Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Yanks Sign Berroa and Rodriguez

The Yankees continued their busy day today by signing two players to minor-league deals.

Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Yankees have signed free-agent infielder Angel Berroa to a minor-league contract. In 2003 Berroa beat out Hideki Matsui for AL Rookie of the Year. He will compete with Cody Ransom for the utility infielder job.

Last year he hit .230/.304/.310 with a homer and 16 RBI in 84 games with the Dodgers. In his career he is a .260/.305/.378 hitter with 46 homers and 251 RBI in 711 total games.

The Yankees also signed 30-year-old outfielder John Rodriguez. He will earn $450,000 plus incentives based on plate appearances if he makes the major league roster.

Here's more about Rodriguez from Joel Sherman:
Rodriguez was originally signed by the Yankees in November 1996 and played in their minor league system through the 2004 season. The lefty swinger played 158 games with St. Louis between 2005-06, hitting .298 with a .378 on base percentage in 158 games and 332 at-bats. He had seven homers and 43 RBIs. For the past two seasons, Rodriguez has played in Triple-A for the Cardinals, Rays and Mets.

11 Comments:

Brian Danuff said...

Can the Yankees possibly sign anyone else?

Greg Cohen said...

To cheap minor-league deals? Yes. To major league deals? I'm not sure. Unless they somehow sign Pettitte I can't see them going after anyone.

Brian Danuff said...

Can't beleive Giambi's gone. I mean, I knew he was going, but I've just gotten so use to seeing him in pinstripes.

Ya know what I mean?

Greg Cohen said...

Yea he's been here a long time. A lot of ups and downs. He'll get a nice ovation when the A's come to town.

Brian Danuff said...

Wonder if he'll grow his hair long again.

Greg Cohen said...

He probably will.

Anonymous said...

i dunno if he will, he matured a lot while in NY

Anonymous said...

Some more info on John Rodriguez:

Minor league stats:

2007 (AAA - Memphis):
55 G, 160 AB
8 HR, 27 RBI, .263 BA, .375 OBP, .875 OPS

2008 (AAA - Durham/NewOrleans):
69 G, 210 AB
10 HR, 22 RBI, .288 BA, .374 OBP, .846 OPS

Probably an emergency type outfielder. He could fill the role that Shelley Duncan had at times, if needed. Best asset is combination of OBP with a bit of power.

Career Major League .298 hitter with a .378 OBP, 110 OPS+. The guy can hit. I'm not sure why he's struggled to make a major league team.

Greg Cohen said...

Nice info Pinstripes.

After looking at his numbers from '05 and '06 I can't figure out why he couldn't make the pros either.

Anonymous said...

I'm not sure if he's had any injuries in recent years. His number of games played is very low at AAA for a guy who's a decent hitter.

Anonymous said...

I say keep Ransom in the majors but we'll see after the spring.