» Yanks Trade Farnsworth for Pudge Yankees Blog

July 30, 2008

No…this is not a JOKE!!
No.. I am not doing my usual Farnsworth bashing!!

The Yankees have announced today that they have traded Kyle Farnsworth to the Detroit Tigers for Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, a 13-time Gold Glove winner, was batting .295 with five home runs and 32 RBIs in 82 games with Detroit. A career .302 hitter, the 36-year-old catcher is in his 18th Major League season.

“It’s going to be exciting to play with the Yankees. A lot of players would like to play there and play with guys like A-Rod, [Derek] Jeter and [Jason] Giambi, catching [Mike] Mussina and those guys,” Rodriguez said. “It’s going to be nice. I’m excited for that. I’m going to be a little nervous in the beginning. Even all the years I’ve been playing this game, sometimes you get excited, too.”

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said that Rodriguez is expected to join the Yankees on Thursday, as they open a four-game series with the Angels.

****************************
NOW… on to my insight.
It’s no secret that I’ve been wanting to get rid of Kyle Farnsworth for about 2 1/2 years now. I know he has been pitching better as of late… but I still can not stand having him in the set-up role with the game on the line.
As far as Pudge goes… I am NOT a fan of him. He is a mediocre catcher, and has lost his once great batting power. It’s no coincidence that he was hitting well over .300 with 30 HR’s every season, until steroid accusations came up, and now he hits about 15 HR’s a season and bats around .290.

Overall… It’s a good trade, because Farnsworth is gone… and we have a Posada replacement for now. On the other hand, I like what Jose Molina has been doing behind the plate, and I hope that Girardi doesn’t make Molina an everyday bench player again. I’m hoping that he at least splits the time equally.

Posted in Yankee News, Yankee Baseball |