Tommy La Stella’s career with the Giants has come to an unceremonious end.
On Wednesday, the Giants officially announced the signing of left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers, who inked a three-year, $33 million contract to join his twin brother, Tyler, in the San Francisco bullpen. The Rogers signing was first reported last week, but as we know with Carlos Correa fiasco, it’s not official ‘til you see that tweet graphic from the Giants account.
To make room for Rogers on the 40-man roster, La Stella was designated for assignment after playing in just 136 combined games the past two seasons due to injury.
La Stella, 33, never produced much with the Giants while being bogged down with injuries to his back, hamstring, side, achilles and neck the past two years. When they signed him to a three-year, $18.75 million contract, La Stella was coming off a solid run of two seasons that included a 2019 All-Star bid with the Chicago Cubs.
He cashed in after the shortened 2020 season when he finished with the A’s, posting 27 walks compared to 12 strikeouts with a .281/.370/.449 slash line, five homers and 25 RBI. La Stella played in 55 of a possible 60 games that season, but only appeared in 76 contests in 2021 and 60 in 2022.
The salary on the final year of La Stella's contract is guaranteed, so the Giants are on the hook for $11.5 million unless they work out a trade in the next seven days. If La Stella is placed on waivers and goes unclaimed, he's likely to refuse a minor league assignment and elect free agency.
San Francisco is essentially biting the bullet on this contract, as La Stella’s mobility issues have reduced him to a designated hitter. In 437 plate appearances with the Giants, La Stella slashed .245/.297/.380 with nine homers and 41 RBIs – not exactly numbers you want from your DH.
Rogers, 32, is set to make $9 million this season, $12 million in 2024 and $12 million in 2025. The Rogers brothers became the second pair of identical twins to pitch in an MLB game together earlier this year in San Francisco. They also exchanged lineup cards before the contest.
Now they’ll become the fourth set of twin brothers in MLB history to be teammates. According to Sarah Langs of MLB.com, Jose and Ozzie Canseco were the most recent twins to be teammates, with the A’s in 1990.
Taylor Rogers struggled last season with Padres and Brewers en route to posting a 4.76 ERA, but has a solid resume throughout his seven-year career. He throws like a traditional southpaw, opposite of his submarining right-handed twin. Taylor has been a strikeout machine throughout his career with 10.9 K/9 IP rate, along with a 3.42 career ERA.
