Yankees Acquire Pudge Rodriguez

[jjgott]

Per ESPN:

The Yankees have acquaired catcher Ivan Rodriguez from the Tigers. Detroit will get right-handed pitcher Kyle Farnsworth, who played with the Tigers previously in 2005.

[ELCABALLO45]

Crap, I had the link ready to go and i forgot to hit copy instead I hit "seriousness" because of the last message I had.

 

MINE WAS 1st. But its ok. You got the link

[JoeHova]

Very nice trade for the Yankees. Even if Pudge goes back to his 2007 level, he's still a huge upgrade over Jose Molina (who is himself a huge upgrade over Chad Moeller as the backup). Farnsworth is pretty not good, so I don't get it from Detroit's perspective. The Yankees had little use for Farnsworth and a big need at catcher, so it works out great for them.

[eanelson4]

o.0 Chad Moeller is the backupu in NY? I never knew that. Good for Pudge. I think he'll get a good amount of playing time, and he still has enough left in the tank.

[GoudaBrew]

This looks like a pretty bad deal for the Tigers. Pudge will be a Type A after this year, no?

[jjgott]

Crap, I had the link ready to go and i forgot to hit copy instead I hit "seriousness" because of the last message I had.

 

MINE WAS 1st. But its ok. You got the link

 

Yeah sorry about that.

 

I think this is a good trade for the Yankees. Molina has been a decent fill-in, but has not been putting up the #'s of a solid catcher. Pudge should bring some extra pop to that position and obviously has more catching experience than Molina.

[ELCABALLO45]

What's Chad Moeller thinking?

 

"Man, why do we need a 3rd string catcher?"

[patrickgpe]

very strange trade for the Tigers, they are only 5.5 back and considering how bad they played in april, you would think they would be adding instead of subtracting. Their catcher position is very suspect now.

[RyDogg66]

This looks like a pretty bad deal for the Tigers. Pudge will be a Type A after this year, no?

Maybe, but I dont know if there is a team (Giants?) that will want to sign a 37 year old catcher to a 8-10 million dollar a year contract, which is what Pudge would get from the Yankees in arbitration. And I am sure the Tigers wouldnt have offered him arby either.

 

[JoeHova]

I'm pretty sure the Yankees will offer him arby, Posada likely won't be able to catch much next season and having a good backup is a worthwhile luxury for a team like the Yankees. Plus, if he doesn't want to be a backup and declines arby, they get picks. It's win/win for them, they'll either get the picks or have a very nice backup plan.

[endaround]

How can he decline arby? He's making $13m this year with a decent shot at $15m in arby and likely no less that $12m. If the Yankees wish to take that chance let them.

[RyDogg66]

Their backup could cost them 10 million dollars, which is what he makes this year. If they offer arby, I doubt a team is going to offer him more than 2 yrs 10 million and I further doubt they would be willing to toss the Yankees a first or second round pick for him.

[TooLiveBrew]

very strange trade for the Tigers, they are only 5.5 back and considering how bad they played in april, you would think they would be adding instead of subtracting. Their catcher position is very suspect now.

 

I know Inge has been doing some of the catching for the Tigers... even though he reportedly told the team he doesn't want to catch anymore. It's where he has the best shot of sustaining full-time PT, and honestly at this point in Pudge's career, Inge is roughly a lateral move.

 

Good add for the Yankees. Molina had been playing better than I'd hoped he would offensively, but adding Pudge is a solid move. It's very much unclear whether or not Posada will ever be able to offer much value defensively anymore (he needs surgery on his shoulder, but wants to wait until after the season iirc), so having Pudge around as an option for next year certainly couldn't hurt.

 

 

EDIT: Guess not on Molina (58 OPS+)... been a while since I checked the Yanks' stats

[pitchleague]

So are Tigers fans up in arms about this if they're only 5.5 games out? Man, a lot of season yet and they're counting themselves out. Hard to believe the Tigers are selling based on the pre-season picks. Or are they . . . .?

[JoeHova]

How can he decline arby? He's making $13m this year with a decent shot at $15m in arby and likely no less that $12m. If the Yankees wish to take that chance let them.

Huh? $15 million in arby? That seems unlikely to me, more like 10-12 at worst (unless the Yanks offer like 5). Jason Kendall got a 2 year deal for about $9 million coming off a season much worse than Pudge has ever had, so I wouldn't be shocked if Pudge could get 2 years $15-16 million from someone. He may prefer that to a 1 year deal for $10 million, despite the lower annual value.

 

[Diskono]

What's Chad Moeller thinking?

"Uh coach? I just wanted to say that...I think carrying three catchers is a good idea."

 

[Principessa21]

I'm pretty sure the Yankees will offer him arby, Posada likely won't be able to catch much next season and having a good backup is a worthwhile luxury for a team like the Yankees. Plus, if he doesn't want to be a backup and declines arby, they get picks. It's win/win for them, they'll either get the picks or have a very nice backup plan.

Why do you say Posada won't be about to catch much next season? He had surgery today, and with the six month minimum, he'll be able to start the season. Unless you're assuming that even with the surgery, he's no better than a part time catcher/dh. I would disagree with that, and Posada has said time and time again that he's a catcher and wants to end his career as one. If (for Yankee fans sake, when) he changes position, it probably won't be until the end of his contract, late 2010 and 2011.

 

[endaround]

Huh? $15 million in arby? That seems unlikely to me, more like 10-12 at worst (unless the Yanks offer like 5). Jason Kendall got a 2 year deal for about $9 million coming off a season much worse than Pudge has ever had, so I wouldn't be shocked if Pudge could get 2 years $15-16 million from someone. He may prefer that to a 1 year deal for $10 million, despite the lower annual value.

 

He can only have his salary decreased by 20%, something that almost never happens. In general the best a team can hope for is to maintain his current salary and not see any increase. Kendall is six years younger.

 

[JumpinMacFlash]

What's Chad Moeller thinking?

"Uh coach? I just wanted to say that...I think carrying three catchers is a good idea."

 

Chad Moeller = Jake Taylor? Did Joe Girardi have a heart attack? The White Sox better watch out and hope that Jack Parkman hits oodles of homers.

 

[OldSchoolSnapper]

He can only have his salary decreased by 20%, something that almost never happens. In general the best a team can hope for is to maintain his current salary and not see any increase. Kendall is six years younger.

 

Kendall is three years younger than Pudge and Posada.

 

[BrewCrewForever]

Pudge for Farnsworth? That is all it took to get one of the best catchers ever? Wow.

[JoeHova]

He can only have his salary decreased by 20%

 

This is wrong, that rule only applies to reserve clause players (ie- first 6 years of service guys).

 

[JohnBriggs12]

This is the deal the Brewers should have made.

 

Kendall is a complete bust in my book.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

Seems a tad harsh.

[Team Canada]

JB, why would they want him at this point in the season? He's not going to make that big of a difference over the last 2 months. And your book is definitely quite different from how the team feels.