership who were the ones putting the reigns on farhan, he worked around the margins the best he could but people are more than willing to defend the same behavior because of their biases
JayRyder —
How can you possibly dis Lee when he was injured so early? And he injured himself crashing into the CF fence! Patience.
Looking at the payouts over the rest of the contract vs where there G’s are in rebuild. The guy is roughly 17, 23, 23, 21, 21 per season. With a lost year under his belt. Ok so next year at 17 your paying an unknown who probably plays good defense, if they can fix the fence also, suspect hitting at best. And being paid everyday player money. That’s an evaluation season I’d say. Then he gets Webb money for 4 consecutive seasons automatically. Ok that money can be moved around I guess with an assortment of younger players coming up. I see that. But when you’re needing that money now for say Flarety or Alonzo it’s a dis on Farhan and a statement on where they are now. Fluke injury sure. But is he going to be worth 23 per season at a near All Star level ? Moving forward. For 4 years. I’d say no. That’s a wild guess. But also years of watching baseball instincts.
your baseball instincts suck then lol
The robbie ray contract was a huge win of he never pitched an inning for them. They got rid of disco and the unluckiest injury man. What have they done since the trade? I’ll wait
Ray, too many questions marks. And again where they are now after seasons of Farhan taking us down the rabbit hole. A Robbie Ray contract is not what you want on a rebuilding team with young pitchers. Going for it was a fun idea with Adames. But there is no way you’re doing anything other than building a core of pitching this year along with solid defense and hitting evaluations. Ray is taking up space at 25 a year for 2 years. Too expensive not much to look forward too. Trade Bait at best for younger assets. The Taylor trade today indicates where they are heading. Chapman and Adames will be here for a while so no rush, but young controllable pitching is where the focus will be.
So who is going to go on the Reds?
Legumina, Richardson, Zulueta would be candidates, I would think. Benson wouldn’t surprise me either.
Jacob Hurtubise and their Rule 5 pickup are also probably on the bubble.
I was rooting for Jacob to make it with his background but it soon became obvious he was overmatched in the bigs.
Owen White was DFAed.
Pretty sure Zulueta is safe. He did alright in the chances he was given. Benson is loved by someone in Cincy and will be given a shot to start in spring.
Another lefty bullpen arm. Nice!
Roxby looks like about as bad a return as you can get considering they still have to pay the Reds 6 million to take Rogers. If they are clearing money it better not be for Grichuk or some other POS. If they get Alonso at least they will be somewhat watchable this year and of not, keep on trading everyone else since they might as well rebuild
Quite the side swipe of Grichuk!
Just an angry man because his screen name became irrelevant.
With moves like this it’s as if he never left
Ha ha. I didn’t think it would take long, Frugal !
frugalfarhan —
Grichuk wouldn’t be a terrible signing. A very capable platoon bat and defensive player.
This could be one of those low key pickups that really helps the Reds.
Cincy is having a good week.
I have no idea what is going on. But my Reds are having a good offseason. Nothing flashy (other than hiring Tito as manager of course) but a series of solid moves IMO. I’m entertained.
Reds have needed a quality set up man/another dependable backend reliever desperately. Way too many times over the last 2 seasons has Diaz had to come into games he shouldn’t have had to because 3 or 4 or more run leads got away late or into close games in the 8th. And the overuse and fatigue it caused has been obvious
Salzilla is jelly day continues. Rogers is a solid lefty.
Seems like a terrible signing by the Reds.
Rogers’ impressive ERA in 2024 might be misleading, as it could be largely attributed to luck rather than sustained skill. His elevated strand rate (81.8%)—well above the league average of 72.1%—suggests that his success may have been due to factors outside his control, such as batters failing to capitalize with runners on base. Additionally, his declining velocity and strikeout rate over the past few seasons indicate that his performance may be trending downward, casting doubt on whether he can continue to be effective as he ages and his physical tools diminish.
Well they gave up a minor leaguer who may never sniff the majors to acquire a piece for the bullpen. If he gives them one good inning on the season then it was worth trading a guy who may never make it. You never know how it will go. You need a few years to see if the minor leaguer becomes anything of substance. It’s never a bad move to acquire a proven major leaguer to help your team now.
And that minor leaguer is 25 with an era over 5 in AA….I have a strong feeling that Roxby will never suit up in an MLB game…anyone thinking that this is terrible for the Reds is out of their minds…quality arm, closing experience, the Giants also throwing in money and we gave up basically nothing…that’s a win even if Rogers regresses.
It was a trade, Shakespeare
It’s not a signing, it’s a trade. They also gave up practically nothing and get a $6 million discount on Rogers’s salary. Not sure what Giants are doing here other than clearing a few million in salary.
Taylor Rogers was just not good in high leverage situations while with the Giants. I thought they had already let him go sometime last year, which shows how irrelevant he’d become to the team. I think they were happy to find a taker for whatever they thought they could get.
“I thought they had already let him go sometime last year, which shows how irrelevant he’d become to the team”.
TR had 60 IP last year for the Giants, up from 51.2 the year before. Hardly irrelevant.
46 percent ground ball rate. Over a k an inning. 70th percentile in fastball velocity in mlb. His FIP has been relatively similar to his ERA for his career. Bad take
Unless the ML they sent them turns into John Franco from the Dodgers for Rafael Landestoy circa 1983. This is a good use of lower level ML to get a player from a team that needs to shed salary.
Might be… Could be…Suggests…may be…
Hedge your bets much, Old York?
Seems you’re are also saying this was a fine pick up.
Solid addition to the bullpen to replace Cruz, finally. My opinion is they need one more, but I bet this is all we get.
They will sign Buck Farmer for the 27th consecutive season.
Someone help me understand what’s in it for the Giants to make this trade? Just weakened the one area of “strength” with seemingly very little in return.
I don’t get it either, other than it opens a roster spot. It’s not enough savings in dollars to make any difference, and the prospect return is just a lottery ticket at best.
I think it’s more about innings than a roster spot. They have 5 SPs in Webb, Verlander, Ray, Hicks, and Harrison. They have additional pitchers that can be starters, Birdsong, Winn, Beck, Roupp, and Black. as well 10 other pitchers on the 40-man.There will be IL stints, but it isn’t going to be easy getting all their young pitchers innings.
Putting “strength” in quotes looks like you get it without realizing it – they’re just not very high on him, and his value isn’t very high.
So the choice they made was hold onto an overpriced reliever and hope for the best, or trade him for $6mm in savings and a lotto ticket. It looks like they did fine on this one.
Think he’s unlikely to repeat his success and get out now. They may like a free agent like Coulombe more for example.
Dude was JUST on with CJ and Spilbourghs today on Loud Outs MLB radio as part of their players week. He was on for an hour telling stories and answering questions. Boom….he gets traded a few hours later. Who knew?
Why on earth would the Giants do this? I don’t get it.
At a guess, a freed up $6m is seen as being more valuable than Tyler’s projected role.
Taylor’s projected role.
He clearly was regressing. And they saved $6mil. Think about it, if he was so valuable why was it so hard to find a taker? And fopp nailed it for me: Taylor was becoming less and less a sure thing. I’m hoping for Coulombe.
Coulombe is a lefty.
Quickly searches for Coulombe’s stats……
He’ll do.
Regressing? He had an excellent 2024 season. 6 million for a supposed win now team is nothing.
Like I said i don’t get it.
regressed. yr by yr. 2024 was not excellent.
Roster spot, salary dump
Open. Your. Mind.
Can’t say I’m surprised since they tried to dump him late last season but found no takers. Curious what the next move(s) will be. Leaves only one LH in the pen and not many real options in the minors so assume they will have to add there. Could free up some money for a hitter. Feel they need to add a LH because the lineup is heavy in RH bats.
giantsguy41 & BITA;
This happens here every offseason…..
A teams FO makes a move and their fans are in disbelief as it appears they “lost” the trade and that makes no sense.
Spring Training is still a month or so away. FO’s are pulling their rosters together for that, and will be making moves constantly right up until the end of the 2025 season. The Giants are surely positioning themselves for that.
MLBTR has done a very poor job this offseason by covering singings and trades using a template. This article is typical: Regurgitate recent cherry-picked statistics of the players involved, and maybe go back a year or so. Bring up the players salary or salary the players agent is looking for and match that against the projected payroll for the team. This is great for those playing rotisserie league.
What’s not done is recognizing what moves have been made to the teams FO, manager, coaching staff and analysts. Those people are meeting and discussing their players under contract as well as players on other teams that might be available. Decisions are made on what possibilities there are in 2025 for players to assume roles fitting in with the sort of team the manager and his staff want in 2025. Flexibility is key as rosters change as well as roles on players on them during the season.
In short, the Reds were looking to strengthen their bullpen going into the season. The Giants very probably feel they have other pitchers coming along that can take some of the role Mr. Rodgers had in 2025, and they’d like to give younger and less expensive pitchers a crack at pitching those innings. Few, if any of the articles here ever talk about who might replace a departed player. It creates a mentality of readers that think a team goes into a season with a frozen depth chart and intends on using that all year. There are transactions literally every day of the season in MLB today.
Why don’t you start SMLBTR!!!
Took all of 4 minutes to designate Owen White.
I wonder if brothers get really pissed when you trade one. Guards traded Josh and still have Bo
I would love to be traded away from my brother. It all depends.
I’d imagine if they really hated playing with each other they probably wouldn’t have signed with the same team lolol (in the Rogers’ case)
Wow..Reds stole Rogers! I’ve never even heard of Braxton Roby and I am a Reds Fan
It’s a good move. Didn’t cost them much at all in prospects and money. It’s a good use of lower level mid prospects
I believe this move signals a significant signing or trade as it does free up a roster spot as well as 6mil.
Hope so. I didn’t trust the dude in high leverage situations, but there was certainly no reason to let him go for nothing. I’d like to see a short term Flaherty signing.
Maybe Alonso at 1B/DH. I can see a Scherzer or Flaherty signing or a possible trade for Castillo.
“It’s possible that the club saw some yellow flags under the hood ”
I’ve heard of red flags, but not yellow…
Red flags can only be seen on the exterior.
Ya gotta pop the hood to see those yellow ones.
I agree. Weird.
Guessing it was a cab!
Pretty sure there’s green ones as well. You want to have them pinned on you when the ladies are looking for long term. I took yellow as being in the middle.
3.75 FIP, diminished K/9 from ’23 yet remains above league average, .299 BABIP vs. career .314. He may regress a bit I don’t even see yellow.
Not only does the trade separate the twins, Roxby represents competition for side-armer Tyler !
No doubt Reds will add a bullpen piece or 2 after Williamson and Aguiar go back on the 60 day IL. Krall continues to be resourceful, innovative, and patiently relentless in impoving this team.
Seems the new TV Deal/revenue has bumped the team from the Carl’s Jr. FA menu to Outback level…
Alas, Morton’s type FAs remain a distant dream…
Reds spending money???? Wow
Baggarly talked to Posey and it doesn’t sound like there are any more moves. Posey said they are “still looking” but that he likes the team as is. Sounds like they have hit their budget limit. Probably going to go with someone like Joey Lucchesi or Ethan Small as the 2nd lefty.
As per Pete. Whisenhunt maybe. High strikeout rate. Essentially a 2 pitch guy. Coming off a sore elbow.
Let me get this straight: the Giants traded a serviceable–maybe even more than serviceable–middleman and $6M for a minor leaguer who was undrafted and hasn’t really distinguished himself in the Minors? And in doing so weaken the left side of their bullpen by 50% while playing in home park that definitely favors lefties? Why do I keep rooting for this team? (That last question was a hypothetical.)
A fungible reliever turning 34 with a FIP edging towards 4.00 in 2023-2024 for a high upside lottery ticket who k’s 12 per 9 in the minors, suppresses HR like nobody’s business, and as recently as 2023 looked like he was putting it together?
Why _wouldn’t_ you make this trade?
The Giants as an org play things pretty close to the vest so I don’t expect Posey to be forth-coming on anything they are doing or considering. I mean we all heard for week how they were so IN on Adames.
I like the deal, $6M in savings and a lottery ticket for someone who simply is no longer a high leverage arm. The $6M savings gives the front office some optionality, now or at the deadline.
In free agency I like David Roberson as a high leverage arm with no platoon splits who’s also closed before. The back end is already inexpensive w/Doval + Walker, create depth and shorten games. I’m MEH about Grichuk
I don’t really understand this for the giants….
Best of luck.