Mets trade target candidate: Taylor Rogers

Somewhat quietly, Taylor Rogers has put together a fine six-year career as a member of the Minnesota Twins. 17-18 with a 3.15 ERA and 50 career saves, he’s a left-handed reliever the New York Mets have been rumored to have an interest in before.

Nothing should have changed in this regard. The Mets were able to make upgrades to their starting lineup in November and were also able to add the best starting pitcher available.

An area the Mets have yet to address is the bullpen. Rogers, a 31-year-old lefty coming off of an All-Star season and in the final season before his contract expires, seems to be exactly what the Mets could use.

What Taylor Rogers can offer the Mets in 2022

Rogers can give the Mets an alternative to Edwin Diaz if we get the 2019 version showing up or he gets hurt at any point. While his experience as a closer isn’t too extensive, he has done it before and with some regularity. This wouldn’t be the plan for Rogers on the Mets, though. Instead, we’d look at him as the setup man who throws left-handed.

The Mets have a roster notably absent of left-handed relievers at the moment. They need to add someone. Depending on the cost, Rogers could be the direction to go. His stuff is impressive with an average of 10.3 strikeouts per nine in his career. Over the last three seasons, he has been anywhere from 10.8-13.2 per nine innings of work.

The difficulty in acquiring Rogers comes down to two things. The Twins aren’t in full sell mode. They’re kind of stagnant at the moment, maybe just hoping what they already have in place is good enough to turn them into trade deadline buyers.

More trouble comes from how many suitors Rogers is likely to have. A team looking for a closer could always pay a little more with their trade package to get him. The Mets have held their ground and not made any huge trades under the current front office regime. Even the deal that brought Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco to Queens wasn’t thought of as all that costly.

A trade involving Rogers won’t ruin the farm system. For now, the cost may exceed what the Mets are willing to give up. Let’s check back in midseason.