Rangers Acquire Pudge From Astros

Interesting. Pudge should be a decent backup to Teagarden now that Salty is most likely done for the year. Of course the last time the Rangers made the playoffs in 1999, Pudge was the catcher. Prophetic symmetry perhaps?

The Rangers could have a ceremony where Murhpy takes off his jersey to reveal his new #77 jersey and gives #7 back to Pudge a. la. Borque/Esposito.

If this deal goes through I wonder if the Astros will give JR Towles another shot or if they will call Jason Castro up from AA.

I'd imagine Towles will get the call up. Castro is already heading to Europe to play in September, with the AFL after that.

Could be a good deal as long as the Rangers gave the Astros a couple of go-nowhere prospects.

What possible value would the Astros get from dealing Pudge for Eddie Guardado?

And the Rangers released Padilla, but even still, why would the 'Stros ever have taken on his salary?

The PTBNL will be a mediocre prospect, and if it's actually two pieces, then it could really be a tremendous deal for Wade.

"I remember when pudge was 5 years past a productive player and yet, he STILL demanded to get his 500 at bats.

Enjoy the view from the pine bench ego maniac..."

Pudge had no problem being a backup in NY last year. Hopefully he carries that attitude with him to Texas.

The guys the Astros got: Matt Neverez is a 22yr old A-ball guy which a history of injury and a PTBNL.

no chat today?

you expected to get a top prospect for Pudge?

"we could have gotten martin perez and someone else.
this is bull."

That is insane. He is considered untouchable by the Rangers as he is already in AA at 18 (maybe 19). The kid is a stud and they would not trade him for less than 1/2 a year of an aged pudge. You got no quality prospects because you didn't give up anything of real value.

Wow, a good move by Ed Wade, that's fairly rare. For the Rangers this is an indefensible trade. How do they rationalize trading two minor leaguers for such a poor player? I know cathers aren't truly expected to hit but a .662 OPS is bad. Pudge is well past his prime, other than occasional descent defense he offers nothing to a team except a large number of outs. It appears that Ed Wade took Jon Daniels to the cleaners.... whodathunkit?

This was a very good move, the Astros can really use any infusion of youth that they can get at this point.

AVERYBEAR11: Wow, I don't even know where to begin with your posts. To have gotten anything at all for Pudge would be a steal and it only happened b/c of sentimental value...a bad way to run a baseball team.

Hearing on 1310 the Ticket here in DFW that Jose Vallejo is a part of the deal along with Nevaraz. Not sure how true it is, but that's a pretty good return for Pudge. The Rangers must have a lot of sentimental value to make that trade even.

Having said that, both players were never going to crack the Ranger's MLB roster and it clears a spot on the 40. Rule 5 draft implications may have also been a factor. If you feel you would have lost either or both players next year anyway, why not get Pudge for the playoff push. The extra attendance alone makes it worth it.

"we could have gotten martin perez and someone else.
this is bull."

ROFL. Seriously man? Wow, just wow.

Anyway, I don't see why everyone thinks this is such a bad deal for the Rangers. Nevarez didn't have a place in our system, and I'm hearing the second piece is Jose Vallejo. Good second baseman, but our starters name is Kinsler, our starting shortstops name is Andrus, and our third baseman's name is Young. He has no place here either, not in the foreseeable future anyway. So we basically gave up a couple of spare parts from our system, who by the way will look very good in Houston's weak system, for a very capable veteran backup who happens to be a fan favorite around here. This move is a win for both sides.

The 22-year-old reliever has been excellent with Single-A Hickory this season, compiling a 2.83 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 12.9 K/9 in 34 games (35 innings). There's little doubt he has a huge arm, but the Rangers likely would have left him exposed in the upcoming Rule 5 draft, so at least they got something in return.

Nevarez is nothing more than a middle-reliever and Vallejo is nothing more than a backup 2nd baseman.

The Astros aren't going anywhere and Pudge isn't having that great of a season... so I don't understand why the Rangers would give up 3 guys (1 of which is a legitimate major league prospect) for Pudge. The Astros have a weak farm system, so trading Pudge for anything almost seems like a coup.

OZ10

How? I thought best record faced wildcard as long as they where in a separate division. Also, I live in Texas and have seen many rangers games. You bring up A-Rod choking, but how much faith do you have in Hunter, Holland and Millwood in a playoff series with the subpar offense backing it up?

Giving up anything that projects to contribute to a major league team is probably a mistake for the Rangers. Pudge is the definition of replacement value at this stage in his career.