The Red Sox have re-signed infielder Brendan Rodgers to a two-year minor league deal, according to Chris Hatfield of SoxProspects.com. The deal allows him to rehab from shoulder surgery and hopefully return in 2027.
Rodgers was released by the club three days ago, though it seemed likely the two sides would reunite on a two-year pact. The 29-year-old joined the Red Sox organization in February but suffered a shoulder injury in a hard fall at the end of the month. That ended his bid to make the club out of camp, with the second base job ultimately going to Marcelo Mayer. If Mayer establishes himself this year, Rodgers may try for a backup spot if he is fully healthy in 2027.
The longtime Rockie is coming off a rough showing with the Astros in 2025. In 128 plate appearances over 43 games with Houston, Rodgers batted a meager .191/.266/.278 with a 55 wRC+. That was a steep falloff from his 87 wRC+ in 2024 and the worst mark for Rodgers since the 2020 season, when he only made 21 PA. His 35.9% strikeout rate with the Astros was a career high, and his 8.6% walk rate was not enough to make up for the significant decline in contact. While he showed some positive signs, such as a 48.6% hard-hit rate, the bottom-line results simply weren’t there. He went down a left oblique strain in mid-June and spent the rest of the season on the injured list.
For most of his time with the Rockies, Rodgers was a respectable, but underwhelming hitter. He slashed .266/.316/.409 with the club from 2019-24, grading out 14% below average by wRC+. That was serviceable, but not what the club expected given Rodgers’ pedigree as a former top prospect. He peaked with 1.8 fWAR in 2022, hitting 13 homers with a 94 wRC+ and playing exceptional defense at second base (22 Defensive Runs Saved). The latter proved to be an outlier, with Rodgers earning negative marks in DRS in 2023 and 2024. Going forward, he profiles best as a depth infielder, though his offense will need to recover post-surgery for him to stick on a big-league roster.
Photo courtesy of Troy Taormina, Imagn Images
Good. It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
There it is.
I was waiting for their annual “let’s waste money on a rehabbing player who will provide no value whatsoever to the team” contract.
Granted this is a little different because he got hurt in ST, but still
It’s the right thing to do and neither you nor I can forecast his contributions in the future.
Players notice how teams treat players. This is a good look.
“But still” what? As whyhayzee states, players notice how teams treat players.
Gary – Exactly! We’ve been saying it for 6 years now, players should be treated like human beings not commodities. Trust matters, a lot.
FPG
How about home plate ump, C.B. Bucknor game yesterday. He had to be embarrassed on how many ABS calls got overturned. The Sox did not use there allotted attempts very wisely. They need a strategy going forward to use this to there advantage. Obviously it’s a work in progress. They need to figure a proper plan on who ,when and how to address this new rule. Get all the stat- heads,nerds together and figure out all the scenarios. Should have been in place already.
cdc – hi!
Yes I totally agree, the Red Sox really doomed themselves by not having a plan. They should have told the players “CB is behind the plate today so do NOT challenge unless you are 1,000% certain the call will be overturned”.
Red Sox never have a plan, unfortunately.
FPG
I see Yoshida is starting in left field today. Also Early starting today,a couple of ,how to put this, curious ? , decisions… Thoughts??? Not sure if I like Story batting 2nd … Definitely had a beef with Bucknor on the check swing yesterday.. but that’s going to happen… Let’s hope Early starts with a strong outing today ,to cement his spot in the rotation .
cdc – hi!
Contrary to popular belief here, Yoshida CAN play outfield! He was solid in LF during the WBC.
Ranger and Bello were scheduled for Houston long ago. Ranger was supposedly behind schedule because of the WBC, the Bello situation is kinda weird though ….. he hasn’t pitched since March 14th, that’s a really really long time.
You know my feelings on Story batting second, his .301 OBP since 2022 sucks for a #2 hitter. Contreras batting 2nd makes much more sense.
“Players notice how teams treat players.”
Yeah not sure this repairs the damage done given how they treated Mookie, Raffy, and one could even mention Yoshida and his current role on the team.
There is no damage. They keep signing veterans. Young players are signing extensions.
Devers caused his own problems. In case you missed it, we started winning immediately once he was gone.
Yoshida played poorly and then was injured. In no way has he been mistreated.
Joe – It would take years to undo the Red Sox mistreatment of players going back to 2020 …. but every little thing helps.
It’s fairly standard for teams to do this and frankly it’s a very cheap way to show goodwill to players in the league. At minimum it buys respect.
Interesting I don’t remember ever hearing about a player getting a multi year minor league deal. Maybe it just doesn’t get mentioned. Certainly have no problem with it. I felt bad when Rodgers got hurt and was released, so I agree it does bring some goodwill.
Uncle – Breslow hasn’t been signing injured players to just major league contracts. LOL
mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/red-sox-sign-michael-fu…
And it worked out as expected ….. released early in Year #2 with only one MLB appearance. Only $23K counted towards the CBT.
Hard to complain about a two-year minor league deal where the signed player doesn’t take up a roster spot nor effect the CBT. Rodgers also isn’t blocking anyone’s development as he rehabs.
YBC: Agreed and Rodgers can help younger players like Mayer while he rehabs.
YBC – Exactly! I do wonder why the dollar amount for minor league contracts isn’t revealed though. I mean I know it’s because it doesn’t impact the CBT, but why not mention it anyway?
Because they don’t need to report those figures. It’s usually between $100k to $250k for rehabbing players like Rodgers with 6+ years of service time.
There it is. I was waiting for you to complain about nothing.
Very nice and classy move.
IKF is a free agent next winter so perhaps Rodgers comoetes for the backuo 2B/SS job next spring
Oerhaps next soring.
hayzee – That’s exactly why I don’t like posting when I travel, my hands are too damn big for my phone. LOL
Do you have gigantic Hall of Fame Wide Receiver hands like T.O.?
Who needs p’s when the o’s work just fine?
An o doesn’t have a leg to stand on?
He plays Gold Glove defense.If he hits at all,great bench guy.If Mayer doesn’t hit,new guy for 2nd base.
Welcome back Brendan. See you in 2027.
I remember seeing Brendan in Hartford in AA on his way up and thinking he absolutely looked the part of a major leaguer.
Hope he can get his career back on track.
Well that was awfully nice of them 😃. Not that it’s a charity case by any means. Rodgers has a nice glove. it’s an interesting move considering what we have on the big league roster and in the minors. But I do like the move. Was very decent of them to pay him to rehab
SP
To me it’s a curious signing. It’s not as if he was a past all-star or dynamic player. Basically pay him to rehab for an entire season,and then compete as a backup infielder…. I’m sure there will be many options for competition level players available after this season . Sounds like a favor for a friend. Maybe he breaks out next spring…..
This organization is filled with awful hitters who whiff in a third of their ABs.
They were third in the AL and seventh overall in the league for runs scored last season. A run is a run no matter how it is produced. Scoring more than the opponent is the ultimate goal, ain’t it?
That has always been the goal. But whiffing in a third of the ABs is an unwatchable product and not feasible for long-term. If that’s what you like, then enjoy those .180 hitters.
The players currently on the roster struck out 21.9% last year. If you are going to be a troll you have to at least pick a statistic that is close to real. Try again.
Remind me of the whiff rates for Story, Contreras, Duran, Abreu and Narvaez last year. I’ll wait for your response.
To think this team exhibits any sort of plate discipline is incredibly disingenuous. As a team in 2025, they ranked 8th in having the most strikeouts. This is a mediocre lineup filled with lots of pieces from the odds and ends department.