There’s not much left for the 2026 Twins to chase, which is exactly why the final stretch can still mean something. The postseason is effectively out of reach, so these last games have shifted toward young-player evaluation, planning for 2027, and sorting out who might still belong in the next version of the roster. But Minnesota has one simple way to make the finish line feel a little more purposeful: hand Taylor Rogers the ball in the ninth inning.
Rogers has mostly been used in lower-leverage spots since coming back to Minnesota this season, and the results haven’t been spotless. That’s no shock for a 10-year veteran who isn’t the overpowering reliever he was in his first run with the club.
But this return was never really about him reclaiming the closer role at full strength. It was about coming home.
He’s also getting close to the end. His return gave him a chance to reach 10 years of service time and, possibly, wrap up his career with the team that drafted him.
If that’s where this ends, the Twins ought to treat it like it matters. The cleanest way is obvious: let Rogers close the rest of the season.
Minnesota grabbed Rogers in the 11th round of the 2012 MLB Draft out of the University of Kentucky, and he didn’t arrive as a bullpen arm. He came up as a starter, working through the minors and posting a 3.33 ERA and 1.28 WHIP across parts of five seasons. Eventually, though, the bullpen became his lane, and it changed everything.
He debuted in 2016 and started out in lower-leverage innings before steadily climbing the ladder. From 2017 through 2019, Rogers put together a 2.75 ERA, 161 ERA+, and 1.07 WHIP while averaging nearly 2.0 rWAR per season.
He became one of the most dependable left-handed relievers in baseball, and 2019 was the year he really arrived. During the Bomba Squad’s 101-win season, he saved 30 games and established himself as a real ninth-inning option.
The next two years weren’t quite at that level, but he was still a useful arm. From 2020 through 2021, Rogers logged a 3.58 ERA, 120 ERA+, 1.26 WHIP, and 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings.
He made his only All-Star team in 2021. Then came the offseason that changed his path.
Rogers opened 2022 as the Twins’ expected closer, but on the eve of Opening Day, Minnesota sent him and Brent Rooker to San Diego for Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagán, and Brayan Medina. That move came back to sting the Twins in more than one way.
After that, Rogers bounced around the league. He spent time with the Padres, Brewers, Giants, Reds, and Cubs, and he was traded twice at the MLB trade deadline during that stretch.
He also had a memorable run in San Francisco, where he got to pitch alongside his twin brother, Tyler Rogers. And while he was away from Minnesota, he built up a significant career payday, earning more than $55 million overall, with the biggest chunk coming from the three-year, $33-million deal he signed with the Giants.
Now he’s back where it started, and the Twins can still squeeze a little meaning out of these last games. Rogers has 52 saves as a Twin, leaving him two shy of tying Mike Marshall for 10th on the franchise’s all-time saves list.
There’s no promise Minnesota will even create two more save chances before the season ends, especially with the team’s current position. Still, the schedule offers a possible path: three games against the Angels this weekend, then a trip to San Francisco, then a return home next weekend for a series against the Texas Rangers.
If the chances are there, the Twins should use them. Let Rogers go after No. 53 against the Angels, then maybe give him one more shot at Target Field against Texas.
It doesn’t need to be dressed up. It doesn’t need to turn into a ceremony.
It just needs to be the ninth inning. The caveat is simple: the Twins still have to win, and if Rogers isn’t sharp, there’s no reason to risk a game just to reach a number.
But when the situation calls for a true closer, Rogers ought to be the one out there.
Minnesota still has every reason to look at younger relievers and keep sorting out the bullpen for next season. But some moments aren’t really about projections or the next roster move.
This feels like one of them. Rogers spent the first half of his career becoming a late-inning weapon in Minnesota, helped power a 101-win club, made an All-Star team, left, traveled the league, pitched with his brother, landed a major contract, and came back.
His career may be circling back to where it began. The Twins don’t know how many appearances he has left.
They don’t know whether this is truly his last season. They don’t know if another team will have a place for him in 2027.
What they do know is what he’s meant to the organization. And they know exactly how to give him one more moment.
Give Rogers the ninth inning. Even if it’s only one more game.
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Rod Carew Just Gave These Twins Players Something Few Ever Get
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Manager Derek Shelton and players such as Taylor Rogers and Ryan Jeffers welcomed the chance to be around him and pick up whatever they could from his experience. Carew means something on both sides of this matchup, with his number retired by the Twins and the Angels, and his presence offered a reminder that some baseball lessons go beyond the box score, even if the full impact of the visit is still more felt than measured. [Read more 🡒]