Free-falling Giants react to the Tyler Rogers trade: 'It kind of shows where we're headed'

New York Times

31-07-2025

SAN FRANCISCO — Tyler Rogers and Ryan Walker kept the same routine every game. San Francisco Giants' two right-handed setup relievers would watch the first two innings from the comfort of the clubhouse. Then, before the top of the third inning for road games, or the bottom of the third for home games, they'd stroll across the field and take their seats in the bullpen.
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They were sitting at their lockers and watching a clubhouse TV in the early innings Wednesday afternoon. Then, Rogers got called into the manager's office. In the bottom of the third, when Walker headed to the bullpen, he was on his own.
The Giants traded Rogers to the New York Mets for three players on Wednesday, and although one of them was another major-league reliever, right-hander José Buttó, the implications were as clear as they were stunning. Giants president of baseball operations Buster Posey had shifted into a selling posture. In the funereal hush of the home clubhouse following a 2-1, 10-inning loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates, as the Giants packed and dressed for a flight to New York, it was an open question who else might be on the move before the plane touches down.
'We lost six in a row and haven't given Buster and the front office any reason to add,' Giants third baseman and unofficial captain Matt Chapman said. 'We kind of did it to ourselves. It sucks. Obviously, you can tell everybody is pretty upset. It's not how we saw this thing going.
'I don't know what to expect. When you trade one of your best arms in the bullpen, I think it kind of shows where we're headed.'
The only thing more stunning than Posey subtracting from the major league roster was how the Giants arrived here. They climbed to a season-high 12 games over .500 and pulled into a share of first place in the National League West when they won the first game of a series at Dodger Stadium on June 13. Nobody knew it at the time, but Posey was on the verge of completing the biggest trade any team is likely to make all season. The acquisition of All-Star slugger Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox made shockwaves through the industry and signaled the Giants' aggressive resolve.
After seven seasons with the #SFGiants and 392 games pitched—10th-most in the SF era—we say thank you, Tyler 🧡 @tyrogers2020 pic.twitter.com/RrNsb23Sr4
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) July 30, 2025
Nobody saw the Devers trade coming. Nobody could've seen what the next six weeks would bring, either. The Giants are 13-24 since the trade. Not only did the Devers addition fail to ignite the lineup, but the production went backwards while the Giants have scored the fewest runs in the major leagues. The depth-challenged pitching staff hasn't been able to carry the team to the degree it did in May and June. Worst of all, most of the losses featured bad optics, physical errors and mental mistakes on the bases and in the field in situations so basic that a Pony League coach would make their players run laps for making.
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It happened yet again in the 10th inning to decide Wednesday's loss. The Pirates advanced runner Oneil Cruz to third base on a groundout, and Walker issued a walk to Jack Suwinski to put runners at the corners. When Henry Davis followed with a tapper back to the mound, Walker did not check on Cruz before he whirled and threw to second base. He hadn't realized that Suwinski was running with the pitch. Suwinski beat the throw, and Cruz scored without a play.
'It was a mental mistake,' Walker said. 'I take full responsibility for today, personally. A play has to be made there. I mean, that's a Little League mistake. For some reason, I had 'turn two' all the way, which, sure, could it have (worked) if he didn't steal? Maybe. But in a situation like that, it doesn't matter. You've got to make sure the runner stays, or you've got your play at the plate. I didn't do that. So, it's my fault.'
A night earlier, the Pirates' winning run was fueled by a miscommunication on a ground ball to second baseman Casey Schmitt. Devers, who is having a rough apprenticeship at first base, went for the ball and ended up screening Rogers, who covered the bag but never saw the throw. Left fielder Heliot Ramos, who has made too many baserunning mistakes to catalog, walked into an out because he either misinterpreted or failed to understand the infield fly rule.
As poorly as the Giants have played since the All-Star break, losing nine of 11, it was difficult to envision a scenario in which Posey would shift into sell mode. It probably would've required getting skunked on their six-game homestand against the Mets and Pirates. That's precisely what happened. The Giants were winless on a homestand of at least six games for the first time since 1896, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. And they're suddenly six games behind the San Diego Padres for the third and final NL wild-card spot.
But it was the manner of Tuesday night's loss that represented a breaking point for the front office. The Giants had looked every bit like a losing club, even though they hadn't had a losing record all season. Now they do. Wednesday's loss left them at 54-55 and under .500 for the first time all year.
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'Unfortunately, it's where we're at,' said Giants manager Bob Melvin, whose contract option has been exercised for next season but must ask himself hard questions about the team's preparedness and almost certainly will be asked to make changes to his coaching staff.
'We put ourselves in this position. When you play like we did again today, you lose games. … (The Rogers trade) hasn't changed our expectations for ourselves. But you also understand we put the front office in a tough spot, too. They have to look at the future and the now.'
In addition to Buttó, who could be stretched out to start down the road, the Giants received a pair of 24-year-old prospects who were former top draft picks. Right-hander Blade Tidwell made his major-league debut earlier in the season and could transition from starting to relief. Outfielder Drew Gilbert is a one-time Top-100 prospect who has dealt with injuries after Houston sent him to the Mets in the 2003 trade deadline transaction that brought Justin Verlander back to the Astros.
To create room on the 40-man roster for Tidwell, the Giants designated right-hander Sean Hjelle for assignment.
The Giants also were without All-Star reliever Randy Rodríguez over the three games against the Pirates. The right-hander was unavailable after Melvin taxed him for back-to-back appearances against the Mets — something the team has tried to avoid after he ended last season with a sore elbow — including a multiple-inning assignment when he gave up two home runs on Sunday. Melvin said he expected Rodríguez to be available Friday in New York, but it's an ominous sign that he needed a full series to recover.
Regardless of the players coming back, Chapman's assessment was sobering: You don't deal away a key bullpen asset like Rogers if you're going for it.
'It can't get much worse than losing every game of a homestand,' Chapman said. 'I think the only way we can go is up. … It is surprising we are in this position. I wouldn't have thought that three weeks ago. But it's just the way it goes. We have to accept it and try to finish strong, however we can, and see how it ends up.'
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Rogers wasn't the longest-tenured Giant — Mike Yastrzemski and Logan Webb have him by a handful of days — but the right-hander toiled for seven seasons in the minor leagues before he debuted in 2019, and he'd been in the organization longer than anyone.
'Ty is one of my best friends in baseball,' said Webb, who ended a rotten run of three starts with six solid innings Wednesday. 'Our entire big league career, we've been together. … It sucks we're losing a guy like that. He's saved me a lot of times. He's saved the Giants a lot of times. He's been one of the best relievers in baseball the last seven seasons now.'
Webb said he didn't learn of the trade until he exited the game, returned to the clubhouse and saw Robbie Ray and Justin Verlander staring at him.
'They were kind of looking at me weird,' Webb said. 'I was like, 'I gave up a run, but I didn't feel like it was that bad.' Then they told me Ty got traded. It's not the position you want to be in, but I don't blame Buster for doing something like that.'
Who's next to go? Yastrzemski will be a free agent after the season. So will Wilmer Flores. There could be a taker for Verlander after he's thrown two solid starts since the break. Perhaps Giants executives could cling to some notion that they still believe in this team after acquiring a mix of prospects and a major league arm for Rogers. But not if they give away Verlander for anyone willing to pay the freight.
If Yastrzemski played his final game as a Giant on Wednesday, he made a memorable final impression. He flung himself over the short wall in the right-field corner and landed in the netting like a moth caught in a spider web as he made a spectacular catch. He tried to start a rally with a bunt single, too.
But he couldn't discount the 24-hour possibility that a major-league player named Yastrzemski could be traded for the first time.
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'I've known Buster for a long time, and I know and trust he's doing what's best for this team and organization,' Yastrzemski said. 'He's cared about it for so long. Just because we traded Ty doesn't mean he doesn't believe in this team. He's making strategic moves to optimize this organization every single day.
'There's two months left in this season. There's a lot of games to make up, but crazier things have happened. I don't think there's a guy in this room that has quit on this season, and I don't think they're going to. … Even though we've had a really rough start to the second half, I still believe in this team. And I'm going to give 100 percent of my effort every day to try to make something happen.
'It's kind of a tough place. We haven't really played well enough to force them to add any more pieces. As big a piece as Ty was, it's not like the whole team has been dismantled yet.'
Yet.
'It's pretty s—-y, to be honest,' Webb said. 'We're not playing good, plain and simple. … We have a great group of guys. We hang out together. We have a blast. We just haven't put it together. It's not like we're trying to go out there and look like s—. It's a hard game. I know that's not going to be a popular answer. But it's just not good right now. We all know that. You feel it. You can see it in the clubhouse. It's not fun to be in here.
'The only thing you can do is show up on Friday and try to beat the Mets.'
(Photo of Mike Yastrzemski: Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)