MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Twins signed left-hander Taylor Rogers to a one-year, $2 million contract to bring the veteran reliever back to his original team as part of a bullpen revamp Friday, while also finalizing a two-year, $14 million deal with catcher Victor Caratini.
Rogers and Caratini were at Target Field for their physical exams to make their signings official, after recently agreeing to terms. Rogers had a 3.15 ERA in 319 appearances over his first six major league seasons with the Twins, accumulating 361 strikeouts in 314 2/3 innings. He became a closer in 2019 and made the All-Star team in 2021.
“The Taylor Rogers we knew in ’18 and ’19 is going to be different than this guy, but he’s still a really good reliever and I think he’s going to have a big impact in our bullpen not only pitching-wise but with the ability to lead our group,” said new manager Derek Shelton, who was the bench coach for the Twins during part of Rogers' first stint with the club.
Over the last four years, Rogers has pitched for five teams. He was traded to the San Diego Padres right before the 2022 season and then to the Milwaukee Brewers right before the deadline. Rogers signed with the San Francisco Giants in 2023 to join his twin brother, Tyler Rogers, and was dealt to the Cincinnati Reds in 2025. The Reds traded him to the Chicago Cubs at the deadline last summer.
The 35-year-old Rogers has a career 3.34 ERA in 566 relief appearances, with 626 strikeouts in 541 1/3 innings and 83 saves. Rogers, who was drafted by the Twins as a starter in the 11th round in 2012 out of Kentucky, was converted to relief just before his major league debut in 2016.
The Twins traded their top five relievers during the week leading up to the deadline last season: Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart and Danny Coulombe. Rogers will mix in with bullpen holdovers Cole Sands, Justin Topa and Kody Funderburk.
“It’s the most obvious area of need coming into the offseason, something we feel like ‘Rog’ is a step in that direction, but help in that regard is going to come in all shapes and sizes," general manager Jeremy Zoll said ahead of the team's annual fan festival.
The 32-year-old Caratini, who will also be in the mix at first base and designated hitter while backing up catcher Ryan Jeffers, hit .259 in 2025 in his second season with the Houston Astros and set career bests with 12 homers, 46 RBIs and 386 plate appearances.
The 32-year-old switch-hitter has a .244 batting average over nine major league seasons. The Twins will be his fifth different team. Among active catchers with a minimum of 3,500 innings behind the plate, Caratini's catcher ERA of 3.92 ranks eighth best in baseball.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Caratini and Rogers, the Twins designated right-handed reliever Pierson Ohl and catcher Jhonny Pereda for release or assignment.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB
FILE - Houston Astros' Victor Caratini sprints to third during a baseball game against the Texas Rangers in Arlington, Texas., Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
FILE - Chicago Cubs' Taylor Rogers throws during the eighth inning of Game 2 of a National League wild card baseball game against the San Diego Padres Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley,File)
SPINDLERUV MLYN, Czechia (AP) — Mikaela Shiffrin earned a place on the podium of a World Cup giant slalom for the first time in two years Saturday, finishing third in the last GS before the Milan Cortina Olympics.
The race was won by defending Olympic champion Sara Hector, who held on to her opening run lead for her first victory since January 2025.
“You always have to keep working, it's so many strong girls as you can see today,” the Swedish winner said in a course-side interview. “I am super happy that in the end I crossed the finish line first. That's a really cool feeling.”
Shiffrin, the 2018 Olympic GS gold medalist, trailed Hector by 0.23 seconds and the American shared the podium with second-placed teammate Paula Moltzan, who was 0.18 off the pace.
Shiffrin holds the women’s record for most career World Cup GS wins with 22 but hadn’t had a top-three result in the discipline in 11 events since coming runner-up at a race in Slovakia in January 2024.
Six days later, she crashed in a downhill on the course that will be used for the Olympics next month and then didn’t compete in GS again until the start of the 2024-25 season.
In November 2024, she sustained a puncture wound to the right side of her abdomen and severe damage to her oblique abdominal muscles in a crash at her home GS in Killington, Vermont, and subsequently suffered from lingering post-traumatic stress disorder.
This season, Shiffrin racked up three fourth places before ultimately returning to the podium Saturday, three weeks before the Olympic race in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Moltzan, who's chasing her maiden career win, got her third podium of the season, leading a strong showing by the U.S. team, with Nina O’Brien in fifth and AJ Hurt in eighth.
In the opening run, Hector edged out Camille Rast of Switzerland by 0.02 seconds, with GS rankings leader Julia Scheib of Austria 0.26 back in third.
Rast dropped to fourth, while Scheib skied out in the final run.
Overall World Cup champion Federica Brignone, who made a strong return to racing from a nine-month injury layoff on Tuesday, and her Italian teammate Sofia Goggia, the 2018 Olympic downhill champion, sat out the event in Czechia, with a weekend of speed racing coming up in Switzerland next week ahead of their home Olympics.
A slalom on the same hill is scheduled for Sunday.
AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing
United States' Paula Moltzan speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Mikaela Shiffrin at finish line during a women's alpine ski, World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Sweden's Sara Hector, centre, winner of a women's alpine ski, World Cup giant slalom, poses with second placed United States' Paula Moltzan, left, and third placed United States' Mikaela Shiffrin in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Sweden's Sara Hector, right, and United States' Mikaela Shiffrin at finish line during a women's alpine ski, World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
From left, United States' Mikaela Shiffrin, Sweden's Sara Hector and United States' Paula Moltzan at finish line during a women¥s alpine ski, World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Austria's Julia Scheib speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
Switzerland's Camille Rast speeds down the course during a women¥s World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
Sweden's Sara Hector speeds down the course during a women's World Cup giant slalom, in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
