Though he didn’t have the success a lot of fans expected when he arrived, Richard Rodriguez did give the Braves a small boost throughout the regular season and leading up to the playoffs. Despite that, Alex Anthopoulos and company still thought it was better to non-tender him this past offseason, making him a free agent.
Perhaps a reason for that was Rodriguez’s pending PED suspension, which was announced soon after he was non-tendered. Regardless, his 80-game suspension is now over, and he has landed with the Yankees:
The #Yankees have signed five year MLB relief pitcher Richard Rodriguez to a minor league contract. Rodriguez pitched to a 2.94 ERA in 64 games for the Pirates and Braves last season. He’s listed as active on the FCL Yankees roster.
— Eli Fishman (@elijfishman) July 6, 2022
This isn’t a shock. Rodriguez was one of the most coveted pieces in baseball before the spidertack ban. After that, his spin rate (and consequently, his numbers) fell off of a cliff. Rodriguez was extremely ineffective for the Braves as the season waned, but he did just enough to help them get to the playoffs. He was left off the postseason roster, and although the trade didn’t exactly work out, I’ll take the result every single time.
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