The twins brought an old friend Taylor Rogers he’s back on a one-year, $2MM contract, per Ken Rosenthal and Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic. Rogers, represented by Frontline, spent the 2016-21 seasons in Minnesota, spending the last three seasons as a closer and earning an All-Star in 2021. Minnesota has a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to make room for Rogers (and one of the newly recruited staff. Tristan Grey).
Reuniting with the 35-year-old Rogers makes sense for a Twins club in dire need of strong arms in the bullpen. While the left-hander is nowhere near the top form he showed later in his early run with Minnesota, he has pitched to a solid 3.38 ERA with a strikeout rate above 24% in 50 2/3 innings between the Reds and Cubs in 2025. Rogers’ 10.4% walk rate was twice as high as his 3% and his walk rate was twice as high as 3%. his best three seasons as a Twin (2019-21), but he was an average relief arm in Cincinnati and Chicago this past season.
Despite the decline in command, Rogers has seen a fundamental decline in the strength of his repertoire. He averaged 95.7 mph on his sinker and 84 mph on his slider back in 2021. In 2025, those areas carried average speeds of 92.7 mph and 78.4 mph. Therefore, Rogers saw a significant decrease in his swing rate and a significant increase in the contact rate of his opponents.
Rogers was traded from the Twins to the Padres just before Opening Day in 2022 – a deal that brought Chris Paddack again Emilio Pagan back in Minnesota. (Brent Rooker he was also sent to San Diego in that deal, but was cut by both the Friars and Royals before he came up with the A’s.) He went on to sign a three-year, $33MM deal with the Giants, who traded him to the Reds late last season.
The Giants quickly became bitter about using Rogers in the top spots. He collected twelve goals and two saves while playing well in the first year of his contract but was moved to a relief center position the following season. According to the leverage index, Rogers has worked mostly in low-rated positions over the past two seasons. Overall, the results over the life of that three-year contract were palpable (3.16 ERA), but Rogers’ batting average has steadily declined.
Even a younger version of Rogers than the one most Twins fans remember and love would be a better fit for the Minnesota bullpen that was released at last year’s trade deadline. Twins trade five pills – John Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Danny Coulombe, Brock Stewart – as part of a fire auction that acquired a mix of MLB-ready young players (eg Mick Abel, Hello Bradley, Alan Roden) and well-considered prospects (eg Eduardo Tait, Kendry Rojas). That trade deal ended what had been one of the best bulls in the sport; Twins relievers posted the fourth-worst ERA in the sport following last year’s deadline.
There is no certainty for the twins at this time. Rogers is quickly becoming a more experienced member of the team and, in the meantime, can be an option for high-profile spots or save opportunities. You will join Justin Topa, Cole Sands again Kody Funderburk (who excelled in the post-fire trade last year) as current bullpen members with one full year of major league service time.
The Twins have a deep collection of young starters, several of whom could end up in the ‘pen in the long run, but there’s clear room to add another veteran arm here – if not more arms. Rogers’ estimated $2MM guarantee bumps Minnesota’s payroll to just under $109MM, according to RosterResource estimates.
That’s nearly $25MM lower than last year’s mark, so even if ownership raises the payroll, the front office should have enough resources to bring in another arm. Throwing hard is fine Seranthony Dominguez is among the relievers the Twins have reportedly spoken to, while other unsigned relief options include Michael Kopech, Nick Martinez, Tommy Kahnle, Paul Sewald and Coulombe.
