Pudge

by DocBrown82 on Aug 10, 2008 10:29 AM EDT Comment 19 comments

Wow. Just ... wow.

Opponents' BAA with Jose Molina catching: .250/.312/.373.

With Pudge Rodriguez catching: .318/.406/.554.

Anyone else having second thoughts about this trade?

And now they're making me add more words. And now they're making me add more words. And now they're making me add more words. And now they're making me add more words. And now they're making me add more words. And now they're making me add more words.

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True, but...

Now we get a few more singles per week. And a big name, overpaid, on-the-decline superstar, which, after all, IS the Yankee Way.

by runbrettrun on Aug 10, 2008 10:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

For whatever reason....

a lot of Yankee fans want to point the finger at Pudge and I just don’t see it.

The truth of the matter is that this team hasn’t pitched well at all since that Sunday night against the Red Sox when the 8-game win streak was snapped. That was four days before they acquired Pudge.

I know Pudge has some kind of strange reputation of not working well with pitchers, but it seemed that he did just fine with the Marlins in 2003 when they had Beckett, Brad Penny, Willis, and Pavano in the rotation and again in 2006 when Verlander, Rogers, Bonderman, and Robertson all had great seasons.

Pudge knows the hitters and their weaknesses. The pitchers just haven’t executed. It’s as simple as that.

by anaconda on Aug 10, 2008 11:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Not saying

that Pudge doesn’t work well with pitchers. I’m saying it takes time to learn a pitching staff, and it might be a better idea to do that in spring training than, say, in the middle of a pennant race.

by DocBrown82 on Aug 10, 2008 11:41 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Sure, that would be ideal

But their starting catcher was hurt the entire season and Molina – as good as he has been – is not an everyday catcher.

The Yanks had to do something because Molina couldn’t do it by himself and they didn’t feel Moeller was a capable backup.

by anaconda on Aug 10, 2008 11:47 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

lets be honest the yankees look terrible right now and i dont blame pudge at all. they cant hit for shit with runners in scoring position, especially arod and giambi. melky sucks and the rotation sucks. the bullpen has collapsed since the pudge trade. yea it takes time to learn a pitching staff but its as simple as they are leaving it over the plate for people to crush it…pudge cant change that. plus molina sucks, the whole team frankly sucks.

by greekman14 on Aug 10, 2008 5:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

oh and again, girardi brings in rivera in a non save situation and it fails, awful…just awful

by greekman14 on Aug 10, 2008 7:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That wasn't Mo's fault

That was a weak ground ball that Cano probably should have snagged. It’s tough to blame Mo for that.

by anaconda on Aug 10, 2008 7:10 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

no no im not completely blaming Mo. i meant that Mo just isnt good in non-save situations this year, and i wish Girardi could realize that and just not go with him. i understand he is an amazing pitcher but its just a bad situation for him and maybe someone else can throw that 9th, even though the game is on the line i’d give someone else a chance.

by greekman14 on Aug 10, 2008 7:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

That's a terrible argument

Who would you trust more in that situation than the greatest reliever of all time? Everyone else in that pen has struggled terribly for two weeks now.

Veras? Edwar? Robertson?

No way.

Truth be told, Mo has about a 3.00 ERA in non-save situations this season. While that pales in comparison to his 0.30 ERA in save situations, it’s not that bad.

People just expect Mo to be unhittable every time he takes the mound. Well, even Mo is human once in awhile.

There’s nobody in that pen I would have trusted more in that situation than Mo. And keep in mind, Mo surrendered a weak ground ball that probably should have been handled.

He did was he was supposed to do. His defense didn’t.

by anaconda on Aug 10, 2008 7:32 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i dont necessarily trust anyone more than Mo, im saying that in non-save he is not what he is in save and he blows a lot of games. if someone else is just given a chance you never know it could work out. i’d try it, especially with what looks like pretty much a lost season the way they are playing and not scoring with RISP

by greekman14 on Aug 10, 2008 10:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

give pudge a break

look hes got good offense. he just needs to go throught the rotation once more and get used to the pitchers. o and molina gets to catch the best pitcher, moose.

by Kevin4292 on Aug 11, 2008 1:45 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

since when do catchers pitch??

All this talk about “catcher’s ERA” and “catcher’s batting line ” is stupid. The pitcher throws the ball. The batter swings. The catcher might call for a particular pitch, in a particular location, but that his very little impact on the stats of the pitcher or the batter.

“save situations” are a joke. It’s a fluke that Mo’s stats are worse in “non-save situations”. The save is the most ridiculous, overrated statistic in baseball.

by 3460kuri on Aug 11, 2008 11:15 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

You're not serious, right?

Yes the pitcher throws the ball, but if you think there is no relationship or correlation between high ERA’s and the catcher/pitcher relationship, you’re living with your head in the sand.

Catchers are paramount to a pitcher’s success. Andy Pettitte for one doesn’t want to think on the mound. He wants his catcher to know the hitter’s tendencies and call the game for him. Others like Maddux, Carlton, Gibson, and lesser pitchers like Johnson, Mussina and Moyer prefer one catcher all the time. Confidence and comfort with your backstop often translates into winning.

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Aug 11, 2008 2:38 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Lesser pitchers?

Jamie Moyer, fine, but Randy Johnson and Moose are HOFers. (or did you mean a different Johnson?)

by DocBrown82 on Aug 11, 2008 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wouldn't ...

put Randy Johnson in the same class as guys like Maddux, Carlton or even Gibson. Those guys were pitchers in every sense of the word. Johnson is a thrower blessed with freakish talent. Certainly he’s likely a first ballot guy, but in my opinion he’s not in the upper eschelon of all-time pitchers.

After this season, I think I could put Mussina in the realm of Greg Maddux. In fact, I suspect Mussina’s numbers would have been even more brilliant had he played his entire career in the NL as opposed to the AL EAST.

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Aug 12, 2008 1:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Have you ever seen

the spring training game where the Unit hits a bird with a 95 mph fastball?

The bird friggin’ explodes. Literally. Quite possibly my favorite baseball moment of all time.

by DocBrown82 on Aug 12, 2008 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have to disagree

Yes, Johnson was late harnessing his talent, but his years with Arizona (in a hitter’s park) are phenomenal. Like Kofaux, that brief dominant streak puts him in the upper echelon.

"Have faith in the Yankees, my son. Think of the great DiMaggio."

by jscape2000 on Aug 12, 2008 6:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just sayin'

Johnson may have matured into a pitcher, but for the majority of his fabulous career, he’s been a thrower, that’s all. The others mentioned, Maddux, Gibson etc. never seemed to need to transition.

"Baseball is the background music of my life." -George Will

by Ronster22 on Aug 14, 2008 8:59 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Classic Yankees Move

Pudge is an overrated washed-up catcher. He gives us no power and clutch hitting ability and even though Farnsworth is struggling, we could use his innings and he has a huge upside when he pitches well. I NEVER liked this trade. It is impossible for Pudge to learn a staff in fifty games and just as long as Girardi put good players in the lineup, it was easy to sacrifice Molina’s nonability to hit because of his defence and game calling.

by jeterfan21 on Aug 12, 2008 3:01 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs