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Deep in the heart of the 2022 MLB season, Emilio Pagan bashing is still a point of emphasis with Twins fans — and for good reason.
Pagan escaped a lot of trouble early in the year, carrying a 2.12 ERA into June when peripheral numbers suggested the Twins reliever was struggling even more. Those struggles arrived soon enough; Pagan has a 6.59 ERA since June started, leaving his mark for the year at 4.87. A lot of those runs came in crushing high-leverage situations.
Pagan arrived via trade with Chris Paddack, a starting pitcher who was lost for the season almost immediately after needing Tommy John surgery. The Padres received All-Star Taylor Rogers in exchange, a swap that was ridiculed with intensity as the lefty was lights-out early in the year.
If you stopped paying close attention to the narrative, though, you might be alarmed to learn this: Entering Thursday, Rogers' ERA is actually worse (4.89) than that of Pagan.
He was traded (again) to the Brewers before the trade deadline, but this is Rogers' ghastly reality between the Padres and Brewers: an 8.42 ERA since late May, with six blown saves and six losses in that span.
This is not offered so much as a softening of the blow in the trade for Paddack and Pagan so much as it is a genuine question: What in the world happened to the once-dominant Rogers?
Twins fans would be howling in protest if he had put up those numbers in Minnesota, just as they would be grousing about Jose Berrios if the starter had been given a long-term contract here instead of being traded to the Blue Jays at last year's deadline.
Berrios, like Rogers, has suffered through a mostly awful 2022. Heading into his start Thursday against the Yankees, Berrios carried a 5.61 ERA while giving up a league-high 76 earned runs and 26 homers.
For as many questions as the Twins have had in their bullpen and their rotation in 2022, it might be tempting at times to wonder what might have happened if they had made different decisions.
In the cases of Rogers and Berrios — at least if they had performed in 2022 for the Twins as they have for other teams — the front office seems to have exercised proper judgment.
