MLB trade grades: Buster Posey breaks up the Rogers twins in deal with Reds

The San Francisco Giants made headlines, hiring former catcher and future Hall of Famer Buster Posey as the team's president of baseball operations. Posey's first offseason in charge has been busy, with the Giants bringing in guys like Willy Adames and Justin Verlander in an attempt to make some noise in an incredibly tough NL West division.

Posey continued his active offseason by making a trade, sending Taylor Rogers to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for pitching prospect Braxton Roxby according to FanSided's MLB insider Robert Murray.

Rogers, notably, is the twin brother of current Giants right-hander, Tyler Rogers. This connection is especially hilarious because Taylor, a left-hander who throws over the top, looks nothing like Tyler, a submarining right-hander, on the mound.

Posey caught 53 of Tyler's appearances, but none of Taylor's. Sure enough, Posey wound up trading the one he never caught in this deal. Talk about cold-blooded!

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MLB Trade Grades: Who won the Reds-Giants trade for Taylor Rogers?

This is a fascinating trade made by Posey. Rogers is coming off a season that saw him post a 2.40 ERA in 64 appearances and 60 innings of work. He has been one of MLB's more underrated left-handed relievers for much of his career, and was a very useful reliever for Bob Melvin to turn to in pretty much any situation, much like his brother.

The Giants trading him, especially when their only other left-handed reliever being Erik Miller, in a division that includes guys like Shohei Ohtani, Corbin Carroll, and Jackson Merrill (to name a few), is a curious move, especially when the return is as underwhelming as it appears to be.

Braxton Roxby (great name aside) had a 5.21 ERA in 39 appearances and 48.1 innings of work at the Double-A level last season. He did strike out 65 batters in those innings, displaying great stuff, but he also issued 24 free passes - nearly one for every two innings he worked. That, as a 25-year-old who has only made it as high as Double-A, is a bit concerning.

Given how underwhelming the return is, the motivation of the deal feels as if it was financially motivated. Rogers is owed $12 million in the final year of his deal, and the Giants, clearly, did not want to pay it. Instead, they'll pay some of his contract to Cincinnati, a possible NL Wild Card contender they'll have to face off against.

From Cincinnati's perspective, there's little to complain about. Rogers is a consistently solid reliever, and if he struggles, he's a one-year rental that they can let go of after the year. If he's productive, that will only help them in their attempt to get back to the postseason for the first time in a full season (excluding 2020) since 2013. Giving up a 25-year-old who struggled at the Double-A level isn't much of a cost, and the Giants are eating at least some of his contract.

From San Francisco's perspective, this deal hinges on what's to come. If they traded Rogers just to pocket their savings, that's a bad look. If trading him means they can pursue a free agent, whether that be Pete Alonso or someone else, that'd make more sense. For now, they don't deserve anything close to a good grade for this deal.

Reds trade grade: B+
Giants trade grade: C-