Ivan Rodriguezwas changed to Yankees from New York in July 2008, near the end of his 21-year career. However, Pudge revealed in a recent podcast appearance that he was about to be traded to the Yankees early in his career.
Rodriguez was discussing moving from the Texas Rangers to signing with the then Florida Marlins before the 2003 season. As loving as Rodriguez was of his time in Arlington, the 14-time All-Star said he was prepared to move on because in one moment “almost traded him to the Yankees for a few players,” and he said he believed in the package. Returning to Texas it would have been Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada. That point was in the days leading up to the 1997 trade deadline, as outlined in a great article by Jamey Newbery of The Athletic.
Ultimately, Rodriguez told the Rangers controls that he didn’t want to be traded to any team, that he wanted to stay in Texas. He and Rangers president Tom Schieffer were able to reach a five-year / $ 42 million contract extension, turning down a trade with defending World Series champs Los Yankees .
You could say that the failed Rodriguez trade worked for both sides, and it absolutely did. But despite Posada’s tremendous career, Rodriguez was one of the top five receivers in MLB history, in the midst of his prime. Posada spent his entire career with the Yankees, winning four championships as a member of the team. Pettitte was on five champion teams during two seasons in the Bronx. But could Yankees have they been even more dominant if they had added Rodriguez? Considering he was an all-time great defender and finished in the top 10 on fWAR between 1998 and 2001, the height of the Steroid Age, the answer is probably yes.
Instead, Iván Rodríguez re-signed in Texas, spending another half decade with the team that signed him outside of Puerto Rico as a teenager. Rodriguez won the American League MVP in 1999, and was an All-Star and Gold Glove winner in each of his last five seasons with the Rangers.
.@Pudge_Rodriguez revealed that he was nearly dealt to the @Yankees earlier in his career. https://t.co/kM4WqDWHET
– Audacy Sports (@AudacySports) September 4, 2021
Ironically, Ivan Rodriguez had to settle for a one-year / $ 10 million deal with the Marlins after the 2002 season due to an uncertain economic climate. That year, the Marlins improbably defeated Pettitte, Posada and the Yankees in the World Series. Five years later, the three were teammates for a few months with the Yankees.