Tigers Designate Jake Rogers For Assignment
The Tigers have designated catcher Jake Rogers for project, per a group announcement. His spot on the roster will go to veteran infielder/outfielder Javier Baezwho’s getting back from the injured checklist and can begin tonight’s recreation in middle discipline (via Jason Beck of MLB.com). With Rogers jettisoned from the roster, the Tigers will flip backup taking duties over to younger Eduardo Valencia.
Rogers is without doubt one of the longest-tenured members of the Tigers’ roster. The 31-year-old made his large league debut again in 2019 and dealt with the lion’s share of catching duties in 2023-24 earlier than giving option to breakout backstop Dillon Dinglerwho’s now within the midst of an MVP-caliber season.
Rogers has lengthy been a glove-first catcher, though he did belt a career-high 21 homers again in 2023 whereas slashing .221/.286/.444. He’s batted underneath .200 in every subsequent season, nonetheless, leading to a cumulative .188/.262/.338 slash in 589 journeys to the plate from 2024-26.
In 2024-25, Rogers paired that meager offense with top-of-the-scale defensive grades, serving to to offset his lack of worth within the batter’s field. This season, each Defensive Runs Saved and Statcast really feel he is been under common. Rogers’ 26.7% caught-stealing fee is robust, however Statcast dings him with sub-par framing and blocking talents in 2026. He hasn’t been nice in terms of ABS challenges both, succeeding 10 of 19 instances (53%).
While he hasn’t had a great season general, Rogers might nonetheless be traded or at the least claimed off waivers. There are a number of golf equipment looking out for catching assist — the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, Rangers and White Sox amongst them. His $3.05MM wage is manageable, and his capacity to manage the run recreation is sound. As famous, Rogers graded as a plus defender previous to this season, and even in a down 12 months on the plate, he is carried out nicely in a tiny pattern of 21 plate appearances in opposition to lefties. The righty-swinging Rogers has by no means hit for common or gotten primarily based on a excessive clip, however he has loads of pop in opposition to southpaws. In 332 profession plate appearances versus lefties, he is clubbed 17 round-trippers whereas batting .216/.298/.454.
As of penning this, there’s about $984K of his wage but to be paid out. A membership on the lookout for a short-term choice with some pop in opposition to lefties might think about him an affordable choice to bolster his catching corps. If the Tigers can discover a taker in a commerce (and need not embrace money within the swap), they may trim round $700K from their luxurious tax invoice. For a membership that is solely round $1-2MM over and has a number of qualifying provide candidates (in the event that they’re additionally not traded), that is important. As I explored last weekducking underneath the tax threshold would imply the distinction between a compensatory decide after the fourth spherical (in the event that they’re tax payers) and after the primary spherical (in the event that they’re underneath the road).
More to eat.
