The Giants under Buster Posey are expected to operate kinder and gentler. They are expected to manage the roster with a little more thought paid to player welfare and a little less thought paid to marginal gains and ruthless efficiency.
But Posey’s first significant trade as president of baseball operations required a bit of a cold touch. How else does one go about breaking up the first set of identical twin brother teammates in major-league history?
In what amounted to a salary dump, the Giants agreed to send left-hander Taylor Rogers to the Cincinnati Reds for minor league reliever Braxton Roxby, a pitcher who signed as an undrafted free agent and had a 5.21 ERA at Double-A Chattanooga last season. The Giants are sending $6 million to the Reds with Rogers, who will be paid $12 million in the final season of his three-year, $33 million contract. (So yes, the Giants and Reds will be paying him identical amounts.)
It does not sound as if the Giants have immediate plans to reinvest the $6 million they saved in the trade.
“We’ll keep looking,” Posey said in a brief phone interview. “I will say, we feel pretty set with the roster the way it is right now.”
The trade splits up the Rogers brothers after two seasons in the same bullpen — a dream so wild that they never dared to believe it was possible. Right-hander Tyler Rogers, who avoided arbitration when he signed a $5.25 million contract, is expected to resume his role as a primary setup man in Giants manager Bob Melvin’s bullpen.
Both Rogers brothers will be free agents after next season. Taylor Rogers has the higher overall profile, having made an All-Star team in 2021 and serving as the closer in Minnesota, Milwaukee and San Diego. But the Giants used him almost exclusively in low-leverage situations last season. He posted impressive statistics — 2.40 ERA in 64 appearances and 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings — but his strikeout-to-walk ratio as a Giant was down sharply from his peak seasons and other metrics were less than impressive. His two-seam fastball velocity was down a tick and his chase rate (21.2 percent) was among the lowest of all major-league pitchers.
It’s been apparent for awhile that the Giants hoped to find a taker for his salary. The club put him on waivers last season but no contending clubs bit.
“Hate to break the brothers up,” said Posey, who indicated that his next call would be to Tyler Rogers to explain the trade. “It’s the last year of (Taylor’s) deal. It’s a chance for us to get a look at some other arms. We’ve got a lot of guys in camp including a group of interesting non-roster guys. It does create a little more competition (in the bullpen).”
The Rogers brothers spent two seasons together in the Giants’ bullpen. (Mark J. Rebilas / USA Today)
The Giants will have no shortage of candidates to round out the pitching staff on Opening Day, especially after signing Justin Verlander to join a rotation that also includes Logan Webb, Robbie Ray and Jordan Hicks. Left-hander Kyle Harrison is the presumptive No. 5 starter and would have to pitch his way out of a job this spring. With Ryan Walker, Camilo Doval, Tyler Rogers and Erik Miller expected to form the back end of the bullpen, there would be just four spots up for grabs in a competition that includes Hayden Birdsong, Landen Roupp, Keaton Winn, Tristan Beck, Spencer Bivens, Mason Black, Carson Seymour, Carson Ragsdale, Trevor McDonald and Randy Rodriguez.
Left-hander Joey Lucchesi, who will be in camp as a non-roster invitee, might be the player whose chances to make the team improved the greatest following Wednesday’s trade, which was first reported by FanSided’s Robert Murray.
Because so many of their young pitchers have minor-league options, the Giants will have the advantage of roster flexibility when it comes to making week-to-week adjustments to the staff. That flexibility increased following Wednesday’s trade. But Posey said the options situation didn’t factor in the decision to trade a former All-Star reliever.
“I really don’t want to send guys up and down a ton,” Posey said. “Seeing the way it can impact guys, it’s not something we want to do. Of course, you have to. It’s part of the game. But it’s not something that played a role here.”
The Giants also would seem to have oodles of financial flexibility, but it appears that they will hold to organizational plans to scale back significantly from last year’s dalliance over the luxury tax threshold. Signing Jorge Soler, Matt Chapman and Blake Snell last March resulted in an adjusted payroll (accounting for salary that is earned in a given year but not necessarily paid out) of $206 million and a luxury tax payroll that exceeded the initial tax threshold for the first time since 2018. Pushing all those chips resulted in a disappointing 80-82 season that cost Farhan Zaidi his job after six seasons as president of baseball operations.
The Giants have made a couple of significant player investments this offseason, signing shortstop Willy Adames to the largest contract in franchise history (seven years, $182 million) and doling out $15 million to add Verlander to their rotation. But in the absence of other additions, their forecasted opening-day payroll of roughly $170 million would be their lowest to start a full season since 2014. They’re currently projected to land roughly $40 million underneath the first luxury tax threshold of $241 million.
And, of course, their spending — along with nearly everyone else’s — is downright modest when compared to their freewheeling NL West archrivals in Los Angeles.
(Top photo of Taylor Rogers: Mary Altaffer / Associated Press)
