HYDE: Pudge, farewell but not good buy

[dolfinfan305]

HYDE: Pudge, farewell but not good buy

Published December 9, 2003

 

 

It was so clearly the right move, done the right way, for so many right reasons that the only surprise was how painless it became for the Marlins to let such a big piece of October go.

 

When the end of Sunday night brought the dead end of negotiations, it wasn't tough to wave goodbye to Pudge Rodriguez. Not at all. Not in the way you'd expect, considering he delivered so much last summer and sparked so much autumn fun.

 

It was telling somewhere during that October run, as Rodriguez mightily helped to slay one city after another, that Chicago Cubs scout Ed Lynch looked at the Marlins' damage report and said, "You've got to love those one-year contracts."

 

That's what no one in baseball lost sight of, and you shouldn't today. The Marlins squeezed maximum production from players with maximum motivation. And now they want to run the blueprint again. It goes right to Steve Spurrier's great line, when asked at Florida if it was true that he didn't work very hard: "You either have to outwork your opponent or do things differently."

 

The Marlins do things differently. They're smart that way. Their dollars can't outwork any team, much less ones like the New York Yankees, who can cover any mistake with money, or the Boston Red Sox, who keep matching poker chips this offseason with the Yankees.

 

Rodriguez wanted four years and $40 million of commitment. There's no harm in asking. The Marlins final-offered three years for up to $24 million (the final year was an option). There was no shame in that money, either, considering if you get beyond the blood and guts to the dry statistics, Rodriguez hit a good-not-great .297 with 16 home runs and 85 RBI.

 

Can Rodriguez, at 32, replicate the kind season he had last year? Probably. But are you sure he could over the following three seasons, as Rodriguez's contract demanded? By the end of that contract his body would be 35 in real life but might need carbon dating to measure it in catchers' years.

 

Again, the Marlins don't have the financial bullets to run Yankee-sized risks. They kept their two All-Stars in Mike Lowell and Luis Castillo this offseason. They've kept their pitching staff intact. They need to spend some money on a bullpen, which even with Rodriguez gone becomes a more glaring problem than catching.

 

It's not a stretch to think Ramon Castro can hit 25 home runs next season as the starting catcher. He won't handle the pitching staff or have the defensive presence of Rodriguez. It's always a risk playing a young catcher, doubly so in Castro's case considering a sexual-assault case in Pittsburgh has yet to be tried.

 

But if Castro fails, he's a one-year, low-six-figure failure. Mike Redmond could be worthy insurance, too. That's how the Marlins have to play smart moneyball.

 

Meanwhile, Rodriguez goes to a glutted market of available talent, and it will be interesting to see if he gets a better deal than the Marlins offered. The oversupply means prices go down, and there's Javy Lopez with 41 home runs and Benito Santiago with a cheaper price tag on the catching market.

 

Of course the glut plays right to the Marlins' blueprint, and it will be interesting to see how many teams copycat their strategy. It's a hard one to match in places like Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, who don't have South Florida's built-in advantages. Or did you forget that Rodriguez was wooed to the one-year deal in part because this was his home?

 

Can the Marlins find another big-name fit to take a one-year deal? Are they looking?

 

After last season, Marlins management gets every benefit of the doubt for spending smarter and bolder than any team in our market. The Dolphins went the cheap way on the offensive line and at receiver again last offseason. That has cost them another season and probably will cost coach Dave Wannstedt his job.

 

The Heat overspent on average talent like Eddie Jones, Brian Grant and now Lamar Odom. That saddled them with losers not just the past few seasons but set their ceiling in the coming years as well.

 

The Panthers haven't solved the difficult puzzle of simultaneously saving smartly and spending aggressively to turn around the franchise's glum standing.

 

That's what the Marlins did last season. They figured it all out. They shed themselves of Charles Johnson's big money. They found bargain buys like Mark Redman and Carl Pavano. But they also splurged $9.3 million on Rodriguez last winter -- and then more on Jeff Conine in August, when they easily could have said either was too expensive.

 

So when General Manager Admin Beinfest refuses to buy back Rodriguez, there's a track record to say there's reason for it. That's what 2003 did. You don't have to surrender a blank check of approval, but it works on the easy decisions like Rodriguez.

 

It's natural for Rodriguez's pride to sting a little by all this. He did so much. He delivered so well. If he had that kind of October in New York or Boston, he might have named his price tag. But he did it with the Marlins, who play a different game, with a different wallet, and so did what was not just necessary in these negotiations but was smart in letting him go on Sunday.

 

From Sun-Sentinel

[Shaq-Man]

nice article... i'm hoping the herald also looks at this in a positive light.

[FreshFish]

Very Nice. . .

[MiRi]

Mr. Hyde is freaking awesome!! He makes awesome points in the article.

 

It's natural for Rodriguez's pride to sting a little by all this. He did so much. He delivered so well. If he had that kind of October in New York or Boston, he might have named his price tag. But he did it with the Marlins, who play a different game, with a different wallet, and so did what was not just necessary in these negotiations but was smart in letting him go on Sunday.

 

In other words, Pudge came here, helped us win a WS title, and now he's gone and opens the door for other talent to come in (Vlad/Javy?). That's why I say, EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON!

[Shamrock]

Well, so much for a PR hit.

[TSwift25]

I'm surprised, not one negative article today, but you know that Greg Stoda from the Palm Beach Post will have a negative spin, he always bashes anything the Marlins front office does.