Taylor Rogers On The Move In Latest Minnesota Twins Trade

The Minnesota Twins continue to shake up the roster, this time sending out veteran bullpen lefty Taylor Rogers to the San Diego Padres.

Minnesota Twins Trade Taylor Rogers To San Diego

The 31-year-old reliever will head to southern California while the Twins acquire 26-year-old starting pitcher Chris Paddack. The right-hander had a stellar rookie season but struggled in 2021. He went 9-7 as a rookie in 2019 with 153 strikeouts and a 3.33 ERA. In 2022 he struggled, going 7-7 with a 5.07 ERA and 99 strikeouts.

The Twins also acquired Emilio Pagan, a 30-year-old righty who will help round out the Twins bullpen. Pagan can strike people out, striking out 69 hitters in 63 1/3 innings. He has 307 career strikeouts in 267 2/3 innings pitched. He also saved 20 games and recorded a 2.31 ERA for the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019.

The Twins will also send outfielder Brent Rooker to the Padres. The deal was first reported by Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

The Twins have long had an interest in Paddack and also brought in a reliever with a high strikeout rate. It cost the team their best reliever who was headed for free agency after the 2022 season. Rooker has a lot of power, but the Twins have a crowded corner outfield with the likes of Max Kepler, Alex Kiriloff, and Trevor Larnach.

Starting pitching has been a need all offseason for the Twins, and Paddack will be another piece to the puzzle. He has three years of team control as well, meaning the Twins must see him as part of their long-term plan. Can he return to his 2019 form? We will see.

Minnesota has been very active all offseason. Dan Hayes of The Athletic has the recap of a busy month.

The Twins were originally scheduled to open the 2022 season Thursday afternoon, but bad weather forced the club to delay the game to Friday.

Minnesota will take on Seattle Friday at 3:10 pm. You can listen to the action on 103.1 KFIL and on News-Talk 1340 KROC-AM and 96.9 FM.