The Minnesota Twins were looking to upgrade their pitching staff in the days leading up to the 2022 season. After scouting options, the Twins settled on a trade with the San Diego Padres that brought back Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan in exchange for Taylor Rogers.
While those three players represented the purpose of the deal, Brent Rooker was sent to San Diego as a throw-in. The former Twins prospect was part of a log jam in the outfield at the time but is now a former All-Star who agreed to a five-year, $60 million extension with the Athletics on Tuesday. The report by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal also states that the contract has a vesting option that can increase the deal to six years and $90 million.
Rooker’s contract is another sign in a deal that has gone wrong and deprive the Twins of a player that could have helped them as they enter the 2025 season.
The Minnesota Twins’ log jam in the outfield forced them to trade Brent Rooker
The Twins made the trade with the Padres for several reasons. Rogers was an All-Star in 2021 but was approaching his contract's final year and age-31 season. With the current front office’s reluctance to give multi-year contracts to relievers, the Twins decided to shop Rogers and found a partner in the Padres.
San Diego needed to improve its bullpen and also had a controllable piece in Págan but the real prize in the Twins’ eyes was Paddack. A former top 100 prospect, Paddack went 9-7 with a 3.33 ERA in his rookie season in 2019 but was 11-12 with a 4.95 ERA over the next two seasons. Although Paddack was shut down in September 2021 with arm issues, the Twins thought the upside and three years of team control were worth the risk.
That left the Twins to throw in Rooker. A second-round pick in the 2017 draft, Rooker hit .269/.366/.543 with 102 homers and 314 RBI in 402 minor league games and made his major league debut in the 2020 season, hitting .316/.381/.579 with a homer and five RBI over seven games before breaking his forearm.
Rooker’s early success didn’t carry over to the following year, however, as he hit .201/.291/.397 with nine homers and 16 RBI in 58 games. With Max Kepler and 2018 first-round pick Trevor Larnach entrenched in the corner outfield spots, Rooker was out of minor-league options and was included in the trade with San Diego.
The Athletics may be the biggest winners in a trade between the Minnesota Twins and San Diego Padres
The Padres and Twins didn’t get much from the initial deal. Rogers went 1-5 with a 4.35 ERA in 42 games for San Diego and was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in a deal involving Josh Hader at the trade deadline in 2022.
Pagán became a serviceable reliever for the Twins after a disastrous first season in Minnesota but Paddack didn’t live up to expectations after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2022.
While Paddack signed a three-year, $12.5 million contract extension after the surgery, he hasn’t thrown over 100 innings since 2021 and went 5-3 with a 4.99 ERA before spending the second half of last season on the injured list due to arm fatigue.
This makes the Athletics the winners in a trade they weren’t involved in. Rooker played just two games for the Padres before being placed on waivers and spent the second half of the 2022 season with the Kansas City Royals. After being placed on waivers the following winter he was claimed by the Athletics and made his first All-Star appearance hitting .246/.329/.488 with 30 home runs and 69 RBI in 2023.
Rooker hit another gear in 2024, hitting .293/.365/.562 with 39 homers and 112 RBI. While he played 131 games as designated hitter, it’s fair to wonder if he could have stopped the Twins’ second-half free-fall as he hit .295/.359/.549 with 18 homers and 50 RBI after the All-Star break.
It was a performance that helped Rooker earn a payday and left the Twins looking for answers. Minnesota is currently trying to find a trade partner to salary dump Paddack’s contract and payroll concerns have limited their ability to find a right-handed bat in free agency.
It’s all part of a trade that has gone wrong for the Twins and let a promising player walk out the door for a minimal return.