Meet a Prospect: Eddy Rodriguez

With Spring Training right around the corner there will be a ton of new faces in Yankees camp this year including Eddy Rodriguez. Rodriguez was born in Villa Clara Province, Cuba on December 1, 1985 to Edilio and Ylya Rodriguez. Rodriguez comes from farming and fisherman parents who defected from Cuba on his father’s fishing boat when he was eight years old. Rodriguez spent his college career playing college baseball at the University of Miami before entering the major leagues.


During the defection the boat Rodriguez and his family were on nearly capsized before the family ran out of food. The family resorted to eating ground up coffee beans before being discovered by the United States Coastal Guard. The hardship led to Rodriguez being drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 20th round of the 2006 MLB First Year Players Draft where stayed until the 2009 season. Rodriguez left the Reds after reaching Double-A and began playing baseball in the Independent League.


Rodriguez stayed in Independent League baseball until the 2011 season signing a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres where he got his first cup of coffee in the major leagues. August 1, 2012 Rodriguez was called up and by August 2nd he made his major league debut replacing injured starting catcher Yasmani Grandal. Rodriguez responded by hitting a home run off Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto in his first major league at bat. Rodriguez was subsequently sent back down to Triple-A on August 9th of that season before being designated for assignment that September.


Rodriguez signed a new minor league deal with San Diego for the 2013 season and signed a minor league deal with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2014 before signing his minor league deal with New York in 2015 and signed one again this season. Rodriguez has been invited to minor league spring training camp and looks to either back up or replace Yankees catcher Austin Romine in Scranton if he is put on waivers, designated for assignment or is traded by Opening Day before 2016.

Most Popular Article of the Week: Yankees Sign Francisco Diaz

The New York Yankees have added some minor league catching depth to help fill the gap left behind by the trade of John Ryan Murphy this week by signing former Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates product Francisco Diaz. Diaz is a switch-hitting catcher that is also listed as a left fielder on Baseball Reference and enters the 2016 season at 26-years of age.


Diaz played in High-A last season for the Pirates so there is no indication that this will be anything more than a depth signing much like the Eddy Rodriguez signing from earlier this winter. Kyle Higashioka was a catcher in the Yankees system at an advanced age for his affiliate and hit free agency this season so Diaz is likely to replace Higashioka in Tampa or Charleston.


Welcome to the family Francisco.

Yankees Sign Francisco Diaz

The New York Yankees have added some minor league catching depth to help fill the gap left behind by the trade of John Ryan Murphy this week by signing former Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates product Francisco Diaz. Diaz is a switch-hitting catcher that is also listed as a left fielder on Baseball Reference and enters the 2016 season at 26-years of age.

Diaz played in High-A last season for the Pirates so there is no indication that this will be anything more than a depth signing much like the Eddy Rodriguez signing from earlier this winter. Kyle Higashioka was a catcher in the Yankees system at an advanced age for his affiliate and hit free agency this season so Diaz is likely to replace Higashioka in Tampa or Charleston.

Welcome to the family Francisco. 

Yankees Minor League Shuffling Has Begun

The World Series ended about 48 hours ago and the Yankees are already shuffling their minor league systems and rosters around. That's not uncommon for the minor league decisions to be made relatively early and more are to come as the winter gets colder and the days get shorter.

Kyle Roller has been released.

Eddy Rodriguez has re-signed to presumably backup Gary Sanchez in Triple-A in 2016.

Gregorio Petit and Kyle Davies have elected free agency.

Could New York Have Acquired Mark Trumbo?

I don’t know if it’s just me or not but after every big trade that goes down I have to wonder if the New York Yankees could have pulled off a similar trade to improve the team. That was no different when I was checking MLB Trade Rumors and saw that the Seattle Mariners had acquired Mark Trumbo and Vidal Nuno from the Arizona Diamondbacks for catcher Wellington Castillo, a relief pitcher and two prospects I will not pretend to know anything about. Trumbo is a power hitting right handed bat that can play first base and the outfield and would make for an instant, and substantial, upgrade over Garrett Jones on the roster but could the Yankees have pulled it off?

The first thing that would work out in the Yankees favor is that Brian Cashman seemingly has a good working relationship with the GM of the Arizona Diamondbacks Dave Stewart. Cashman only seems to trade with certain teams, the Atlanta Braves, the Seattle Mariners, the D Backs, etc. so with that hurdle out of the way it would have come down to the package the Yankees could offer. You have to wonder if Seattle was genuinely interested in Nuno or if he was a throw in to offset some salary but for the sake of this post I’ll assume Seattle merely wanted him and the Yankees have little use for him leaving him out of any potential deal.

Arizona needed a catcher to replace the last catcher we traded them, Peter O’Brien, as he continues to struggle to throw the ball back to the pitcher and has been moved to the outfield and a catcher to back up newly called up Jarrod Saltalamacchia. Whether Austin Romine, Eddy Rodriguez or Gary Sanchez would have been enough or comparable to Castillo remains to be seen but even with Sanchez in the package you have to make the deal with Trumbo under contract for the 2015 and 2016 seasons. The Yankees have a plethora of young RHP arms that could have equaled or exceeded the relief pitcher Arizona acquired while New York at least matched the two lesser known prospects.

All in all in looks like New York could have matched Seattle in any package and made the deal for Trumbo. The costs probably would not have justified the means for what would become a part-time player in New York making the deal likely in the end but it still feels good to know that Cashman has the pieces in place to make a deal if he so wishes and if it makes the team better in the long run.

What If Brian McCann’s Foot Becomes a Long Term Problem

Brian McCann left the game with the Seattle Mariners on Thursday afternoon with a sore right foot, a foot problem that has caused him problems for a few weeks now. The team sent him to New York for an MRI as a precaution after x-rays came back negative on the injury. What would the Yankees do, if they could do anything, to replace McCann both behind the plate and in the lineup if the foot issue becomes a long term issue going forward?

The obvious choice for the starting catcher position would be John Ryan Murphy who is currently serving as the back up to McCann but who comes up to back up Murphy? Is it veteran Eddy Rodriguez who signed a minor league deal with the team to come out of retirement before the 2015 season? Is it Austin Romine who lost the backup catcher competition this spring training and has done little to make Joe Girardi’s decision look foolish? Or would it be a wildcard and a young prospect like Gary Sanchez who is currently tearing up Double-A pitching and making stride after stride defensively? The stats don’t tell all but they are a good place to start.

Romine:

Year	Lev	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2015	AAA	37	153	136	22	33	10	3	16	14	19	.243	.320	.382	.703

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Rodriguez:

Year	Lev	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2015	AAA	17	57	53	2	9	3	0	4	3	19	.170	.211	.226	.437

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Sanchez:

Year	Lev	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	HR	RBI	SB	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
2015	AA	39	172	158	21	41	7	6	23	4	11	37	.259	.314	.418	.732

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Basing it off stats alone you have to think that Sanchez would get it but based on reality he is the least likely of the three to get the shot. While Sanchez does have a leg up on the completion as he is already on the team’s 40 man roster you would have to think that Romine or Rodriguez would get the nod here. The team would likely call up Romine to see if he can improve on his spring stats if I were to take a guess but you never know. The most ideal situation would be that McCann’s foot is fine and the two days off did him a world of good. If not the Yankees offense is in big, big trouble.

Recap: Yankees 3, Astros 2

Michael Pineda pitched 3 2/3 innings of two-run ball and the Yankees rallied for three big runs in the bottom of the ninth Saturday as they walked-off against the Astros, 3-2, in a pitching-dominated contest at Steinbrenner Field. 

Pineda Turns in Solid Start After Rough First Inning: Pineda gave up a two-run home run to Chris Carter in the top of the first, and appeared to be in for a long day after allowing four hits to the first eight Astros he faced. Following a one-out double in the second, however, Pineda retired seven straight -- ultimately finishing with no walks and six strikeouts. 

Wilson Works Out of Trouble: Justin Wilson relieved Pineda and kept the Astros off the board for another 1 1/3 innings -- stranding a pair of runners with a strikeout of Carter in the fifth. In all, Wilson walked one and punched out two during his four-out performance -- recording the last out of the fourth on just one pitch. 

Miller's Quick Outing: Andrew Miller came in for the sixth and sat down the Astros in order -- fanning two while inducing a routine groundout. With his two strikeouts, interestingly, Miller now has seven on the month -- the third highest total amongst Yankees lefties. 

Bailey Puts Up a Zero: Andrew Bailey struggled with his location in his spring debut Wednesday, but when on the mound in this one's seventh inning, seemed to have better control. He struck out two and got Robbie Grossman to fly out harmlessly to right -- only letting one batter reach base when Jake Marisnick was hit by a pitch.

Rally: With the exception of Mark Teixeira's two knocks off Houston's Dallas Keuchel, the Yankees' offense remained quiet for most of the afternoon -- finally coming to life in its half of the ninth. Indeed, the Yankees plated a trio in their last at-bat to emerge victorious -- tying the score on an Eddy Rodriguez double and an Andrew Aplin error before winning on a Jake Cave sac fly.

Next Up: The Yankees will look to continue their good play on the road Sunday when they visit the Mets in Port St. Lucie -- a matchup slated to begin at 1:05 p.m. ET. CC Sabathia is expected to start for the Yanks opposite Mets youngster Matt Harvey -- with both YES and SNY set to broadcast the action. 

Meet a Prospect: Eddy Rodriguez

With Spring Training right around the corner there will be a ton of new faces in Yankees camp this year including Eddy Rodriguez. Rodriguez was born in Villa Clara Province, Cuba on December 1, 1985 to Edilio and Ylya Rodriguez. Rodriguez comes from farming and fisherman parents who defected from Cuba on his father’s fishing boat when he was eight years old. Rodriguez spent his college career playing college baseball at the University of Miami before entering the major leagues.

During the defection the boat Rodriguez and his family were on nearly capsized before the family ran out of food. The family resorted to eating ground up coffee beans before being discovered by the United States Coastal Guard. The hardship led to Rodriguez being drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the 20^th round of the 2006 MLB First Year Players Draft where stayed until the 2009 season. Rodriguez left the Reds after reaching Double-A and began playing baseball in the Independent League.

Rodriguez stayed in Independent League baseball until the 2011 season signing a minor league deal with the San Diego Padres where he got his first cup of coffee in the major leagues. August 1, 2012 Rodriguez was called up and by August 2^nd he made his major league debut replacing injured starting catcher Yasmani Grandal. Rodriguez responded by hitting a home run off Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto in his first major league at bat. Rodriguez was subsequently sent back down to Triple-A on August 9^th of that season before being designated for assignment that September.

Rodriguez signed a new minor league deal with San Diego for the 2013 season and signed a minor league deal with the Tampa bay Rays in 2014 before signing his minor league deal with New York this season. Rodriguez has been invited to minor league spring training camp and looks to either back up or replace Yankees catcher Austin Romine in Scranton if he is put on waivers, designated for assignment or is traded by Opening Day. 

Yankees Sign Eddy Rodriguez to Minor League Deal

On January 16th, and just updated on the Yankees team transactions page, the New York Yankees signed catcher Eddy Rodriguez to a minor league deal. Rodriguez came over from the Tampa Bay Rays organization after sporting a minor league career slash of .224/.274/.366 with 45 home runs in an even 1500 at bats.

Rodriguez has gotten into two games in the major leagues and has a total of five at bats with one hit, a solo home run. Rodriguez may provide some Triple-A depth for New York at catcher, nothing more.