The Pudge Rodriguez Market

interesting pudge could be a tutor to suzuki, but would he be willing as a backup?

i think A's also wouldnt mind former 1st rd pick landon powell getting a chance

i think the rays would be smart to pick him up. with all of their young talent they could use some vet leadership in the clubhouse, i know burrell will be there as well as percival but pudge could help navarro with managing the staff. it couldnt hurt to bring in a guy like that to help such a young team.

I doubt the A's want Pudge
they want to give Landon Powell a chance I watched him in the Minors and he could be a Solid player in the Majors

I doubt Pudge will play backup.

I think pride would force him to retire first.

Posted by: venn177 | February 21, 2009 at 12:56 PM

?? that is what he was in new york. i think pudge is smarter than that, im sure he knows at this point in his career he is a backup

Pudge was not brought in to be a back up in NY. He was a starter when healthy and replaced Posada who was on the DL. And before being traded to NY he was a starter for the Tigers all of 08.

Pudge to white Sox - they have no backup also RH DH

What if the Yankees signed Nomar for pinch hitting/back-up infielding? I think it'd be a good idea especially if MLB ends up suspending A-Rod as there have been talks of.

I was thinking the same thing about signing Nomar as well. Doesn't seem like it's going to happen though. I just don't see Ransom as a serious back up for Arod.

As for I-Rod he played 79 of his 82 gms as the starting C for the Tigers. As of July 31st he started 79 of 108 gms as there C. That's 73% of their gms, which is in line for the amount of games a catcher starting usually catches. Therefor, he was the Tigers starting C. While with the Yanks he appeared in 34 of their remaining 54 games, starting 25 of them. He missed a few games due to an injured knee and a 2 game suspension for fighting.

I think the White Sox would be a great fit. He could back up Konerko at first as well as provide insurance just in case AJ gets injured. Cause after AJ we literally have nothing unless they wanna rush Tyler Flowers. I just can't bear to see Donny Lucy or friggin Corky Miller on a major league roster. Come on Kenny, even Johnny Estrada would be an improvement.

The only concern I have with I-Rod is his offensive production. His obp was barely over .300 last year and he had no pop. Defensively, he's still one of the best C'ers in the game. He could start for just about any team in the majors.

I-rod threw out 32% of all runners last year (25 of 77). The only C with a better throw out rate were:

J.Molina (44%)
Kendall (43%)
Navarro (39%)
Mauer (36%)
Y.Molina (37%)
B. Molina (35%)

His throw out rate was much better than Varitek (22%), Laird (28%) McCann (22%), Soto (27%), Martin (25%, Pierzynski (17%), Saltamacchia (18%) and Shoppach (21%).

And he only had 6 passed balls despite receiving a staff that was 4th in WP in the majors last year.

Defensively, Irod is still one of the top 7 or 8 catchers in the game.

I disagree with the A's being a good fit for Pudge. Let Powell, Recker, and Bowen compete for the role.

Mulder or Nomar are better uses of the money if you're talking cheap veteran signing (although OCab should be target #1).

Pudge had many more PB's than the Detroit official scorer actually gave him. The Tiger staff was given way too many underserved WP's.

Pudge waves at balls in the dirt, won't drop down and block them.

Scorer's decisions to one side, he led MLB in balls chased to the backstop.

Sign him at your own risk. A technically proficient rookie at minimum wage is a better bet.

the giants should sign him who better to teach the young kids in there camp then molina & pudge