February 21: Per Chandler Rome of The Athletic, Rodgers has three opt-outs in his deal: end of spring training, May 1 and June 1.
February 18: The Astros are in agreement with second baseman Brendan Rodgers on a minor league contract, reports Ari Alexander of KPRC 2. The signing, which is still pending a physical, includes a non-roster invite to Spring Training. Colorado had non-tendered Rodgers in lieu of paying a projected $5.5MM salary for his final arbitration season.
Rodgers had spent his entire career with the Rockies. Colorado drafted him out of high school with the third overall pick in 2015. He was one of the game’s top prospects for a few seasons, though he never developed into the impact hitter expected at the time. Rodgers spent four years as Colorado’s primary second baseman, posting slightly below-average numbers after adjusting for Coors Field.
The right-handed hitter has turned in a .266/.316/.409 slash line in more than 1800 career plate appearances. He put up virtually identical numbers last year, posting a .267/.314/.407 mark across 539 trips to the dish. Rodgers hit 13 home runs with middling strikeout and walk rates. He hit the ball on the ground at a career-high 56.1% rate. Among hitters with 500+ plate appearances, no one hit the ball on the ground more often.
Rodgers has put more than half his batted balls on the ground in each season of his career. That has capped his power potential despite his home park and solid exit velocities. Like many Colorado hitters, he’s had a difficult time acclimating away from Coors Field. Rodgers is a .306/.361/.465 career hitter in Denver. He has turned in a .227/.272/.356 mark on the road. Hitting on the road is a challenge for Rockies hitters, who need to adapt to sharper breaking stuff than they usually see in higher altitudes at home. Projecting Rodgers isn’t as simple as looking solely at his road numbers, though that lack of production outside Colorado surely played a role in limiting him to a minor league contract.
Aside from a few scattered starts at shortstop between 2019-21, Rodgers has been a full-time second baseman. He won a Gold Glove in 2022 behind a massive +22 grade from Defensive Runs Saved. That’s an extreme outlier compared to the rest of his career. Rodgers has received slightly below-average grades from DRS in his other three full seasons. Statcast’s Outs Above Average metric has put him slightly below par as well.
A second base-only profile is a difficult one to carry off the bench. Teams tend to prioritize defensive flexibility from their backup infielders. Rodgers came up as a shortstop prospect and played a little bit of third base in the minors. He doesn’t have any professional outfield experience.
Houston has Mauricio Dubón and backup catcher Victor Caratini locked into two of their four bench spots. Jon Singleton will probably keep his role as a left-handed bench bat. That’d leave one job up for grabs among out-of-options outfielder Taylor Trammell, righty-hitting corner bat Zach Dezenzo, and non-roster invitees like Rodgers, Luis Guillorme, and Zack Short. If Rodgers makes the team, he’d likely draw into the lineup on days when the Astros use Jose Altuve in left field. Houston reportedly still intends to get Altuve some outfield work despite Alex Bregman’s departure.
This may explain Altuve already taking reps in left field, unless I’m missing something else.
Altuve is not that bad at 2B; I don’t understand why they’re doing this. Just leave Altuve at 2B and Dubon at LF; why cause all this commotion?
@reynaldo’s. Probably because they feel Rodgers is better than dubon. It’s a sneaky pickup. Plus maybe Rodgers plays left. He’s not a 3rd overall pick, but he hasn’t been terrible in the mlb.
He had a minus 13 DRS and minus 8 OAA at second last season, along with a minus 6 fielding run value (11th percentile). He’s bad.
@bbb. It’s also a minor league deal. Astros usually know what they are doing.
Why not gamble on Verdugo
Cause he’ll probably cost enough to take them over the CBT and he’s not worth losing draft picks for.
I love Altuve but he’s bad over there at 2nd.
He was the worst at 2b for the last 2 seasons.
Yet MLB rated him the second best 2nd baseman in all of baseball again this year.
For his bat. Not his glove.
Altuve is below average at 2B defensively Rodgers is a GG winner there. That’s why they’re doing it.
He sucks at 2b. The worst fielding 2b in baseball last year.
Altuve playing left has been in the works for a few months now. It started as a concession he would make to get Bregman back (and Paredes moving to 2nd, Bregman at 3rd) it also came about as a way to get Yordan more time at DH. They don’t want him playing the field every day with the knee injuries he’s had in the last couple seasons. Dubon is someone they prefer to keep in a utility role.
Minor league deals seldom mean anything, except to RS fans for some strange reason.
LMAO another 3B option for Yankees refuses to acknowledge
He wasn’t a 3rd base option. He would have lined up at 2nd with Jazz at third. I was holding out hope for this one tbh. I like Rogers, he was worth a look.
He could not even land an mlb contract. Nothing to see here, nothing to loose
Hal won’t spend enough money necessary to put the team in a better position to win the WS. Why should he when he’s raking in the dough with the product he fields.
This minor league deal was the deal-breaker for you??? Lol, the Yankees spent a solid chunk this offseason. I would have liked them to take a flyer on Rogers, but not the biggest of deals here.
If you look at his Away splits from Coors, he’s worst than a league min. Oswaldo.
Not a great player but more deserving of a minor league deal. Odd.
Agreed, that’s wild
@holecamels. Would’ve thought he could get atleast 2.5 major league deal. He must’ve a opt out. Also side note would think he had another team with a better chance to play.
him and Buck Farmer both minor league deals this week, two of the strangest minor league deals I’ve ever seen. Both >1 WAR players the year previous. obviously major league material. Bizarre…
Its not bizarre. Its already spring training. GMs aren’t supposed to have empty roster spots at this time. They were supposed to be filling them all off season. If you wait this long to sign, there may not be any roster spots left.
What an absolute steal!!!
What a deal, What a steal…
Can you imagine your team being worst in your division for your entire career?
To get the chance to go from worst to first… I bet he is stoked!
Wow how ridiculous it is to get a major. This can be one of the biggest steals. Even if not way better then a minor.
I’m interested to see how he fares outside Colorado.
He’s a contact guy. His eye will get used to consistent breaks on pitches. Could help him swing at fewer pitches that evd up out of the zone.
He’ll be fine outside of Colorado. But he is very prone to extended slumps. But that also means for one or two months out of the year, he will look like an All Star. He is that good. The problem is the rest of the time, he will magically find a way to strikeout 4 times in 3 plate appearances. He usually fares better in the warm weather months, although that may be related to Colorado since April is stupidly cold.
Guy couldn’t hit in Colorado, won’t hold my breath on him turning things around when leaving the altitude
That a boy Dana Brown! I was upset when you lost us Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman, Yusei Kukuchi, Justin Verlander, Will Wagner, Joey Loperfido and Ryan Pressley, but now I see you had a plan… Brendan Rogers makes up for those guys.
When is your contract up? Let me know so I can be there to personally drive you to the airport.
Holy bad take. He’s not Lunhow, but he’s done a good job here. He got a great package for a player that is not signing an extension. Nobody in their right mind pays Bregman what Boston did. Verlander was horrible last year. Let someone else pay for the downside. They don’t have Kukuchi without giving up those players.
The Kukuchi trade should have been a 1 for 1 swap of any of those 3, not a 3 for 1. He was great after the trade, but Dana got absolutely fleeced in that deal
He’s left the team with one LH bat in the lineup. Rogers is irrelevant to the team’s needs. Without checking, I’ll assume no other team has fewer LH batters
He’ll hit better in Houston since he’ll know when fastballs are coming.
Or maybe bc they’ll have a competent coaching staff
At least he chose to join an organization with a winning track record over the last decade. I can’t imagine baseball being fun as a Rockies player, losing for that long without hope to win a division championship.
Rockies are MLB’s red-headed stepchild.
Right ! Owen whites offseason rollar coaster – rangers reds Yankees white Sox. Dude def needs some therapy lol
It feels like just yesterday that the Rox ‘were considering’ trading him.
The reason this guy didn’t get a big league deal is because his home/road splits are so ridiculous. But still a first round pick, third overall…… depth if nothing else
Sleeping Tigers
Astros article. Besides, the Guardians are the Tigers’ daddy.
As much as I dislike Altuve, I give him props for moving off 2b. He is below average and Rogers has a solid glove. This also gets Alvarez out of the OF where his defense and knees aren’t good.
Contrast that with Devers who still wants to play 3b over a GG like Bregman.
Why would you dislike Altuve?
Don’t assume Rogers is the new second baseman
He has a minor league deal.
If he gets a full-time gig with the Big League club, starting 2B is a bit of a stretch. They do have other options
This is a good signing for the Astros. I heard they had some interest in Phillies INF Kody Clemens, but this transaction probably squashed that. Why are the Astros determined to play Altuve in LF, isn’t he still one of the better 2B in MLB?
He doesn’t make a lot of errors, but defensive metrics do not like him. He won the gold glove in 2015 but has seen his skills erode over time
If not many errors, maybe he doesn’t have the range to get to ball. no errors.
Precisely, and a weak throwing arm on top of it
Now working on a deal to get Aaron Rodgers !!
I had no idea this dude was a FA and it seriously took this long for a team to grab him? Umm ok ♂️
He’s going to fit well in Houston. Also with the shift gone and seeing similar breaking balks at home and the road will help his eye and timing. Altuve’s range was diminishing but his bat and speed are still good. I think the Astros trade Dubon if Rodgers can hold second (Altuve may still play road games at 2B) and DeZenzo can adjust to the outfield. Long term the Astros need to find a LH bat for the outfield. Preferably in a trade involving Dubon or Caratini.