One of the greatest catchers of all time (seriously) is taking his game to the nation’s capital:
Late Monday night, or maybe early Tuesday, the Washington Nationals announced their second acquisition of the Winter Meetings, signing 38-year-old catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez to what is reportedly a 2-year/$6 million dollar deal.
In 2010 he’s expected to act as a backup/mentor to Flores, though he could see significant time behind the plate should the oft-injured catcher suffer any setbacks.
Rodriguez doesn’t give much in terms of production anymore, and I’d be surprised if he drew more than seven or eight walks the entire season. Still, this signing was clearly so that Rodriguez could teach Flores a few things about catching. I’m not sure that $6 million over two years is the right price to pay for a backup/teacher, but Rodriguez is also the type of guy you can plug into the starting lineup and not worry about passed balls.
Worse case scenario, the Nationals get a dude with ladies’ eyebrows who enjoys kissing other men on the mouth. When you look at it like that, how is this not a good signing?
