Article: Esmil Rogers, Still Going Strong

[Mac]

As Esmil Rogers' second straight subpar season in Colorado came to a close in 2011, Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, and John Lackey were allegedly finishing their seasons in the Boston clubhouse eating fried chicken and playing video games, all while the Red Sox lost game after game in an epic September collapse. 

The chain of events stemming from the fallout in Boston led to Esmil Rogers being thrust into the Blue Jays' rotation two years later. While Rogers moved from Colorado to Cleveland during the 2012 season, the Red Sox moved on from the KFC-and-Halo scandal to an even lower low under new manager Bobby Valentine. Boston finished at the bottom of the AL East at 69-93, and when it came time to name yet another manager, the Red Sox weren’t going to take no for an answer from the Blue Jays this time.

Not that John Farrell hadn’t been flirting with the Red Sox while he was Toronto's manager. He would likely have gotten the job over Valentine in 2012, but Alex Anthopoulos had told Farrell he wasn’t letting him go anywhere after managing the Jays for only one season. Valentine was fired a day after the season ended, and Farrell would again express interest in the once more open Red Sox job. After two years of dealing with a manager who longed to be elsewhere, Anthopoulos allowed Farrell and the Red Sox to consummate.

I hope this man was interviewed with the Red Sox for the open managerial position.

With Farrell under contract, the Blue Jays and Red Sox would complete the transfer with a rare manager-for-player trade. The Jays acquired light-hitting infielder Mike Aviles from Boston, and early speculation had Aviles in the mix for playing time at second base. However, a few weeks later, Anthopoulos flipped Aviles with catcher Yan Gomes to Cleveland for Esmil Rogers. After his career survived Colorado, Rogers impressed in Cleveland, striking out nearly every fourth batter he faced in 53 innings. A converted infielder, Rogers possessed a mid-to-high 90s fastball and a nasty slider with command issues. But what Esmil Rogers was or who started at second base was all forgotten 16 days later when Anthopoulos executed the Buehrle/Reyes trade with the Marlins.

So when a so-so Rogers was shoved into the struggling Blue Jays' rotation two months into the 2014 season, spirits could have been in a better place. Rogers had struggled in the bullpen in the early going but was coming off back-to-back clean three-inning relief appearances. Toronto sat at the bottom of the AL East at 22-30 when Rogers was called on to make a spot start on May 29 in Atlanta.

Rogers was solid against the Braves and was again scheduled to start for the shorthanded Jays on June 6 in Chicago. The game would be rained out, but with the opportunity to skip his turn, John Gibbons elected to start Rogers the following day at home against Texas. The move to keep Rogers in the rotation proved to be a good one as Rogers threw four solid innings against the Rangers on a pitch count while striking out six.

Six days later, Rogers again stymied the Rangers, this time in Arlington. He went toe-to-toe with Yu Darvish and pitched seven innings, leaving the game with the score tied. Edwin Encarnacion hit a two-run double in the following inning to secure Toronto’s 3-1 win. Then, against his former team in his next outing, Rogers took a no-hitter into the sixth inning, an 8-3 win over Colorado. He received a standing ovation from the crowd at Rogers Centre when Gibby took him out with two outs in the seventh inning. I know the quality of players we've profiled so far has varied, but that's as good of a stretch as anyone yet.

Also, keep in mind that my memory of Reed Johnson will sound a lot like a fellow Mac’s letter to Chase Utley.

Rogers had surrendered only four runs in 21 innings as a starter, dropping his ERA on the season to 3.14. Save for a lousy start against Detroit; Rogers was starting every fifth day and giving the Blue Jays a chance to win on his turn through July. He exceeded his expectations when he first arrived, but Rogers struggled as the season wore on. He lost three consecutive starts beginning on July 29 and was eventually removed from the rotation for Todd Redmond. When Josh Johnson felt forearm discomfort the next day (the final injury in his embattled career), Rogers was put back in the rotation and took advantage of the second chance.

Rogers was impressive in back-to-back road starts against Arizona and Minnesota, his finest performances of the year. He threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings against the Twins, and Rogers allowed only four base hits across the two starts. Following Toronto's disappointing 2013 season, Rogers’ late season showing had put him back in the conversation for the final spot in the Blue Jays' rotation as he arrived for spring training. As March went on, J.A. Happ and Ricky Romero pitched themselves out of the picture, and Marcus Stroman wasn’t quite ready to debut. However, Rogers was inconsistent himself and was relegated to the bullpen.

Dustin McGowan won the fifth starter job after spending three years out of the rotation battling back from an injury.

Rogers pitched in 16 games for Toronto, all out of the bullpen, with the final appearance coming on May 21 in Boston. Rogers came on in the eighth inning with the Jays leading 6-1. He surrendered a lead-off single and back-to-back doubles to the third and fourth batters he faced, the final one his last as a Blue Jay. The three earned runs charged to Rogers was the fifth time he had given up multiple runs all season. Toronto hung on to win the game but would continue without Rogers, who was designated for assignment afterward.

Also, Rogers was DFA’d again by the Jays that season. He was called up for five days in July, watched the games from the bullpen, and was sent back on his way. Rogers' trip to Buffalo was interrupted this time by the New York Yankees, who claimed the pitcher off waivers. He picked up a win in his final major league start with New York and did enough for the Yankees to bring him back the following year. Still, after getting off to a rough start again (6.27 ERA in 18 relief appearances), Rogers' career in the big leagues was over. 

Rogers signed with Washington a few years later but couldn’t work past Triple-A. He later pitched in the KBO, and Rogers is still dealing. He is starting games for teams in the Mexican and Dominican Winter Leagues, and while major league pitchers are ramping up in spring training, Rogers has already won some big games in 2025.

Rogers was named MVP of the Caribbean World Series after he pitched six innings of one-hit ball for the Leones del Escogido of the Dominican Republic. He captured the championship with a 1-0 win over host Charros de Jalisco of Mexico. Rogers wasn't even supposed to start the championship game. Still, scheduled starter Johnny Cueto couldn't go due to illness, forcing Leones manager Albert Pujols to pivot to Rogers, who allowed only one run in his other start.

The velocity is down in the mid-to-high 80s but Rogers, who will turn 40 in August, was still dealing in the finals against Charros.

When the Jays reunited with Jeff Hoffman in free agency this offseason, some recalled the time when Toronto ownership tried using the yet-to-debut Hoffman as a trade piece for Baltimore to allow Dan Duquette to leave the Orioles to become Blue Jays CEO a decade ago (wait, what?) That debacle was avoided; today, we remember Esmil Rogers, the player that the Jays ended up with the last time they completed a transaction with non-player personnel.

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[Laika]

John Farrell, famous traitor. 

Man what a mistake to dump Yan Gomes in that trade. AA was pretty bad at evaluating catchers. Napoli, Gomes, DArnaud, holds JPA, Max Pentecost 11th overall,  omegalol 

[jaysblue]

2 hours ago, Laika said:

John Farrell, famous traitor. 

Man what a mistake to dump Yan Gomes in that trade. AA was pretty bad at evaluating catchers. Napoli, Gomes, DArnaud, holds JPA, Max Pentecost 11th overall,  omegalol 

He traded William Contreras as well in order to land Sean Murphy. 

The Napoli/Francisco trade was awful. Napoli would have been a nice fit here even as a 1B/DH. The guy had monster power. 

At least AA went out and signed Russell Martin in his last year with the Jays. 

[Terminator]

I forgot that we had Napoli for a few days. After we traded him he hit .320/.414/.631 in 2011.