photo by Samara Pearlstein
Apparently the Tigers have just traded Pudge Rodriguez to the Yankees for Kyle Farnsworth.
Of all the unexpected moves we could have made, this had to rank near the top.
Brandon Inge is the starting catcher. We knew it might come to this next year; I don’t think any of us expected it right now. I don’t think INGE expected it right now. Goodness knows that he’s more capable of catching every day and not falling apart than Pudge is, at this stage in their respective careers, and even with Inge’s anemic batting average he’s currently OPSing a hair over Pudge, but. Pudge is still… you know, PUDGE, and capable of playing quite well, and is more USED to catching every day than Inge is, plus he’s much more used to dealing with pitchers and has a much better sense of how to handle opposing lineups. With a lights-out rotation this is less of a big deal; when your best starter is Armando Galarraga, you have to wonder if you really want to get rid of that kind of veteran.
We have a shaky bullpen, but was it really THAT shaky? Is The Farns really the piece that’s going to put us over the edge into contention? I don’t expect so.
Was this really the most we could have gotten for Pudge? I know that he’s old and generally averse to taking walks, but in a world without catchers on the market, dealing with a team whose catcher is DLed for life… really, Kyle Farnsworth? I love The Farns in a ‘wow that dude is crazy ha ha remember the fun we had with him when he was beating up Royals?’ kind of way, but… really, Kyle Farnsworth?
Kyle Farnsworth, when we already have TWO injury-prone hard throwers in the bullpen? I just… REALLY?
There may be more to the deal; I don’t know right now. This is just what I’ve heard.
I would assume this is some sort of crazy joke, but it’s not April 1. If it turns out to be untrue or if the deal turns out to be something else, I will of course update this space for you, the presumably equally stunned readers.
I am having some trouble processing this, mainly because… because… um…
HOLY FREAKING CATS WHAT DID WE JUST DO
Roar of the Tigers 
*heart breaks*
*throws up*
*head explodes*
WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY? This cannot be happening.
omg
wtf
omgwtfnoooooooo
I have been reduced to internet abbreviations, it is the only way to express the turmoil of my fan-heart right now.
I mean, I knew it probably wasn’t going to last. Like you said, I think we all knew that. But… but I didn’t expect it to go down like this.
The Farns?
You mean I’ll no longer be able to shout PUDGE in joy, but only in agony?
I hate this move. And I wasn’t pudgy’s biggest fan.
And I feel like I should add that I am a big Kyle Farnsworth fan. This is still not OK. I wouldn’t have minded getting Farnsy back on the team but not straight-up for Pudge. It just… it doesn’t make sense.
Part of me thinks “well if we didn’t trade the Pudgy one now we wouldn’t have gotten anything for him”, and the other part of me cringes because it read this over at BYB “Now we have Jason Grilli with a faster fastball.” That probably isn’t nearly a fair statement to Kyle, but it still made my heart sink.
I sure hope Dombro has something else up his pouty sleeves.
I am a very, very sad Tiger today. I had a shitty day and I cant even has a cheezberger now. :/
I’d like to officially thank the Tigers for giving us one of the best clutch performers in the game for one of the worst. Enjoy your Farnsworth, we didn’t. God Bless you Tigers. Pudge was exactly what we needed. Detroit is a very generous city.
Thanks again,
Yankee fan
First we get Marte and Nady from the Pirates for nothing and now we sell Farnswoth at his peak to the Tigers for a future HOFer who’s sturdy and hittin above .300 for his career. With the way things are going for us, maybe we should try to get the Mariners to give us Eric Bedard for Brett Gardner and rob a few banks on the way. It seems like the Yankees aren’t the only MLB team that wants the Yankees to win the World Series this year.
I’m struggling to keep my cranium intact here. Help.
wait
wat
Seriously?
I exclaimed all loudly and swearing right in the office! Everyone said, what’s wrong??
Isn’t Farnsworth, like, NOT GOOD?
The Farns isn’t bad THIS year. WHIP comparable to Rodney, better ERA, good K/BB ratio. He’s just in no way worth Pudge straight-up, even old, semi-decayed Pudge.
No, no, no, no…
I had to confirm this from a couple other sources before I would even believe it. A couple of days ago, I thought they might trade Pudge for some relief help, but I kept reading all these reports this morning about how the Tigers were staying pat this trading deadline.
Pudge to the Evil Empire. That’s just not right. I don’t think Farnsworth is the answer either. The Yahoo Sports article I just read referred to him as “inconsistent.”
And here I was, all excited, thinking I was going to see Brandon starting at third tonight, too.
Farnsworth, who I’ve never been a fan of, has been electric for the last month. We’d almost started to think he’d turned the corner somehow. That he’d learned something new.
Note that Girardi almost shed a tear when talking to the press after the game – not something you see everyday. Farnsworth made Yankees fans miserable for three years, and then was so good, so electric for the last month he’d almost won us back, which, by the way meant a lot to him (so getting traded had to break his heart). Torre is possibly responsible for a lot of the Farnsworth problems, so hopefully Leyland knows how to keep the magic flowing. Given your bullpen situation, this can’t be all bad for you. Inge is the future anyway…
Pudge likely would have been a Type A free agent, which means if he turned down our arbitration offer – if he were to be made such an offer, a big if admittedly – the Tigers would have received two high draft picks.
Kyle Farnsworth is likely to be a Type B free agent, which means if the Tigers offer him arbitration and he turns it down the Tigers get just one high draft pick.
So the Tigers may have (emphasis on may have) given up a draft pick for a reliever and they just spent their first four picks on what seem to be a bunch of relievers. It’s not quite a neat little circle, but it makes me wonder if the Tigers’ brains have broken a little bit when it comes to making sure they get good relievers.
What really irritates me – even though it’s very likely not what happened – is the thought of Leyland telling DD after last night’s game that he has to get him some relievers if they’re going to make a go at it this year.
Oh well. I hope this means Max St. Pierre gets a callup.
There is a vast conspiracy to help the Yankees this year and I am sad to see the Tigers complicit in it. “)
Management just traded one of the only players I can root for when he is playing against my team to the arch-rival of my team. Big-Pudge, I’ll mail back the autograph you gave me before you made the bigs if you post your address. So long as it isn’t in NY.
Let me put it to you this way. I’m an Indians fan, and I have no reason to say this, but the Tigers should get a do-over on this one. Pudge is declining, yes, but he’s also declining from a very high place. Farnsworth’s performance this year is based on luck stats, particularly his preternatural 94.3% LOB rate.
Also, did someone in the Tigers organization not get a copy of the “the rotation is the problem” memo?
WTF????
F**** Dombrowski
F**** Illitch
And F**** Pudge for WANTING this (he waved his no-trade clause becase he’s “always wanted to play for New York”.) I remember a year ago when he said he’d like to finish his career in Detroit.
And didn’t we use to have Farnsworth and didn’t he spend half the time on the DL? How is that better then Zumaya or Rodney? I know his ERA is his best ever this season but one wrong move and BOOM he’s out for the season.
F****
– One Unhappy Tiger Fan :(
I kept waiting and waiting for news to surface of the EXTRA SPECIAL SUPER DUPER SECOND HALF of this deal, but it never did.
God damn it.
They didn’t even throw in a hamster wheel.
What a rip off.
How about this game tonight!??!! Even if we don’t win, this has been entertaining. AND we’ve seen Arrrrrrrrmando smile more than once, and wear a rally cap!!!!!!
First of all, Pudge had to go. He hasn’t done much in the last two years, and he was starting to become a problem child. Tigers went as far as they could with Pudge. Thank him for the memories and move on. As for Farnsworth, it’s an interesting move. I don’t think he is anything special. Really this trade that the Yankees and the Tigers don’t open my eyes much.
Pudge is not going to make it in NY. His personality is not going to fit in over there.
http://bionicteaching.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/tigerroar.jpg
djhdskjgdfsjkhdfgshfgsfghjkfgjk
WHAT.
WHAT.
I THINK MY BRAIN IS BROKEN.
PUDGE STRAIGHT UP FOR FARNS? NOOOO!
WHAT?
WHAT?
DOES THIS MEAN I HAVE TO CHANGE MY HANDLE?
djdkjdkjhsakjgjkadfs;gla
And did you see his pre-game interview? OW MY HEART.
Firstly, I’m a Yankee fan. Secondly, I did such a huge Jeter-esque fist-pump when I heard about this trade that I almost blew my elbow out.
Thirdly, I heard a rumor that the Tigers also were willing to give the Yankees a do-over of the ’06 Division Series if they had thrown in Sidney Ponson, but that’s only a rumor.
Thanks to the few Yankees fans who are trying to inject some sunshine into this situation; we appreciate the effort, but not much is going to raise our spirits about this trade. Woe runs deep and all is confusion.
Waiving the no trade clause does not necessarily mean that Pudge ‘wanted’ out of Detroit. He doesn’t like sharing time, we all know that, and last I heard it wasn’t like he went up and, unsolicited, offered to waive it. He apparently waived it when the team presented the option to him. That’s very different.
I still can’t believe that this is the entire deal…. not a prospect, not a hamster wheel, not a single extra baseball. Boggles the mind, really.
Leslie, no offense, but your comment is full of crazy. Pudge has been in a decline, but if you don’t think he’s done anything in the past couple of years, you really ought to reexamine what you think a major league catcher SHOULD be doing. And he’s an 18-year veteran perpetual All Star, I think he can handle New York.
Neener neener neeeeener. We got Pudge, and you got (haha) Farnsworth. Suckers.