Trade Watch 2011: Ivan Rodriguez

In today's trade conversation, we discuss the possibility that Pudge will get dealt before the July 31st deadline.

Pudge has been in and out of trade talks over the last few months, mostly because of his age, expiring contract, and the fact that Jesus Flores is healthy again. But don't discount the fact that the man can still play one fantastic game of baseball. His defense is as good as ever, and his arm is still capable of throwing out an outstanding number of would-be base stealers. While his offense isn't quite what it was, this future Hall of Famer has adapted his approach to a lot of opposite field hits, and he's been outstanding in the clutch.

Unfortunately, though, over the 2 seasons with the Nats, Pudge has struggled with a few nagging injuries, which never bodes well for a catcher. At 39 years old, it's hard to imagine Pudge ever being a starting catcher again, but he can do what he's done for Wilson Ramos: be a solid backup and superior mentor. Pudge is always in the conversation when analysts discuss which current players will become big-league managers in the future, and we don't disagree at all on that.

The market for catchers doesn't seem to be as large considering the Giants, without Buster Posey, aren't interested, but there has to be a team out there that's willing to trade a prospect or two for a future Hall of Fame catcher and 14-time All Star. Stay tuned. There's only 6 more days left to find out.

Pudge as a San Francisco Giant?

Baseball players get hurt. It's a terrible part of the game, and it seems to resonate with people more when players (especially stars) get hurt by colliding with others. The Nats aren't immune to this as Nick Johnson, the team's star 1B in 2006, was lost for the year because of a broken femur caused by a nasty collision with Austin Kearns. It's an unfortunate part of sports; discuss the merits of blocking the plate as you may.

But now that Buster Posey is likely done for the season with a broken leg, the Giants are going to have to look elsewhere for catchers. Like most teams when they have a superstar in a position, there's not a lot of great contingency plans for that guys replacement. This was evidenced when the Twins parted with their top catching prospect, Wilson Ramos, to the Nats last season. After all, they have Joe Mauer (also on the DL, at the moment).

Posey's backup, Eli Whiteside, can't compare with the individual he's replacing, and no one asks him to. Until the injury, Posey and Whiteside were the only two catchers on the Giants 40-man roster. As a reaction, the Giants called up journeyman (sort of) C Chris Stewart. RotoWorld posts this damning summary of the roster move: "Sadly, this is the best they can do. Stewart, 29, owns an underwhelming .256/.328/.360 batting line over parts of 10 seasons in the minor leagues and has appeared in 26 major league games between the White Sox, Yankees, Rangers and Padres. Hopefully he'll just be a placeholder until the Giants can acquire a catcher." It's hard to even be a journeyman with 29 MLB starts with 4 different teams.

Further, it leaves the defending World Champs with 2 real options:

1. Stick with Chris Stewart, the 29-year old that had his contract purchased by the bigs out of sheer desperation, as a backup.
2. Make a move.

Should the organization choose to do the latter, and I imagine they will, one guy would be the perfect for the situation: Pudge Rodriguez. Pudge is certainly not in the prime of his career any longer, but he could provide a lot to the Giants organization as far as catching experience. He proved that he was capable of still getting regular starts last season, and his offensive production is average for a catcher, and pretty stellar for one of his age. He's the type of veteran that does a team well while making a playoff push. It's definitely something that both the Nats and the Giants should consider.

Pudge is scheduled to be a free agent after this season, which would provide the Giants the opportunity to let him reach free agency if Posey is ready to start 2012.

What say you, CapBallers? Would you trade Pudge for some prospects?

In the Clutch

Starting this season we had two catchers more than capable of managing a big-league pitching staff. One was a stud prospect, solid behind the plate and even better with the bat. The other is a 1st ballot hall of famer at the twilight of his career. It seemed like it wouldn't be too long before Pudge was sent away to a contender, until he turned into a clutch monster.

In addition to his catching acumen (throwing out 5 of 12 baserunners), Pudge has turned out to be a pretty solid hitter - in spite of a dreadful slashline of .238/.284/.397. When it counts, is when Pudge decided to hit the ball with some authority.

Join me, Pudge has 15 hits on the year, with 14 RBI. Of those 15 hits, 7 of them have come with runners in scoring position accounting for 13 of his 14 RBI. The lone exception is the solo bomb he hit back against Derek Lowe last weekend.

With runners in scoring position, the Nationals are hitting an absolutely dreadful .233, but our veteran catcher is hitting a whopping .350.

Some Splits:
With runners on 2nd and 3rd, he is hitting 2 for 3 - with a HR and 6 RBI.
With a runner on 3rd and 2 outs, Pudge is a staggering 4 for 7.
With the bases loaded, he is 2 for 2 - 4 RBI.

On a team struggling to score runs in the clutch, there is no one that you would rather see up than Pudge. Maybe, just maybe, our Catching tandem isn't quite finished.

What say you CapBallers? Do you want to see Pudge stick around a little bit longer, or should we trade him while the value is high???

25 in 25: Ivan Rodriguez (#5)

In 21 days, all the Nationals diehards will be preparing to head to Nationals Park on Opening Day. Until then, we're going to predict the 25 man roster. With one catch. We're going to do it one day at a time. This way, we can provide more in depth thoughts on who we think is going to make the roster, why we think so, and what to expect from them in 2011. On the morning of Opening Day, we'll post the real 25-man compared with what we predicted.

The seems to be little doubt that this Nats catcher will end up in the Baseball Hall of Fame. While there's no chance he'll be wearing the Curly W in Cooperstown, that doesn't downgrade him a lick in our countdown. Player #5 is Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez.

Why?: The summary of Pudge pretty much tells the story of why he'll make the club. He won't be the every day catcher like in his younger days, but his talent provides the young catchers (Ramos and Flores) with the opportunity to learn from one of the best to ever play the position. His defense is still stellar despite his advanced age, especially for a career long catcher. His presence and baseball knowledge more than make up for any offensive struggles he may experience.

What to expect?: Expect Pudge to get a good number of starts and to struggle offensively. He might start out strong like last year, but eventually age and persistent his persistent back issues will catch up to him. Expect to see more of Ramos and/or Flores as the season progresses as Pudge's body breaks down during the course of a 162 game season.