As expected, more wheeling and dealing is taking place in the week leading up to the July 31 trade deadline. As was confirmed by the Pirates Official Twitter Page, the Bucs have acquired Wandy Rodriguez.
The @Pirates have acquired LHP Wandy Rodriguez & cash from the #Astros for Rudy Owens, Colton Cain & Robbie Grossman.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 25, 2012
If you’re a fantasy owner of Rodriguez, your staff just received a nice little upgrade. There is no way to look at this as a bad thing, and several ways to look at it in a good way. In case you don’t believe me, let’s take a closer look.
The Pirates are better than the Astros
There are a lot of different ways to look at this, but the records of the two teams tells you everything you’ll need to know. Going into play on July 24, the Pirates had the fifth best winning percentage in the majors, while the Astros were at the very bottom.
The run support is just going to be a lot better with the Andrew McCutchen led Pirates offense. Also, with Joel Hanrahan anchoring the bullpen, if Rodriguez leaves a game with a lead, it’s likely to hold up for a win.
PNC Park is better for pitchers than Minute Maid Park
They both have places where it’s hard for hitters to thrive, but the percentages are much better in Pittsburgh. Balls have flown out of the Houston park ever since its open in 2000, while good location pitchers can succeed in Pittsburgh.
As if that wasn’t enough.
He now gets to face the Astros
There are always a few things that go into trades. For example, if a pitcher gets traded from the Padres to the Yankees, he’s going to a place where he can get good run support, but he’s also going to a division where he has to face the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Orioles, and Rays. I wouldn’t exactly predict that his stats would jump, even if his win total did.
But when the rare trade happens within a division, we can reasonably say what he’s going to do against the opponents, because they’re the same ones he’s been facing. Yes, the NL Central has good hitting teams in good hitting parks, but Rodriguez has done fine against them. As a matter of fact, the Pirates Twitter Page gave a stat to speak to that.
Wandy Rodriguez: Since the start of ‘09, he trails only Clayton Kershaw & Cole Hamels among all NL LHPs in Ks (626) and Ws (43)
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 25, 2012
Not bad. The only difference is that now instead of having to face a formidable Pirates team coming in, he’ll get to face the Pirates in those starts. So, if you have Rodriguez on your team, one of your pitchers just jumped a whole level. If you’re thinking about offering a trade involving him, consider that when figuring out your targets
