What the SF Giants are getting with their newest pitching prospect

The SF Giants swung a surprise trade last week, sending veteran reliever Taylor Rogers to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for pitching prospect Braxton Roxby. What is the club getting with their newest addition?

What the SF Giants are getting with their newest pitching prospect

The Giants did send money to the Reds in the deal. Rogers' contract counts for $11 million against the Competitive Balance Tax (CBT) in 2025, so the Reds are taking on about half of that amount. Despite the cost savings, the Giants have signaled that they do not plan to reinvest that into the roster.

Even if it is a simple cost-cutting move and the Giants do not plan to reinvest the savings, it is a move that still makes sense. Bob Melvin did not show much confidence in Rogers last season, so spending $11 million on a low-leverage reliever is just a poor use of resources. That role can be better used for a player who could might have some type of future with the club beyond this season.

In making the trade, the Giants brought in Roxby. The right-handed reliever joined the Reds as an undrafted out of the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in 2020. Since then, he has made a very gradual climb up the minor league ladder. Typically, in these types of trades, you are getting more of a wild card prospect rather than a polished prospect.

In four minor league seasons, the 25-year-old pitcher has tallied a 4.30 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 12.4 K/9, and 2.95 SO/W rate while reaching as high as Double-A. He spent parts of three seasons in High-A but pitched the entire season in Double-A in 2024. Roxby registers a lot of strikeouts, a lot of walks, and does a nice job of keeping the ball in the ballpark.

Roxby has some good traits in his profile. In 2024, Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs ranked the bullpen prospect as the No. 38 prospect in Cincinnati's system while highlighting the improvement in his fastball velocity:

"After spending most of 2022 and 2023 at High-A, he’s now throwing in the mid-90s (up two ticks from last year) at Double-A Chattanooga"

Eric Longenhagen

Roxby flashes good velocity with a sinker that sits in the mid-90's that he pairs with a low-80's sweeper and a cutter. The sweeper is his go-to secondary offering and it can be an above-average pitch when he can command it. He uses a funky, three-quarters arm slot that does a nice job of hiding the ball but it is difficult to repeat, leading to a few too many walks.

The right-handed pitcher will need to show improvement in his control to be a potential bullpen option for the Giants. In the meantime, the club gets a hard-throwing, funky reliever to deploy in the upper minors.