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Minnesota Twins acquire Chris Paddack, Emilio Pagan from San Diego Padres for Taylor Rogers, Brent Rooker

MLB, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Twins have acquired right-handed pitchers Chris Paddack and Emilio Pagan from the San Diego Padres in exchange for All-Star left-handed pitcher Taylor Rogers and outfielder Brent Rooker.

The Twins also will receive a player to be named later under terms of the deal announced Thursday. The Padres will get $6.6 million in cash, according to multiple reports.

Paddack and Rogers are the key players in the deal.

Paddack posted a 7-7 record with a 5.07 ERA in starting 22 of his 23 appearances. The 26-year-old walked 22 and struck out 99 last season. He has pitched in parts of three seasons for the Padres since 2019, going 20-19 with a 4.21 ERA.

The Padres have a wealth of arms, with Yu Darvish, Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell and Nick Martinez leading the charge at the start of the spring and then Sean Manaea coming aboard earlier this month via trade with the Oakland Athletics. In addition, Mike Clevinger should join the staff at some point this month as he works his way back from a second Tommy John surgery performed in September 2020 and some knee soreness that hobbled him late in spring camp.

The abundance of quality pitchers had Paddack available for trade, and the Twins were a logical partner.

Minnesota spent big on offense during the offseason by signing free agent Carlos Correa to a three-year, $105.3 million contract. Its rotation, meanwhile, has been overhauled in the past year. Opening Day starter Joe Ryan is a rookie, Bailey Ober is in his second season and veterans Sonny Gray, Chris Archer and Dylan Bundy are all new to the team.

Pagan made a career-high 67 relief appearances last season, going 4-3 with a 4.83 ERA. The 30-year-old has pitched parts of five major league seasons with Seattle, Oakland, Tampa Bay and San Diego, going 13-10 with a 3.73 ERA. He saved 20 games for the Rays in 2019.

Rogers was selected to his first American League All-Star team in 2021, going 2-4 with a 3.35 ERA and a 13.17 strikeout-per-9.0 innings pitched, sixth highest among AL relievers and 10th best in the majors.

The 31-year-old began the season as the Twins' primary setup man, finishing with eight holds on the season, while also converting nine of his 13 save opportunities. Since 2016, his 319 appearances rank fourth in the American League and first most among AL left-handers.

Rogers went on the injured list for the season on July 27 with a left middle finger sprain.

Rooker, a first-round pick by the Twins in 2017, split the 2021 season between Triple-A St. Paul and Minnesota. He played in 58 games for the Twins last season, hitting .201 with 10 doubles, nine home runs and 16 RBIs.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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