Giants sign Taylor Rogers, Tyler’s twin

In an offseason full of twists, turns, and the wholly unexpected, the San Francisco Giants finally got around to doing the predictable thing. It took them a few months, but they finally signed the player that had never been linked to them, but who everyone agreed they needed to sign: Taylor Rogers.

Rogers always made sense for the Giants. Despite the team trying to make a big splash in free agency with a $300+ million player, the bullpen was the part of their team that struggled the most last year. They happily let Jarlín García and José Álvarez leave, meaning they were sorely missing a high-leverage left-handed reliever.

They signed someone who fits that hole. Someone who just happens to be identical twins with one of their right-handed high-leverage options, Tyler Rogers.

The deal is for three years and $33 million.

They might confuse teammates at first, and perhaps the media in the clubhouse all year, but there’s no mistaking the twins on the field. Tyler is a righty with a submarine delivery. Taylor is a lefty with a high three-quarters release.

There’s no doubt that both players were hoping for this outcome. They’re quite close, and it was a huge deal earlier this season when they both appeared in the same game ... something the brothers spoke at length about having wanted to do.

Now they get to appear in the same game for the same team, and won’t have family members conflicted over who to root for.

Rogers has been a strong reliever since entering the league in 2016, and has provided positive fWAR in each season, totaling 8.1. His ERA last year, when he split time between the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers, was a not-very-good 4.76. But his FIP was all the way down at 3.31, and he had 84 strikeouts to just 19 walks in 64.1 innings.

His 2021 — which he ironically spent with the Minnesota Twins, the team that drafted him — was sensational. He finished that year with a 3.35 ERA and a 2.13 FIP, with 59 strikeouts to 8 walks in 40.1 innings. It was his third consecutive year of walking fewer than two batters per nine innings, so it’s easy to see the Giants interest.

The bullpen got better and, at a time when they most need it, the Giants got more fun, likable, and easy to root for.

Win, win, win.