The Minnesota Twins made yet another trade, sending Taylor Rogers and Brent Rooker to the San Diego Padres for Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagán. The question remains, how will this affect the organization moving forward?

The Twins had to address their starting pitching, period.

As much as we all love Rogers, you trade relief pitching for a starter any day of the week.

The case for trading Rogers is pretty simple. Yes, he’s one of the best relief pitchers in baseball, and we’ve seen that with our own eyes over the years, but he’s also 31 and spent the last half of the season on the IL.

Rogers was also owed $7.3 million this season and would have been an unrestricted free agent next offseason. However, Minnesota will be eating $6.6 million of that contract this season.

The Twins may have wanted to re-sign him, but at what cost? Minnesota’s never been a team that’s gone out and spent big money on the bullpen. They like to find the diamonds in the rough.

Rooker was the other guy involved in the trade for the Twins. He’s not your typical minor league player who’s 23 and scratching at the surface to the majors. He’s already 27 and was a borderline MLB player.

Last season he hit .201, with nine home runs and 16 runs batted in. That was in 213 plate appearances, which is enough of a sample size to understand who he is as a player.

There wasn’t any room for Rooker to earn consistent playing time. Minnesota has Max Kepler, Byron Buxton, Alex Kirilloff and Trevor Larnach as a potential four-player combo in the near future. They also have Gilberto Celestino, who will be the fourth outfielder on the roster. Not to mention Jake Cave is sitting there as well.

The Padres are getting a player to be named later, but I wouldn’t stress who that may be. It’s likely a low-end minor-league player.

Now let’s take a look at who the Twins are getting in the trade.

As for Paddack, Minnesota is acquiring a 26-year-old starting pitcher who struggled last season. The talent is there (just look at 2019), and he’s still so young that you almost expect him to turn things around. Plus, Wes Johnson has done great things for pitchers over the years.

Paddack is really good at pounding the strike zone. He’s not going to give up many walks, which means you can expect contact and strikeouts. He throws 93-95 MPH, with a changeup and curveball to complement his fastball.

He’s set to make $2,250,000 this season, which is really cheap for a good starting pitcher. He is arbitration-eligible for the next two seasons and will be a UFA in 2025.

Pagán is 30 years old, so only a year younger than Rogers. However, he is under team control until 2024.

Pagán did struggle last season, going 4-3 with an ERA of 4.83. He likes to use his fastball (95 MPH average), with his cutter being the complimentary pitch. He will give up some hard-hit contact, but he’s also good at getting players to chase and doesn’t give up many walks.

The biggest thing that stands out to me is his 2019 season with the Tampa Bay Rays. That year he went 4-2, with an ERA of 2.31. Minnesota and the Rays similarly handle their pitching, so maybe the Twins can bring back that success.

To summarize:

• You trade relief pitching for a starter any day of the week
• Roger was a UFA next offseason
• Rooker is a fringe MLB player
• Paddack and Pagán are under team control
• Jayce Tingler’s connection to the Padres
• Paddack is a young starter who can turn things around

At the end of the day, this was a great trade for several reasons, but more importantly, the Twins added starting pitching help. This will be a great season.