The Reds reportedly get cash in the deal, too.
The Cincinnati Reds further bolstered their bullpen on Wednesday, acquiring former All Star reliever Taylor Rogers from the San Francisco Giants.
Per MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon, the Reds will receive some $6 million from San Francisco to help offset the $12 million salary Rogers will earn in 2025, his final year under contract before reaching free agency. Reliever Braxton Roxby, who pitched for AA Chattanooga in each of the 2021, 2023, and 2024 seasons within the Reds organization, will head to San Francisco in the deal.
According to a source, the Reds have acquired LHP Taylor Rogers and cash from the Giants for Minor League RHP Braxton Roxby. Deal pending approval from MLB because Cincinnati is set to receive $6 million from SF to cover half of Rogers’ $12 million salary for 2025.
— Mark Sheldon (@msheldon.bsky.social) 2025-01-29T21:37:02.208Z
Rogers, now 34, is a product of the University of Kentucky and was originally drafted in the 11th round of the 2012 draft by the Minnesota Twins, who he eventually starred for across 6 seasons. He has twice saved 30+ games in a season (2019 and 2022) while bouncing from Minnesota to San Diego and Milwaukee before landing with the Giants, and is off a 2024 season in which he pitched to a tidy 2.40 ERA in 60.0 IP.
That said, his 2024 FIP (3.75) suggests he was a bit lucky, though not to the point where a more expected outcome would have made him unserviceable. In fact, he saw a spike in the production against him by left-handed hitters in 2024, an area where he’s usually excellent, and that’s likely where the Reds will hope to deploy him more often than not when they can.
Of course, Rogers joins a bullpen that already looked both full and flush with LHP prior to today, with each of Sam Moll, Brent Suter, and Alex Young all in the mix already. Not to speculate too much, but Moll did have his season end early in 2024 with a shoulder impingement and Young battled serious back issues last year, so perhaps there’s more depth needed of the southpaw variety than the surface would suggest.
Speaking of lefties, the Reds added old friend Wade Miley on a minor league deal earlier this morning, too. He’s recovering from Tommy John surgery and isn’t expected to be ready until some time in May (at the earliest), but that makes a trio of significant moves made by the front office in the last 24 hours (alongside the move to sign OF Austin Hays).