Rangers Acquire Pudge Rodriguez

The Rangers, who are legitimate wild-card contenders much later into 2009 than anyone expected, filled a glaring hole by acquiring Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez from the Astros in exchange for two 22 year old minor leaguers.

Pudge is apparently slated to back up Taylor Teagarden until Jerrod Saltalamacchia comes off the DL, probably in mid-September.  However, it’s certain that Pudge will get a lot of playing time, given Teagarden’s extremely limited major league experience (173 career ABs).

The Rangers were desperate for a veteran catcher, and they had to pay the Astros heavily to get Pudge.  This was great deal for the Astros, who turned a 37 year old catcher with a .662 OPS into two young prospects with real promise.

2Bman Jose Vallejo has played primarily at AAA this year at age 22, and he’s been way overmatched.  However, he had a great year in 2008, almost equally split between A+ and AA ball.  He hit .292 with a solid OPS for a middle infielder and stole 42 bases in 46 attempts.

The question is whether 2008 was an aberration or merely an example of a young player getting much better in a hurry.  If 2008 represents his real level of ability, this could be a great deal for the Astros.

22 year old pitcher Matt Nevarez is only pitching in Class A ball this year, so he’s not nearly as far along as Vallejo.  However, Nevarez is having a great year as a reliever in ‘09.  He has a 2.83 ERA with 22 hits allowed, fifteen walks and 50 Ks in 35 innings pitched, which suggests that he’s got a great arm.  His control has improved dramatically this year.  If it continues to do so, he’s also a real prospect.