Cashman: “We want to cross the finish line”
-
- July
- 30
Fascinating move for the Yankees, who take away from their strength in the bullpen to fill a big hole at catcher.
Brian Cashman put it well, Rodriguez brings an offensive upgrade to the position while providing the same level of defense. He was at .295/.338/.417 for the Tigers with 24 extra-base hits and 32 RBI.
Molina (.226/.333/.310) wasn’t helpless at the plate. But playing him five or six days a week was a risk as he is not in the best condition. Rodriguez knows the AL and he has helped teams get to the postseason.
The Yankees have Brian Bruney ready to plug into the bullpen. They also will rely more on Edwar Ramirez and Jose Veras. Mark Melancon could be looming. They traded Farnsworth at the peak of his value. As good as he has looked, do you trust him in a big spot?
Joe Girardi doesn’t. Otherwise he would have been left in the game on Friday night at Fenway Park.
This entry was posted
on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 5:27 pm by Peter Abraham.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Share and Enjoy: 
| 
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
Peter Abraham
very good trade sell high on farnsy and get a 290 hitter to catch! great
great trade…
really happy about this trade!!
awesome trade!!!
2008 World Series Champions
Fantastic trade. Good on ya Cash
solid move cashman.
I got to give credit to Cashman. His plan of stocking up on pitchers and young players the past few years has set up the Yankees for a great present and future. His trades this year are amazing.
When does Cashman’s contract run out?
This is brilliant. I still would like to see something materialize for the back end of the order.
BUT Austin Jackson cannot go.
Farnsy for Pudge… no way would have you gotten this trade done last year… good move…
I have a feeling we’re going to get a very rejuvenated determined Pudge for the stretch drive.
If the guy waived his no trade to come here because he’s always wanted to come here, that’s a good thing.
So who comes up for Moeller is my question.
Bruney is having location problems in AAA right now. It can’t be him, can it?
hcl, end of this season
hope he gets resigned despite my displeasure with this season’s moves, for the most part
well, everyone has been asking for intense players all year.. ask for fire, receive napalm.. this’ll be a fun ride
cashman’s contract is up after this year
Great trade. Wow, I’m still in shock. Didn’t see this one coming! And yes, with Bruney on the verge of coming back, and Robertson pitching well, Farnsworth was expendable.
Chris Russo’s head is gonna explode…
what a shocker. There was noise about Detroit liking Kyle but nada about pudge. Good move trading Farns at his peak. Cashman’s a master at keeping his hand a secret.
Good move. Any more moves on the way? How about DFA Betemit and Ponson. Bring up Kennedy.
No. I do not trust him in a big spot. I’ve been saying all season that even if Farnsworth could keep going at his current rate and the Yankees made the playoffs, I would still be shouting “Nooooo! Whyyyy??” at the screen when they brought him in in a close game.
now get another starter
Based on pure numbers, Britton probably deserves to be up.
Now I really have to lay off Cashman for the rest of the year.
Truth be told, as good as Farnsworth has looked this year, most people never trusted him. They propped up his confidence this year, he put up good stats, and they sold high. Cashman has pulled off two solid trades this year that really upgraded holes. Well done, Mr. Cashman!!!
Not a good trade, a great trade, Pudge is the best defensive catcher in the game. Time for Champagne.
G. Love: The Yankees have some flexibility with an open roster spot, so who knows?
‘
Bruney’s got the first shot, but if he struggles, Melancon is knocking.
Mike Francesca: They trade away there 8th inning guy!
The 8th inning is the most important inning!!!
How can they make this move in mid season??!!
Genius trade. The Yanks will easily be able to replace Farnsworth, it’s much harder to find a catcher of Pudge’s caliber. Cash just made this team way better.
Betemit is not getting DFA’d. Moeller, however, will be. Plenty of arms in AAA to fill Farnsworth’s roster spot. Plenty of guys in the majors that can fill the 8th inning. Time for the young arms to produce.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!
I wonder when Pudge reports- we have tickets to tomorrow night’s game.
Let’s hope Teixeira is chomping at the bit to show the Angels that they did the right thing and have a kick-a** night to beat Bahhstin.
poor Chad Moeller
One thing people forget is that Ivan is a gamer. You thought La Duca was something in NY wait till you see this guy’s passion.
Is Pudge an unrestricted free agent?
They get him for the rest of the season AND a first round pick?
Ca$hman should be arrested for larceny.
but Pete, is there anyone else to trust with 2 on and no outs in the 8th over Mo?
Cashman must be hypnotizing the GMs he deals with - no other explanation…
“I have a feeling we’re going to get a very rejuvenated determined Pudge for the stretch drive.
If the guy waived his no trade to come here because he’s always wanted to come here, that’s a good thing.”
Good observation. Wonder what Jorge’s thinking now? Think this motivates him to come back faster. Or get that firstbaseman’s glove ready.
I like it.
That’s not Molina’s line.
Strickland should be called up for sure - he has been lights out and deserves it. Britton is no 8th inning replacement, though he is good for the 7th.
8th Inning Capable = Veras, Marte, Edwar, Strickland. Not Bruney, Not Robertson (yet). Will Melancon get a look here soon..? We’ll also have to see how Cox does…
7th Inning = Britton, Edwar, Veras, Strickland, Bruney, Robertson
GREAT TRADE!!
Brilliant move by C Money!
http://theblogofchampions.com/?p=160
this site overviews the pudge trade
“Mike Francesca: They trade away there 8th inning guy!
The 8th inning is the most important inning!!!
How can they make this move in mid season??!!”
I guess Mike was on the buffet line when they picked up Marte, or whenever flame thrower Veras came in to pitch. What a buffoon.
This is on the same level as the Nady/Marte trade. It is different because we didn’t shillack the other team, but we got value for nothing
:) 
Plus two picks!!!
Pudge should be enroute to Newark Liberty from Cleveland where the Tigers are playing tonight and ready to go tomorrow night vs. the Angels.
not to mention the draft picks we’ll get when Pudge walks cause I seriously doubt he’ll resign with the Yankees to be a backup catcher. How long is Molina’s contract?
Jorge has little to worry about if he can catch. This is a good trade, but Pudge is years away from being the great player he once was, especially with the stick. Nonetheless, it’s an upgrade over Molina…offensively and you don’t lose all that much defensively. Good trade for both teams.
Funny thing is I was listening to John and Suzyn after leaving the game a bit early to beat traffic and they were going on and on about how amazing it is for Moeller to go from being cut by Washington two weeks before the season to a valuable backup for the Yankees. Saying how he could play in the playoffs and I was thinking, not if something goes down in the next 24 hours. I was thinking smaller but you gotta love Cashman when he commits to go for it, he got the best catcher out there, by far.
Man all that talk of protecting and going super-slow with Melancon this year seems like it’s a bunch of bunk. He is about two good appearances in Scranton and one Yankees bullpen hiccup away from getting The Call.
“Mike Francesca: They trade away there 8th inning guy!”
He considers Farnsworth a 5th inning guy, as does Russo. The former will be thrilled, the latter annoyed.
Note, still Yankees: Hughes, Kennedy, Melancon, A-Jax, Cano, Melky. Cashman’s given nothing up.
Pudge is definitely gone after the season. Molina is signed through 2009 and Posada should be back in time for the season.
Another great move. Now please bring Kennedy back up to replace Ponson and we’ll call it a day.
I think Pudge might even score us a draft pick next yr.
No way he’ll come back next yr so to those asking what Posada thinks about it, I think he’ll see it for what it is - a great short term rental.
#9 -
Francessa’s next show will be at Giants camp next Monday. He will be sure to mention that “Jobber” should move back to the 8th inning because there is a big hole their now.
Francessa’s rotation
Pettitte-Mussina-Arroyo-Rasner-Ponson.
not sure if you heard Peter Gammons on the Michael Kay show, but he sounded like he was going to cry
None of the trades that Cashman has done are world beaters, but they are GREAT little trades which should help push the Yanks over the edge (well, provided they win games like yesterday’s 7-6 loss. Sigh).
And the beauty is that the Yankees haven’t really given up much. They’ve given up McClutchen, Tabata, Ohly, Karstens and 2+ months of Farnsworth for Nady, Marte (or probably 2 Draft picks) and I-Rod (or probably 2 draft picks).
Will Farnsworth be easily replaced? Someone else argued somewhere that in essence Marte is replacing Farnsworth right now, and Bruney may well end up occupying the open bullpen spot.
If it’s the Bruney of early in the year, that’s pretty good.
P.S. I want to thank Chad Moeller, who did his job quietly but fairly effectively (here’s hoping he clears waivers and gets picked up by Scranton - if there’s a place for him in the 40 man after that, I’d like to see him back in September).
ESPN.com had this stat comparing NY’s catchers this year vs Pudge:
NYY Catchers BA .245 HR 3 RBI 34
Rodriguez BA 295 HR 5 RBI 32
Yankees do expect Pudge to be in NY tommorow and playing, i guess?
Tiger fans sound off:
http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/
“Pudge Rodriguez for Kyle Farnsworth? My first reaction was, and who else did the Tigers get?
***
No young player coming back? Not awful, but Dave Dombrowski failed to maximize Pudge’s value. Yankees win this one easy.”
Farns couldn’t even go back to back. No loss there.
Pudge must be thinking, “That’s it? All I’m worth is a Farnsworth rental?”
Pudge was splitting time with Inge, who was the emergency catcher and balked earlier when told he would catch.
Still feels like a steal.
I wonder if Cashman sits in his dark office wearing a ski mask and gloves while he takes calls and plays with a mini maglite?
Pete,
Molina’s OBP is actually .278, not .333, which is a big difference. The best part of these last two trades is that two black holes in the lineup (gardner, molina) have been changed to (nady, pudge). Over just the remainder of this season, that is probably a difference of 2 wins, possibly even 3. Cashman deserves a lot of credit for patching this up so well.
Now Leyland can go back to saying:
“Murderer’s row, then Cano.”
Just throwing this out there… Pudge has experimented at first a few times this season. You think we might see a Pudge/Posada combo at first and C next season?
I love you, Cash.
Sudden, but absolutely brilliant.
“Molina (.226/.333/.310) wasn’t helpless at the plate.”
Molina’s line is actually .226/.278/.303 this year, which is the very definition of helpless.
Russell W,
Quite possible. I don’t think Cashman is anywhere near 100% certain that Pudge won’t be STARTING C in ‘09. After all, if Posada is hitting around an expected 825-850 OPS, is signing Teixeira really worth it? I don’t think so.
More importantly the bottom of the lineup went from
Molina
Gardner
Melky
to
Nady
Pudge
Melky (and maybe Gardner gets called up to platoon here)
good stuff all around by Ca$hmoney.
Man - Kyle pretty much crying, too
Last time the Yankees replaced their 8th inning guy this year it turned out pretty well.
“Someone else argued somewhere that in essence Marte is replacing Farnsworth right now”
In a pen with Marte and Farnsworth, Marte -has- to be the 8th inning guy. There was no way the Yanks could have done that, though, without pulling away all the trust they’d been showing Farnsworth, especially given how well he’d been pitching. Trading him became the only smart thing to do. I worried if Marte would upset the bullpen chemistry, the way Gagne upset Boston’s last season. But Boston didn’t make a supplementary move like this.
Nate: You mean the last two times.
not sure if you heard Peter Gammons on the Michael Kay show, but he sounded like he was going to cry
LOL Rishi. I heard him too. He sounded so sad.
I do feel a bit bad about Kyle. Suzyn said he was crying. Oh well.
Good move by Cash. Let’s win this thing
There’s been some discussion on whether pudge will be a type A free agent and if he is whether he’d accept arbitration. A few thoughts.
Pudge is a lock to be a type A free agent. He has the second highest OPS of any catcher in the AL. He’ll easily be in the top 20%.
And Pudge is not likely to accept arbitration. He’s going to look to get a multiyear deal and he won’t want to back up Posada - which is where he’ll be on the depth chart next year.
Remember back to last off season when there was a chance Posada would leave - the idea of how to come up with another catcher was a major headache.
If Pudge hits .300 or close this year there will be several teams that will want to sign him to a a multiyear contract.
Pudge accepts arbitration and winds up backing up posada then he’ll kill his free agent value for the year after.
And even if he does accept arbitration the yankees will trade him for prospects.
According to Ken Davidoff of Newsday, the Yankees’ trade talks for Jarrod Washburn are dead. The Yanks will turn to Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, and maybe Freddy Garcia. They can also rekindle the Washburn talks in August if they think he will clear waivers (most do).
Paging Mark Melancon…Seriously bring the kid up before his innings limit prevents him from doing so.
well done cash, you’re on fire at this deadline. stole from the pirates, worked the tigers, and didnt give into the mariners bull-sht. bring up a healthy kennedy and/or hughes, and this is a team ready to go
Unless we bring up Mark Melancon, I’m not a fan of this move.
BRING UP MELANCON.
Farnsowrth for Pudge is a terrible move by Cashman.
There have been many positive posts so far, but by the end of the night … you’ll see … he will have made several posters on the blog very unhappy.
The nerve of him, making a trade that takes care of team interests without considering any of them first.
Wait so is Pudge going to be our starting catcher or the backup?
You can’t say that the FO was writing this year off now….
Yeeeee haw!
Wish there was another game tonight!
“Now Leyland can go back to saying:
“Murderer’s row, then Cano.”
Make that Cano and Melky.
“Make that Cano and Melky.”
Murderer’s row and Melko!
Words that rhyme with Pudge:
Budge, Fudge, Sludge
Rob -
My guess is this year Pudge is the starter (well that’s the obvious part) but next year he’s the starter only if Posada can’t throw.
Or he’s trade bait this off season.
Or his option isn’t picked up next year.
Or his option is picked up and he’s traded next season after it’s determined Posada can throw again.
An extension for Pudge would depend on that too.
I think Cashman will soon also consider that Varitek’s in decline over in Boston, and having some control of Pudge could in some way keep the Sox wishing for some offensive help from their catcher in ‘09.
The Pudge
I walked about five miles today
To try to lose some pudge.
When I got home I said to Pat
“Now you can be the judge,”
“Do I seem to be a bit trimmer
Then I was just yesterday?”
“Not from where I sit”, she said,
“But try turning the other way.”
“For every ounce you want to lose
You must walk about fifteen more”
“So, If you want to get in shape
I suggest you find the door.”
“Well, I ain’t walking any more today,”
As I dropped in a chair, I said,
“Before I can take off twenty pounds
I think that I’ll be dead!”
I decided that twenty miles a day
Is just pushing it way to far.
So, I went into my secret hiding place
And found me a candy bar.
I thought Melancon was close to his innings limit, Pete? How is he suddenly “looming,” then?
Pudge does not have an option for next year, ASNKY…
but if boston signs pudge we get their 1st round pick
Poemby Ron Crowley
Washburn is coming to NY also. This move proves one thing: Never trust Cashman when he says he isn’t making another move.
More importantly the bottom of the lineup went from
Molina
Gardner
Melky
to
Nady
Pudge
Melky (and maybe Gardner gets called up to platoon here)
GARDNER IS DONE IN THE MAJORS UNTIL SEPTEMBER CALL UPS, SO STOP! We don’t need Melky to have offense now.. he will calm down a little now.. and have a little offensive surge.Melky plays good defense, and thats fine for us.
Pete, can you tell us what Melancon’s innings cap is? I’ve read reports that he’s close to it and therefore won’t be up this year. Do you know anything concrete?
So is Cashman done or do you think he has another rabbit to pull from his hat?
Rob in Chucktown July 30th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Wait so is Pudge going to be our starting catcher or the backup?
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I wish atleast 80% of this blog new baseball
Good trade BUT: still no cohesion, chemistry or drive to this team. They will fall short this season. Look for a better ‘09, but ‘08 they will stay at home for the playoffs.
Melancon is coming off major surgery. Relax. He’s obv not ready.
does anyone know any of the yankees at bat songs, im trying to put together a cd for a friend.. please let me know
“Good trade BUT: still no cohesion, chemistry or drive to this team. They will fall short this season. Look for a better ‘09, but ‘08 they will stay at home for the playoffs.”
Wanna bet? I’m sorry, but I haven’t been able to find any stats in terms of cohesion, chemistry, and drive…Maybe you can help me out? And are you sure we’re talking about the same team? I did see Youkilis try to choke Manny in Boston. I did not see Cano try to kill Abreu…Stop trolling!
Aaron, I wish 80% of this blog Knew how to spell.
willis, I could see Cashman maybe getting Washburn from the waiver wire next month, but I doubt he has any more moves before the deadline. But you never know, as he said, he had no designs on getting a catcher but today he ended up getting contacted by a team that had a pretty good one.
bigjf
That is exactly my point, if you estimate the chances of the Yankees making the playoffs based on statistics, then it is even worse! I just see a team that runs hot for 3 games, cold for 7, has a game where the pitchers shine but the bats are off, or a game where hitting is on but dismal pitching is the rule or a game where both pitching and hitting are non existent. I have played amateur team sports all my life, and apart from statistics, there is that “chemistry” or “clutch” or whatever you want to call it, and i am sorry to say it, but these guys just do not have it.
And yes, I am a lifetime Yankee fan and will continue to be.
is that all you have against me rob??lol
Pudge is intense. I’m glad Boston didn’t get him. They were looking for a catcher as well…
offensive upgrade as well, bat him in the 5 hole.
Quid pro quo my friend. Thanks for the info. Now I’ve got to go see if he’s still available in my fantasy league. His value just increased with the lineup he’s joining.
i’ll support my team but a big part of me hopes that this comes back to bite them in the ass
i’m not happy about this at all
El Guapo
No offense, but you go with that premise, while I’ll go with the low bullpen ERA, excellent performances from our top 3 starters (plus the possibility of getting Wang back at some point), and the assumption that our offense is going to turn it on, especially considering how some of them, like Cano, are heating up. As mentioned, we went from Molina, Gardner, and Melky to Nady, Pudge, Melky. I don’t see missing chemistry (I’ve played amateur team sports too), but I do see a missing solid starter. Whether that becomes Washburn, Kennedy, Aceves, Wang, C-Word, or a combination, this team has a fine chance to make their run and get in.
I understand the offense hasn’t done well in big spots (last night, for example), but it only takes one big spot to change that. Otherwise, Tino wouldn’t be thought of as some postseason hero…
I need to see whether Boston and Tampa make any moves, but I do think the Yanks will overtake one or both of them.
***Last post from previous thread ***
Caught Stealing Percentage
Player 2006 2007 2008 Career
Molina (33) .426 .295 .473 .418
I-Rod. (36) .510 .309 .360 .470
Make of it what you may. Pudge is older, Molina is a lot fatter. Molina has been better this year, in limited games, Pudge was better the previous 3 years and for his career. Who ever you think is ‘better’, Pudge is still excellent.
As a FULL time Catcher, Pudge has won 13 Gold Gloves in 17 seasons. He is considered on of the best defense Catchers in MLB history. He ain’t a kid anymore, but has averaged 133 games over the last 5 years, 129 games last year.
Also, Molina has been great, but it not great at blocking the plate. There have already been a nunber of plays at the plate where he was out of position.
This was an excellent trade. If we get 2 picks for him, it becomes unbelieveable! By the by, you might notice that Cashman LIKES to go for trades that yield draft picks. As a top finishing team, we always get bottom of the barrel picks, and this is one smart way of getting some higher placed picks.
Great trade to fill a hole — now if he fill CF and P
especially P — IPK plus Washburn