SAN DIEGO — The Mets acquired veteran right-handed reliever Tyler Rogers from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for right-handers Blade Tidwell and José Buttó and outfielder Drew Gilbert on Wednesday, both teams announced.
Rogers, 34, has been one of the best non-closing relievers in baseball over the last five seasons, compiling a 2.74 ERA in that span while appearing in a league-high 346 games — one more than Cleveland’s Emmanuel Clase.
This season, Rogers’ 1.80 ERA ranks ninth among relievers.
Rogers achieves that success differently than your typical late-game reliever. His average fastball velocity, coming from a submarine arm angle, is 83.3 miles per hour — the slowest in the sport. He doesn’t generate much chase, and he strikes out barely 20 percent of opposing hitters, which is below the league average for relievers.
But that unique arm angle creates loads of soft contact and makes Rogers a nightmare for opposing hitters. Rogers’s average release point is 1.4 feet above the ground. He’s so unusual that Trajekt, the pitcher visualization system used by several major league teams, is unable to replicate him. His slider appears to move up and in to left-handed batters — the mirrored reverse shape of a right-hander’s typical slider. That’s how someone with a lower arm angle has neutral platoon splits for his career.
And for a Mets bullpen that struggles with free passes, Rogers has the lowest walk rate among relievers in baseball — a minuscule 2.1 percent (compared to 11 percent for New York’s other late-game relievers).
The cost to acquire a rental reliever in Rogers is high, a reflection of prices in a seller’s market. Buttó has been a part of the Mets’ big-league bullpen since last summer, pitching to a 2.93 ERA over 83 innings. New York has been relatively cautious with Buttó’s usage in that time; he’s pitched on back-to-back days just twice in his big-league career, and none since last June. The Athletic had reported earlier this week that the Mets were willing to move Buttó in the right deal.
Tidwell, a second-round pick in 2022 out of Tennessee, made his major-league debut this season, with a 9.00 ERA in four games. While the right-handed starter pitched to a 4.10 mark for Triple-A Syracuse this season, he had fallen behind Brandon Sproat, Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong in the hierarchy of near-ready pitching prospects for New York, and there’s a reasonable chance he ends up a reliever.
Acquired from Houston in the Justin Verlander trade two deadlines ago, Gilbert was a consensus top-100 prospect in the sport before a lost 2024 season. He’s rebounded this year to post a .785 OPS for Syracuse. Gilbert had been a first-round pick out of Tennessee by the Astros in that same 2022 draft.
Both Gilbert (No. 11) and Tidwell (No. 14) ranked among the Mets’ top-20 prospects heading into this season, according to The Athletic’s Keith Law.
The trade could be the first of several subtractions for the Giants as president of baseball operations Buster Posey now appears to be taking a seller’s posture. Right-handed closer Camilo Doval, who has two additional years of club control along with undeniable arm talent, could fetch a significant return.
The Giants entered Wednesday having lost 11 of 13 to plummet back to .500 for the first time since they began the season 1-1. They were just five games behind the San Diego Padres for the final wild-card spot, but the June 12 megadeal for Rafael Devers failed to ignite a disappointing lineup. They’ve exhausted a good deal of their pitching depth due to injuries (Landen Roupp) and inconsistency (Hayden Birdsong) among their developing arms.
Posey, who dealt left-hander Taylor Rogers to the Cincinnati Reds in February, has now dealt away both identical twins. Taylor Rogers was also traded on Wednesday, going from the Reds to the Pittsburgh Pirates in a deal for third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes.
Trade grades
Giants: B+
Mets: A
There is an argument for Tyler Rogers as the most underrated reliever in baseball, and if you disagree, just check the Baseball-Reference page. He’s led the majors in appearances in four out of the last six seasons, including the last two. Since 2020, he hasn’t just led the majors in appearances — he’s appeared in 26 more games than the second-place reliever.
While good health and reliability are helpful from a high-leverage reliever, run prevention matters far more. Rogers has a 2.87 ERA since 2020, and a 2.39 ERA since the start of last season, so he qualifies. If he has a weakness, it’s that he gets hitters to hit the ball too poorly, resulting in an unbelievable amount of infield hits and broken-bat singles to the outfield. He’s good, has been good for years, and now he’s on a team with serious postseason dreams. What’s not to love about that combination?
Oh, yeah. He’s funky, too. Enjoy watching opposing hitters look like they’re swinging through Jupiter’s atmosphere on 83-mph sinkers.
As for the Giants’ return, it’s a tricky one to grade. According to The Athletic’s Keith Law, Gilbert and Tidwell will be major leaguers (and Buttó is already there), which is a good get for a reliever with just two months left on his contract. But neither one is a top-100 prospect, which is what a team is probably looking for when trading one of the most effective high-leverage relievers in baseball, even if he’s a rental.
Gilbert is likely going to be a platoon outfielder, but he’s left-handed, which means he’s on the long side of any possible platoon. The Giants have Heliot Ramos as a possible complement already on the roster. Tidwell has nasty stuff but rough command, and Law is convinced that a move to the bullpen is both imminent and necessary.
Buttó is an arm to replace Rogers for the time being, which at least hints that the Giants are doing some old-fashioned needle-threading instead of a strict sell-off. We’ll see if Camilo Doval and others follow him out the door, or if they thought the return was too good to pass up from a pending free agent. — Grant Brisbee
Giants: A Mets: A
It is a weird day for the Rogers family. It is a good day for Mets fans. Five days after acquiring hard-throwing lefty Gregory Soto, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns stayed aggressive and nabbed the better of the Rogers twins. Taylor, who is headed to Pittsburgh, is a solid reliever, but his brother Tyler has been one of the most durable, reliable arms in recent memory. The submariner is in the midst of his best season, in terms of ERA, and excels at generating groundballs.
Which is what, it would seem, the Mets are acquiring him to do. He offers a unique arm angle for a bullpen group that needed improvements in both talent and diversity of approach. Stearns is trying to equip manager Carlos Mendoza with a full complement of relief options for October. To do so, the team gave up a significant return.
And that is why this could turn out to be a great day for Giants fans. San Francisco acquired a trio of players with legitimate potential, if significant concerns. The trade reflects how high prices are for relievers right now, with the deadline a little more than 24 hours away.
Let’s start with Gilbert, who joined the Mets as part of the Justin Verlander trade in 2023. His prospect patina has faded since then. He missed a big chunk of last season with a hamstring injury and some evaluators doubt his ability to handle center field. A left-handed hitter, Gilbert has gotten eaten up by left-handed pitchers this season. But he still should reach the big leagues and help in at least a platoon role.
Tidwell has produced pedestrian results at Triple A the past two seasons. He’s gotten knocked around in four big-league appearances this year. But, like Gilbert, he is also likely to stick around in the majors for a while, even if it is only as a reliever. Same story with Buttó, who got walloped by the Padres Tuesday night to inflate his ERA.
To get three players who will likely reach the majors in exchange for a couple months of a reliever is solid work by Giants head honcho Buster Posey. For Stearns, it’s the cost of trying to win a World Series. — Andy McCullough
(Top photo of Tyler Rogers: Bob Kupbens / USA Today)
