May we all approach our holiday shopping with the creativity of the Blue Jays, who spent Friday collecting right-handed relievers with funky arm angles and vastly different price tags. Hours after Toronto acquired sidearming Chase Lee from the Tigers, the Jays signed free-agent submariner Tyler Rogers to a three-year, $37 million contract, a source told MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand.
The deal, which has not been confirmed by the club, includes a vesting option for a fourth season that could bring the total value to $48 million. The signing continues a fascinating effort by the Jays to build a bullpen that can throw different looks at hitters, a potential difference-making strength in a division that has no shortage of game-changing hitters.
After spending his entire seven-year MLB career with the Giants, Rogers was traded to the Mets at the 2025 Deadline in exchange for JosĂ© ButtĂł, Drew Gilbert and Blade Tidwell. The change of scenery didn’t do much to disrupt what would end up being his best season to date, as he made a career-high (and MLB-leading) 81 appearances while posting a 1.98 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and a 203 ERA+, all personal bests (min. 20 IP).
Likely owing in part to his unique arm angle — minus-61° on average in 2025, well clear of the pack; the next lowest was Hoby Milner at minus-6°– Rogers has yet to spend a day on the Major League injured list. He’s also historically been able to handle much more frequent usage than most, as he leads all of baseball in total pitching appearances since 2020 (403), 30 more than any other pitcher.
Likewise, Lee averaged a minus-4° arm angle this past season, sixth-lowest among Major Leaguers in 2025. By contrast, no Blue Jay with at least 500 pitches last season averaged lower than 30 degrees in arm angle.
A sinker-slider guy who pitches entirely to contact, Rogers ranked in the 100th percentile among qualifying pitchers in barrel rate (2.1%) and walk rate (2.3%) in 2025. His sinker, which he threw 74.5% of the time in 2025, was the second-most valuable in MLB by Statcast’s run value metric (18) behind Cy Young finalist Cristopher Sánchez’s sinker (19).
Rogers, who will turn 35 on Dec. 17, is additionally a member of an ultra-specific and exclusive fraternity, as he and his brother, Taylor — also a free agent this offseason — are one of 10 sets of twins to both play in the Majors, and they became one of four sets to play together at the Major League level during their shared 2023-24 seasons in San Francisco.
Like a lot of teams this winter, the Blue Jays are trying to build depth in their bullpen while also building strength in variety. They leaned heavily on closer Jeff Hoffman and trade acquisition Louis Varland down the stretch and into the postseason. Veteran setup man Yimi Garcia was limited to 21 innings before going on the 60-day injured list in July. Right-hander Yariel RodrĂguez was outrighted to Triple-A Buffalo last week with three years left on the five-year contract he signed before the 2024 season.
The Blue Jays have also been linked to interest in former Rays closer Pete Fairbanks as the free-agent relief market quickly unfolds.
Leave a Reply