Also, this piece just focuses on trying to breakout the analysis of Rogers numbers which is such a shallow approach to analyzing the actual trade. There's 3 elements to the issues of this trade and covering one of them partially doesn't do it. The the assessment of him being the answer (ie performance) as well as Timing and Cost.
Rogers is available whenever you want him. He's not free (like a waiver claim) but he's not some guy you have to pay for. If you think you can back to the better-Rogers, great, but we needed pitching 8 weeks before the trade deadline.
Why would we wait until the (literally) last second to over-pay for a guy that doesn't move the needle (short term).
I'm not even negative on Rogers like nearly everyone else. I'd guess part of his issues are physical and the Orioles seem to have a good program in terms of generating the athleticism they want for their approach. Find the platform to execute a better plan off of, great. We actually see the Orioles do this a fair amount most of their waiver-level external adds.
I agree with most of what you're saying, although I still don't like the trade itself. I thought the team could have done better with the chips they moved. But as you said, maybe Rogers just needs a tweak here and there with his mechanics and he was pitching well with the Marlins before the trade so it's not like he's entirely out of his element. And I also agree Elias should have been more proactive earlier in the year in getting more pitching depth. Even though they were playing well, the clouds on the horizon were ominous.
