Yankees trade for Pudge Rodriguez

In the department of "Wow, I definitely didn't see that one coming," is today's Yankee trade, dealing setup man Kyle Farnsworth for 14-time All-Star and Tigers catcher Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez. My initial reaction to this deal was, well, shock, since I hadn't heard anything about either of these two players possibly being traded until today. Apparently nobody had, because talks began this morning and progressed quickly. So is this deal a win or a loss for the Yankees? Once again, I have to applaud Brian Cashman for another quality move. Let's examine.

- Rodriguez this year is hitting at a .295/.338/.417 clip. That's good for an OPS of .755, which is pretty much league average (101 OPS+). However, it's MUCH better than the offensive black hole that is Jose Molina (59 OPS+. Fifty-nine!!) and Chad Moeller (75). Molina is a great defensive catcher, and will be used nicely as a backup, as Mussina's personal catcher and to give Pudge a rest. But let's be honest, Pudge is a much better offensive solution than anything else the Yankees could get at this point, with Jorge Posada now officially done for the year. Is he the stellar defensive catcher he used to be? No. But he's still a pretty damn good one and won't hurt the Yankee defense.
- It's ironic that the Yankees finally get rid of Farnsworth in the midst of his best season with the Bombers. But as of recently he'd been struggling a bit, and you always feel like he's one pitch away from imploding. With a 3.65 ERA though he should help the dismal Tigers bullpen. However, with the acquisition of Damaso Marte, the near-return of Brian Bruney, and the continued success of Jose Veras, Edwar Ramirez, and Dave Robertson, the Yanks can replace Farnsworth in the 8th inning without too much trouble.
- Of note is that both players see their contracts expire after the season. The Yankees likely weren't going to re-sign Farnsworth, anyway. As for Pudge, he's a Type A Free Agent, so the Yanks can get a draft pick when they don't re-sign him.


All in all, a solid move for the Yankees. Funny thing is, after this and the Nady deal, the biggest move we could make may be the Sox trading Manny.
(Not that I expect it to happen)