The Baltimore Orioles acquired catcher Jake Rogers from the Detroit Tigers on Thursday for minor league right-hander Zane Barnhart, ending Rogers’ seven-year run in Detroit.
Baltimore has been sending journeymen behind the plate for nearly two weeks with Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo both on the injured list, and the trade deadline arrives Monday.
Rogers never reached waivers. Detroit designated him for assignment on July 28 to clear a roster spot for Javier Báez, back from the high ankle sprain that cost him three months. The Tigers found a taker inside 48 hours.
Rogers debuted for Detroit on July 30, 2019, exactly seven years before the trade that ended his time there. He had come over in the deal that sent Justin Verlander to the Houston Astros in August 2017, and he was the last player from that trade still in the organization, as noted by Bless You Boys.
Rogers missed all of 2022 with an injury.
Jake Rogers Fills a Baltimore Orioles Catching Void
Rutschman went on the injured list July 20 with left wrist inflammation, his third IL stint of the season after left ankle trouble in April and a concussion in June, Rich Dubroff of BaltimoreBaseball.com reported. Basallo followed two days later with right shoulder inflammation.
That left Sam Huff and Chadwick Tromp. Baltimore then claimed Yohel Pozo off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals and designated Huff, a move detailed by the Baltimore Sun. Huff was hitting .121. The Orioles sat 53-56, close enough to the wild card to keep buying, as MLB.com‘s Jake Rill reported Sunday.
Rogers gives manager Craig Albernaz a catcher who has worked 362 major league games, including Tarik Skubal’s starts during the left-hander’s Cy Young seasons. He has thrown out 26.7% of base stealers in 2026, though Statcast has graded his framing and blocking below average, according to MLB Trade Rumors.
The bat is another problem. Rogers is hitting .161/.266/.301 with three home runs in 34 games, and his career line sits at .197/.270/.379 with 47 homers. Rogers is earning $3.05 million this year and reaches free agency in November.
The 31-year-old was a third-round pick out of Tulane by Houston in 2016. His one big offensive season came in 2023, when he hit 21 home runs and slugged .444 across 107 games. He lost all of 2022 to elbow surgery.
Zane Barnhart Gives Tigers a Bullpen Arm
Barnhart reports to Double-A Erie, according to the transaction log at CBS Sports.
The 24-year-old right-hander was born in Towson, Maryland, grew up in Medina, Ohio, and pitched at Division II Hillsdale College, where he turned himself from a two-way player into a closer and became the highest-drafted player in program history. Baltimore took him in the 17th round in 2023, 511th overall, and signed him for $100,000, according to Spotrac.
“Going into Hillsdale, I was throwing 85 miles an hour, and I got out of there throwing up to 98 my junior year. Huge leaps,” Barnhart told the Hillsdale Collegian in April.
He has worked exclusively in relief as a professional, compiling a 3.41 ERA with 167 strikeouts and a 1.24 WHIP over 150.1 innings. This season with Double-A Chesapeake he is 2-3 with a 4.05 ERA and 45 strikeouts in 40 innings over 31 appearances.
Detroit gets a 40-man roster spot, roughly $700,000 in payroll relief and a live arm for the farm system. Eduardo Valencia now backs up Dillon Dingler behind the plate.
TRADE: Tigers Deal 7-Year MLB Veteran Catcher for 24-Year-Old Pitcher