Tyler Rogers is living out every small-college pitcher’s dream these days.
Once a junior college transfer to Austin Peay, Rogers inked a three-year, $37 million deal on Friday to become a member of the Toronto Blue Jays. Though he’s the softest-throwing pitcher in baseball (not counting position players), Rogers perplexes hitters with his release point of 1.3 feet off the ground, the lowest in the sport.
Revamping a bullpen that struggled to close out tight games in the playoffs was a major objective for the Blue Jays this offseason, and Rogers helped them accomplish that. But in his introductory Zoom press conference, the 35-year-old also sent a message to the Blue Jays’ rivals, intentionally or not.
Rogers’ assertion, which is hard to dispute, is that the Blue Jays are becoming a true marquee destination for free agents.
“When the American League champs give you a phone call, you kind of perk up and get excited about that,” Rogers said, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. “This is a team that was really close to winning the World Series. That right there is a great start. The Blue Jays have a great reputation throughout the industry, even before they made this World Series run. They have a great reputation for how they treat their players, their facilities and even more so how they treat families.”
Paying top dollar for free agents certainly helps, but based on Rogers’ comments, perhaps the Blue Jays no longer have to pay a true premium to get players, especially Americans, to come north of the border.
“I played with Kevin Gausman, so I heard from him,” Rogers said, per Matheson. “I’m telling you, everybody I’ve talked to who has played for the Jays, they don’t say, ‘You’re going to like it there and it’s going to be good there.’ They say, ‘You’re going to love being in Toronto.’ Every one of them says that.”
Having talked the talk, all that’s left for Rogers to do is shut down opposing hitters in what will likely be an eighth-inning role. If he keeps up his 1.98 ERA from this past season, Toronto will quickly love him back.
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