Why I'm not a fan of the Pudge-Farnsworth Deal the Yanks just did

After seeing the Yankees butcher the Orioles 13-3, it seems a little shocking that the Yankees have taken on Ivan Rodriguez and his $10m contract, while offloading Kyle Farnsworth and his $5m one.

Listen - I was never a big fan of Kyle Farnsworth - he wasn't all that great in his time with the Yankees, but in the last few games he was proving to be quite the set-up man. While in 2007 no game was safe with Farnsworth coming into pitch, in 2008 things looked more comfortable. 

Rodriguez didn't exactly cover himself in glory at Detroit, seemingly behaving like a 3 year old schoolchild in the clubhouse. Mind you, he didn't exactly bathe himself in glory ON the field either, hitting a .295 with a miserly 5 home runs (although that number should rise with the short porches in both right and left fields at Yankee Stadium) and a woeful 32 RBIs. He's also struck out 52 times, and only walked 19 times. Sure, he's been much better over the last week -- and he's caught 18 men stealing. We'll really see how good he is against the Angels on Thursday - Sunday nights with a team who love to grab the bag.

And by losing Farnsworth, the Yankees lose a valuable set-up man. Who could replace the big man? Phil Hughes, who's just coming back from rehab and hasn't fulfilled his potential? Jose Veras, who frightens the life out of me but has a solid 2.78 ERA - even if he's given up 29 hits in just over 35 innings. I'll vote Edwar Ramirez who - despite showing little on Wednesday due to the fact he was getting kicked out of the game for throwing at Kevin Millar's head - is a young fireballer.

But as my Dad always used to say: "We'll see". And if the last game at Yankee Stadium is a celebration going into the postseason, then this writer will gladly eat his words (after all, he's doing a bit of that at the moment with Richie Sexson). But if not, then can I say: "I told you so?"