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All the losing finally got to Buster Posey. He had seen enough of his team playing shoddy baseball. No longer was he committed to sticking with the status quo and hoping it would be good enough for a playoff run. It was time to move on.
So the Giants' president of baseball operations took the first step toward revamping the roster by trading trusted setup man Tyler Rogers, who had been in the Giants’ organization longer than any other pitcher and was incredibly durable and consistent.
With Rogers eligible for free agency after the season, there was no guarantee he’d return in 2026, so Posey and his front-office team orchestrated a Wednesday trade with the Mets to sacrifice one of the game’s elite relief pitchers for a reliever and two of the Mets’ higher level prospects.
“We lost the last six in a row and haven't given Buster and the front office any reason to add,” third baseman Matt Chapman said in a gloomy clubhouse after the Giants’ 2-1 loss to the Pirates in 10 innings. “We kind of did it to ourselves. You can tell that everybody's pretty upset. It's not how we saw this thing going.”
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It was a stunning development for a team that was tied for first place on June 13 and nine games above .500 as late as July 11. The Giants had been expected to be buyers before Thursday’s trade deadline, but their collapse – losing 12 of 14, going 9-15 in July and dropping under .500 for the first time this season – turned Posey from a buyer into a seller.
News of the deal surfaced early in Wednesday’s game that Rogers was being dealt for reliever José Buttó, who posted a 3.64 ERA in 34 relief appearances for the Mets, and two 24-year-old minor-leaguers, pitcher Blade Tidwell and outfielder Drew Gilbert.
In the ninth inning, the Giants announced the trade and said relief pitcher Sean Hjelle was designated for assignment. There’s reason to believe this was the first of multiple trades the Giants will make before the deadline.
If Rogers was tradeable, certainly other relievers are, too, including Camilo Doval. Other pending free agents who could be involved in deals include Justin Verlander, Wilmer Flores, Mike Yastrzemski and Dom Smith. Also, perhaps All-Star starter Robbie Ray, who’s signed through next season and could fetch a haul. If Posey wants to rebuild the farm system in a hurry, this is the easiest and quickest way to do so.
“I don't know what to expect,” Chapman said, “but when you trade one of your best arms in the bullpen, I think it kind of shows where you’re heading.”
Ace Logan Webb added, “The way we've played the last month and a half, anything could happen.”
The 6-foot-4 Tidwell made his big-league debut this season, giving up 15 earned runs in 15 innings. He has posted a 4.13 ERA in 72 career minor-league games, including 66 starts. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he eventually joins the Giants’ rotation.
Gilbert, a 5-9 lefty swinger who mostly plays center field, is a .260 minor-league hitter with a .359 on-base percentage and .811 OPS. He’s hitting .246 with a .786 OPS and 12 homers this year in Triple-A.
Both Tidwell and Gilbert were drafted in 2022 out of the University of Tennessee. Tidwell was selected in the second round by the Mets and Gilbert in the first round (28th overall) by the Astros, who traded him to the Mets at the 2023 deadline in the deal that sent Justin Verlander back to Houston.
The right-handed Buttó won’t be a free agent until 2031, so the Giants dealt one big-league reliever with two more months until free agency for another who has several more years of club control.
Rogers, 34, came out of the 2013 draft and spent four seasons in Triple-A before being trusted in the majors with his submarine pitching style, in which he generally releases the ball a mere foot off the ground. Once the Giants made him available in trade talks, he was highly coveted based on his 1.80 ERA over 50 innings in 53 games, tied for most in the majors.
In seven seasons as a Giant, Rogers had a 2.79 ERA in 392 games. He’s making $5.25 million this season.
Rogers’ twin brother, Taylor, another former Giant, was also traded Wednesday, from the Reds to the Pirates.
Rogers learned of his trade in the early innings, before he and Ryan Walker were to head to the bullpen together.
“I think he was a little bit prepared,” Walker said. “He’s been in the game long enough to have a sense of when something like that is going to happen. I don’t know if he was prepared for the Mets, but I think he was prepared.
“He made a joke. ‘Yeah I packed heavy, you never know.’ Literally, as soon as that happened, he got the call he was traded.”
Without Rogers, the Giants used five other relievers after Webb was pulled with two outs in the sixth inning, having struck out 11 batters — eight in the first three innings. The Pirates’ lone run off Webb came on Spencer Horwitz’s fifth-inning double.
The Giants struck first when Heliot Ramos singled and moved around the bases on singles by Willy Adames and Dom Smith in the fourth inning.
The Pirates scored a run in the top of the 10th on a misplay by Walker, who mistakenly tried to turn an inning-ending double play, but Jack Suwinski was safe at second because he took off on the pitch. The Giants got just one out on the play and permitted Oneil Cruz to score the deciding run.
In the bottom of the 10th, the Giants had runners at second and third, but Patrick Bailey and Ramos struck out to end the game. Walker took the blame for the loss for not throwing to the plate and said, “Mental mistake. I take full responsibility for today, personally. The play has to be made there.”
Afterward, the Giants packed and headed to the airport for their flight to New York, where they’ll open a series Friday against Rogers’ Mets. Rogers’ locker was cleared out before the end of the game, but he easily could have hitched a ride with his old mates back East.
“He’s always got a seat on our plane,” Walker said.