The Minnesota Twins have agreed to a one-year, major-league deal with left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers, sources tell Twins Daily. Rogers, 35, was the Twins’ 11th-round draft pick in 2012 and spent the first six seasons of his major-league career with the team, posting a 3.15 ERA in 319 appearances and recording 50 saves. Last season, for the Reds and Cubs, he had a 3.38 ERA in 57 relief appearances.

 

Once a high-strikeout control artist, Rogers misses fewer bats these days, and his walk rate has ticked up sharply in the last few years. Twins fans remember a pitcher whose fastball could play like a two-seamer with solid ride and who utilized two distinct breaking balls, but Rogers is now purely a sinker-slider guy, with age and injuries having frayed his command of each. Nonetheless, he’s an effective middle reliever, especially when he can be shielded from right-handed batters. 

image.png

Rogers first hit free agency after the 2022 season, and signed a three-year $33-million deal with the Giants. San Francisco dumped his salary in a trade that sent Rogers to the Reds last winter, and he was technically dealt twice in July, going from the Reds to the Pirates to the Cubs without actually appearing in Pittsburgh. His strikeout rate of 24% last season was his lowest since 2017, and he’s no longer in high demand, but he remains a sturdy relief option—and a cheap one, at just $2 million. Presumably, he’ll slot in alongside Kody Funderburk as the main lefties in a bullpen that leans to the right. There’s a chance that Rogers will even pick up some save opportunities for Minnesota; he’s easily the most accomplished big-league reliever on their staff.

Picking up Josh Bell, Victor Caratini and a melange of fringier players gave Derek Falvey’s front office the depth they craved on the positional side. However, until now, they’d neglected the bullpen, which was emptied at last year’s trade deadline and looks like the most glaring weakness for the 2026 team. This move is a small step toward fully addressing that issue, but it’s a concrete one. Rogers is a familiar face, and a reliable addition to a high-variance collection of arms.