Should the SF Giants look to extend durable, veteran reliever?

Tyler Rogers is in the final year of his rookie contract. Should the SF Giants look to extend the durable, veteran reliever?

Should the SF Giants look to extend durable, veteran reliever?

The Giants dropped the first game of the series on Monday night against the Cincinnati Reds. Reds starter Hunter Greene was fantastic, as he completed 8.2 scoreless innings before yielding to Tony Santillan to get the final out.

Of course, it is hard to win games when the Giants do not score. However, there was a moment in the game that highlights why Rogers is so important to the bullpen.

In the eighth inning, Bob Melvin tabbed Camilo Doval to replace Logan Webb. Webb needed 96 pitches to get through seven shutout innings. The 2024 All-Star did reach exactly 100 pitches in his second outing of the year. The Giants likely do not feel comfortable yet with pushing him beyond 100 pitches, which I can understand. It is early in the year, and most pitchers are not built up to throw more than 100 pitches yet.

On the other hand, Doval was coming off two pretty rough outings. He never found his footing on Monday night against the Reds either. In the end, he allowed two earned runs, both of which scored as inherited runners when Erik Miller came in.

Normally, this would have been an easy call to use Tyler Rogers. He had appeared in six of the first nine games, so there is a good chance that Melvin did not want to use him on Monday night.

Usage is rarely ever an issue with the submarine-style reliever, as he does not rely on premium velocity. At the end of the day, you still have to pick and choose when to use him, and Monday night was not one of those games.

Since debuting with San Francisco near the end of the 2019 season, the 34-year-old reliever has been one of the most durable pitchers in baseball. He has appeared in 345 games in his career. In that same timeframe, only five other relievers have appeared in more games. Also, a reminder that he did not debut until the end of August in 2019.

There is a good chance that Rogers surpasses all of the relievers in front of him by the end of the year. Adam Ottavino (361 games) and Andrew Chafin (352 games) are two of the relievers in front of him in that category. Ottavino has been placed on waivers twice by the New York Yankees this year, and Chafin is with the Detroit Tigers organization on a minor league deal.

Rogers began to see a sharp spike in usage in 2020. There were concerns from many people, myself included, that he would be prone to injury due to the high usage. He has never even been on the injured list.

It is not just durability with Rogers. It is effectiveness. The seven-year veteran has posted a 2.88 ERA with a 55.7-percent ground ball rate. He does not get many swings and misses, as his stuff lends itself to contact. Perhaps, that is his one defect, and when you factor in his age, it might limit the type of contract he could receive in free agency.

A reliever with his resumé and durability should see plenty of interest in free agency. However, free agency tends to reward relievers youth as well as high velocity and strikeout totals. That is not Rogers.

Every good bullpen needs someone who goes against the grain. During the championship run, the Giants had Javier López and his submarine-style delivery from the left side. Right now, Rogers is that funky reliever who excels at getting outs without much velocity.

As mentioned above, free agency tends to reward age and velocity when it comes to relievers. Rogers is neither of those things, as he will be 35 in the middle of next offseason.

The versatile reliever is in the final year of his rookie deal. That third year of arbitration tends to be in the neighborhood of a player's annual market rate. Rogers is earning $5.5 million this year.

Perhaps, a two-year deal at $15 million gets the discussion started. Tack on a team option for a third year with a $1 million buyout. That would guarantee $16 million in salary, and count for $8 million against the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) over the next two seasons.

It might be best for the Giants to get a deal done before Rogers hits free agency because all bets are off once a player hits the open market. The odds of returning are the flip of a coin, and the market could drive a player's salary up even more.

A good bullpen needs a reliever like Rogers and the Giants have some components for a good bullpen. Plus, it would be weird to see him in a different uniform. It would behoove the Giants to retain and reward a reliever who has been so good throughout his career.