Trade Analysis: Ivan Rodriguez
Yankees get: Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez
Tigers get: Kyle Farnsworth
How does Brian Cashman do it? Say all you want about the Yankees having the highest payroll and the deepest pockets, but you cannot discount the extraordinary job that Cashman has done — especially since given more control of the organization in the past few years.
Jorge Posada goes down for the season, and Cashman pulls a rabbit out of his hat — a bonafide future Hall of Fame receiver who is a proven winner and still has gas in the tank. And he obtains him in return for an inconsistent, enigmatic middle reliever. Yes, Kyle Farnsworth is pitching well lately — this is what’s termed “selling high” in economics courses.
Tell me, as a Mets fan — would you have been happy if the Mets traded Brian Schneider or Ramon Castro for Farnsworth? I bet there are some of you who would have been upset had the Mets sent Robinson Cancel to the Yankees for the flukey Farnsworth. Yet here is Brian Cashman, once again in the right place at the right time, dealing away excess at the height of its value, and getting an All-Star to put somewhere at the bottom of the lineup.
Here’s what gets my goat: the fact that Dave Dombrowski was supposedly demanding Aaron Heilman for a crappy fifth outfielder, then gives away a superstar for Kyle Farnsworth. Yes, I know Pudge’s best days are behind him, but he’s hitting his usual .300 with some pop — and I’d take him over Marcus “Strikeout Machine” Thames in a heartbeat. The combination of New York City and the pennant race is going to rejuvenate I-Rod, who is far from running on fumes. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see the Yankees re-sign him for ’09.
The rich get richer.
Next analysis: Arthur Rhodes
Strangely enough, Dombrowski has built some nice teams in the past … certainly did a marvelous job in building up Detroit from 2002-2006.
Either this was a panic deal, or Dombrowski was drunk, or I-Rod did something to tick someone off.
After seeing this trade go down, I’d demand Miguel Cabrera in return for Heilman, and convince Dombrowski it would be a smart salary dump decision on his part!