Posted by Eric Karabell
Stop the presses! The Yankees have acquired Ivan Rodriguez from the Detroit Tigers for Kyle Farnsworth. This is a potentially major deal for not only real baseball, but fantasy too, and it might end up helping both teams, maybe like the Josh Hamilton-Edinson Volquez deal. Well, we're exaggerating just a bit.
The headline writers will likely spin this as the "Yankees acquiring Pudge," but the truth is from a fantasy angle the big news here is a likely declaration from the Tigers that they needed to get a closer, and Farnsworth is it. Remember, Farnsworth has played for the Tigers before. In February 2005 the Cubs traded Farnsworth to the Tigers in a deal that included former first-round pick and current Orioles farmhand Scott Moore, and Farnsworth had a 2.32 ERA and saved six games. The Tigers then dealt him to the Braves the night of the July trade deadline, and he was Atlanta's closer into the playoffs. It didn't go so well in October, but in baseball there are always second chances.
That was the last time Farnsworth was officially a closer, but with the current mess in Detroit's beleaguered bullpen, look for a change in the ninth inning. Todd Jones struggled in July and lost the job over the weekend to Fernando Rodney, but Rodney has been erratic since then, and sports an ERA worse than 5.00. Joel Zumaya is walking people, and hardly trustworthy. While it's possible the Tigers will have dealt for Farnsworth and use him as an eighth-inning guy, like the Diamondbacks have done with recent addition Jon Rauch, fantasy owners should be proactive and sign Farnsworth now, just in case. And really, he's had a fine July, going more than three weeks without allowing a baserunner until Friday. Besides Farnsworth, Joel Hanrahan is one of the popular additions in fantasy during the past week. He's the Nationals closer, in case you didn't know, and anyone who gets saves is valuable in our game.
As for the Yankees, it's not surprising they decided they needed an upgrade behind the plate from the underwhelming Jose Molina/Chad Moeller platoon, now that Jorge Posada is done until February, but is Pudge even close to the player he used to be? While he's hitting .295, he has only five home runs and six stolen bases. Look for him to likely bat ninth -- yes, even after Melky Cabrera -- and while his numbers shouldn't change much, we should remember the Yankees have a more consistent lineup than the Tigers. The Tigers score runs, but one night it's 19 runs, the next they get shut out by Paul Byrd. That generally doesn't happen with the more patient Yankees. Rodriguez is owned in 91 percent of ESPN standard leagues, which might be a bit much, but he is safe for batting average and should knock in more runs on his new team. From a defensive aspect, Rodriguez remains a standout thrower, but so is Molina.
How about the guys left behind? For the Yankees, recent addition Damaso Marte will inherit the eighth inning duties, but he had probably usurped the role from Farnsworth anyway. For the Tigers, Brandon Inge is already catcher eligible, and while this should result in more playing time, that might not be such a good thing. Inge is a major batting average liability, hitting .227 this season, and the extra few home runs aren't really worth it. The Tigers can call up Dane Sardinha to help out, but the Honolulu native is no prospect at 29, and not much of a hitter.
As for the ever-important keeper league angle, I would say nothing has changed. Rodriguez is a free agent next season, so he won't stand in the way of Posada's return, though the Yankees might consider bringing him back anyway as insurance. Regardless, Rodriguez is a borderline top-10 catcher, but relatively safe. Farnsworth is also a free agent, but if he can excel as the closer he can put himself in a good situation for future saves, at least in theory.
Eric Karabell is a senior writer for ESPN.com fantasy. You can e-mail him here.
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