Chris Paddack, Taylor Rogers Change Places In Opening Day Deal Between Twins And Padres

With their Opening Day game postponed by weather Thursday, the Minnesota Twins won headlines by making a major trade.

They landed 26-year-old starting pitcher Chris Paddack from the San Diego Padres in a five-man deal that sent star left-handed closer Taylor Rogers to the National League. Paddack’s name had been linked to the New York Mets in trade rumors earlier this week before those talks collapsed.

The Thursday swap sent Paddack, reliever Emilio Pagan, and a player to be named later from the Padres to the Twins for lefty reliever Taylor Rogers and outfielder Brent Rooker, a top hitting prospect. San Diego also received $6.6 million from Minnesota, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

For Minnesota, the deal fortifies a rebuilt rotation built almost entirely around off-season acquisitions: Paddack and Sonny Gray in trades and Chris Archer and Dylan Bundy via free agent signings. The team is also likely to give lots of action to holdover Joe Ryan, the lone left-hander in the group, and Bailey Ober, who had more strikeouts than innings pitched in 20 starts as a rookie last year.

Prospects Jordan Balazovic, Matt Canterino, Simeon Woods Richardson, Cole Sands, and Josh Winder could also squeeze into the Twins’ rotation sometime this season.

Paddack is the prize, since he has three remaining years of club control before he can test free agency. He earned $2.25 million in 2021, his first year of arbitration eligibility, but has battled elbow problems. The 30-year-old Pagan, at $2.3 million this season, is under team control through 2023.

Rogers, whose twin brother Tyler pitches for San Francisco, is the highest-paid player in the trade. The 31-year-old southpaw will earn $7.3 million this year before entering free agency. Rooker, projected as a corner outfielder, will be under club control by San Diego through 2027.

The Twins are not only trying to reverse a 73-89 record that left them last in the American League Central but engineer a worst-to-first revival in a division with dozens of personnel changes.

Minnesota previously signed Carlos Correa, a slugging shortstop widely considered the top player in the off-season free agent market, and acquired catcher Gary Sanchez and third baseman Gio Urshela from the Yankees.

San Diego pulled the trigger on the trade because of an abundance of starting pitching plus a bullpen deficit created by the free-agent defection of veteran closer Mark Melancon, who signed with Arizona.

Before landing Rogers, the Padres had only a patchwork pen occupied by Craig Stammen, Pierce Johnson, Dinelson Lamet, and newcomer Luis Garcia.

A hard thrower ad control artist whose slider is one of baseball’s best, Rogers was an All-Star for the first time in 2021. But a finger injury kept him on Minnesota’s injured list for most of the second half. If healthy, he has the potential to be one of the best closers in the National League.

After a hot start last season, the Padres placed third in the difficult National League West with a 79-83 mark. But the team added Luke Voit, Matt Beaty, erstwhile Oakland ace Sean Manaea, and veteran manager Bob Melvin.

Melvin faces the momentous task of tackling two triple-digit winners in the San Francisco Giants, who led the majors with 107 wins, and Los Angeles Dodgers, who won 106 and enter the season with four former MVPs on their roster. But the Padres enter the fray with a starting rotation that is arguably the deepest in the league.

Overcoming the fractured left wrist suffered by star shortstop Fernando Tatís Jr. will be top priority for Melvin, a three-time Manager of the Year most recently with Oakland. Tatís is expected to miss half the season.