The Cincinnati Reds brought back reliever Emilio Pagán on a two-year, $20 million contract. This move could set the reliever market for former SF Giants reliever Tyler Rogers and could make him more affordable.
Pagán was the closer for the Reds last season and had a solid year. He had a 2.88 ERA in 68 and 2/3 innings pitched and recorded 32 saves. The fact that he is getting $10 million per year bodes well for San Francisco’s chances at bringing back Rogers.
SF Giants may have a chance to bring back Tyler Rogers after Reds sign Pagán
The closer market has been set pretty well as a number of the top relievers are already off the board. Ryan Helsley signed a two-year, $28 million deal with the Baltimore Orioles, Devin Williams signed a three-year, $51 million deal with the New York Mets and Raisel Iglesias signed a one-year, $16 million contract with the Atlanta Braves.
Williams and Helsley are more top-end options given they are former All-Stars and their contracts seem likely to set the market for other top-end closers like Edwin Díaz and Robert Suarez. However, the Pagán deal may mean that Rogers will get something in the $10 million range or potentially even less than that.
Of course, part of this depends on what team signs him and how much value they place on him. But if the Giants could get Rogers on a reasonable contract they should absolutely make that deal. Rogers is one of the most reliable relievers in baseball and was a supremely steady setup man for the Giants for years.
Ever since the Giants traded away Rogers at the deadline in 2025, it felt like a reunion could be in the cards. The Giants clearly need bullpen help and bringing Rogers back would do a ton to help stabilize things at the back end of the bullpen.
However, the Giants do not exactly seem to be in a spending mood this offseason. Reports suggest that they do not want to splurge on a starting pitcher and apparently do not want anything to do with long-term deals.
Rogers is not going to command a long-term deal and he is a reliever, but there is still the chance that the Giants will be too cheap to bring him back.
The Giants should not make things more complicated than they need to be. Offer Rogers roughly the same deal that Pagán just signed and call it a day. They could cross off the need for signing an eighth-inning arm and move on to other pressing matters.
