» Ivan Rodriguez

If your fantasy leagues have waiver wire/free agent addition restrictions like all my leagues do, there is a strategy I like to attend to, and I’ll give you the reasoning. Most of my league-mates make fun of me for picking up an infinite amount of players as soon as possible and only having 5/10 additions allowed left by the season’s end. In a standard 12 team 5×5 Rotisserie League, we started off with 100 waiver moves allowed. This turned into 75, 60, and then 50. So I’ll focus on 50 free agency moves allowed. I think a good strategy is to use 75% (~37 free agents) of your waiver limit (if needed of course) in the first 2 months (even during or after the first month) of the season. I think you get a fantastic idea of how players are doing and what players have become and will stay hot ala Carlos Quentin and Nate McLouth (for ¾ of the season at least) in 2008. Most likely you won’t need to spend 75% of your free agent additions by this time, but I say don’t be scared wasting many of your additions by this point. Obviously, you should save 10-15% (~5-7 additions) of your waiver additions for the end of the season contingent on what statistics you may need, and this still allows you 10-15% (~5-7 additions) when you have certain player/positions go to the DL. If you think about it, most players that readily help a team won’t be there by season’s end other than top prospects called up to help a team (David Price in 2008) – I never said waste your waiver order on all these free agents. Make sure if you drafted last and you have the number 1 waiver spot, you save that for when a David Price-Type player in 2009 does become available (Tommy Hanson of the Braves if he lands a Starting/Closing Role) or an Evan Longoria-Type position player (Matt Wieters/Catcher from the O’s if he somehow is still available on your waiver-wire) becomes available.

By using this strategy, you could have added free agents Mark Reynolds/3b, Carlos Quentin/of, Nate Mclouth/of, Alexei Ramirez/mi, and Evan Longoria/3b in 2008. Once a few starters get some innings under their belts and you’re hopefully looking at their whip and k/bb ratio, you could have landed Cliff Lee, Edinson Volquez, Kevin Slowey, and Scott Baker, or even Liriano by season’s end if you were quick enough. These guys helped in almost every pitching category. There’s still 2/3 category pitchers you could have had like Jamie Moyer (wins-16, era, whip) and Mile Pelfrey (wins-13, era) as well.

Here is the following team that could have been drafted either very late or not at all and some potential 2009 breakout candidates per position:

The 2008 All Fantasy Undrafted/Late-Drafted Fantasy Team (& 2009 Potentials):

Well, after Puerto Rico is done with the WBC, Ivan Rodriguez  will be headed to Houston, and after passing his physical, he will be the starting catcher for the Astros!

This is great news, Pudge is a good defensive catcher, which makes our pitching staff better, and he has some power in his bat, contrary to last year’s drop off with the Yankees.

He has hit 9 for 15 in the WBC with 2 homeruns and was named most valuable player out of the pool Puerto Rico was in.

This is great news for the Astros and is certainly a boost to the team. Pudge will make 1.5 million bucks, with another 1.5 million in incentives for 1 year.

Let’s hope USA knocks Puerto Rico out of the tournament tonight so Pudge can get the ball rolling on becoming an Astro.

Well, it looks like I spoke too soon! Earlier I blogged about how great a fit Ivan Rodriguez would have been in Houston, but that Houston had publicly said there was no interest in signing him.

That’s all changed, however, as the AP is now reporting that the Astros and Pudge are close to coming to terms on a 1 year deal worth around $1.5 million. Check out my previous post here on why Rodriguez is such a great fit and just the type of catcher the Astros need. A one year deal gives super prospect Jason Castro another year to refine his skills in the minors and develop into the super star he can become.

Florida still has some interest, but it looks like Ivan is going to be an Astro for 2009!

Nothing is official yet….

It’s no secret the Astros need a catcher for 2009. Sure, they have J.R. Towles and Humberto Quintero, but those guys are not great. Towles is young and was touted as having a big bat, and I was pretty excited going into last year that we had a good hitting catcher to replace Brad Ausmus. However, actually watching Towles play is a train wreck. He might have been called up too soon, but I just don’t see a productive year from him or Quintero offensively.

What the Stros really need is a veteran to sign to a one year deal while they wait for super prospect Jason Castro to blossom in the minors and make his way up in 2010. Enter Ivan Rodriguez: A one year deal with Pudge would be just what the Astros need! He was a great hitter last year, hitting nearly .300 (.295) in Detroit with 5 Home runs and 6 stolen bases, just the sort of player the Astros need to bring up the bottom of the order. He tanked after being traded to the Yankees, and I have no explanation why, but I think he still has the skills to help out a team.

The Astros have publicly said they do not wish to sign him, and it looks more and more like he will sign with the Marlins to back up John Baker,. I think the Astros are missing an opportunity to shore up a weak spot in the roster while waiting for their best prospect to develop.

Who knows, maybe Towles turns it around and becomes the hard hitting catcher Houston fans thought they were getting. I’d love to hear your comments on this.