San Francisco Giants Dealing All-Star Reliever in Trade With Cincinnati Reds

The San Francisco Giants are trading away a former All-Star from the bullpen.
Sep 27, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Taylor Rogers (33) delivers a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals during the fourth inning at Oracle Park.
Sep 27, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants pitcher Taylor Rogers (33) delivers a pitch against the St. Louis Cardinals during the fourth inning at Oracle Park. / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images
In this story:

The San Francisco Giants are shipping a former All-Star relief pitcher out of town in a trade with the Cincinnati Reds.

As first reported by MLB insider Robert Murray, the Giants are trading left-handed pitcher Taylor Rogers to the Reds in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Braxton Roxby in what looks to be a salary dump with San Francisco also sending over cash considerations in the trade.

Rogers is owed $12 million this year in the final season of his three-year, $33 million contract he signed with the Giants prior to the 2023 season and is coming off what was arguably the best season of his nine-year MLB career.

In 2024, Rogers made 64 appearances and posted a career-best 2.40 ERA, striking out 64 batters in 60 innings pitched.

He spent the first six seasons of his career with the Minnesota Twins where he was named an All-Star for the first time in his career his final season there in 2021. Rogers was traded to the San Diego Padres ahead of the 2022 season and sent at the trade deadline that year to the Milwaukee Brewers before signing the San Francisco contract the following offseason.

Roxby played his college ball at the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown and has been in the Reds organization since 2021. In 2024 with Double-A Chattanooga, he made 39 appearances and posted a 5.21 ERA, but it's his strikeout numbers that are at the very least intriguing. With 65 K's in 48.1 innings, Roxby averaged 12.1 strikeouts per nine innings after putting up 11.4 the year prior across High-A and Double-A.

At just 25 years old, he could certainly contribute to the big league roster eventually.

With encouraging strikeout numbers and demonstrated development in his rise to Double-A, there's the chance Roxby could eventually play in the majors within the next couple of seasons.

In the meantime however, the Giants will have to figure out how to replace the production of Rogers, who has been one of the better left-handed relievers in the game for a number of years now. Rogers' right-handed twin brother Tyler remains on the San Francisco roster, but the Giants no longer are able to boast the only team having a pair of identical twins on their active roster.

An already relatively thin bullpen is now even thinner, so seeing how San Francisco addresses this or what they do with their newfound money from the deal will be interesting to see.


Published