Brian34Cook

January 6, 2009
YANKS SIGN JOHN RODRIGUEZ
FROM JOEL SHERMAN

Outfielder John Rodriguez, a native New Yorker who played two seasons with the Cardinals, was signed to a minor league contract by the New York Yankees , the Post has learned.

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 New York Mets .

Rodriguez, who will turn 29 later this month, was signed to provide outfield depth, especially if the Yanks end up trading either Nick Swisher or Xavier Nady. If Rodriguez makes the major league roster, he will earn $450,000 plus incentives based on plate appearances.

Yankees Blog

JRod .. wow havent heard about him since he left us..

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yanks are pretty busy today with these small deals. maybe one of them proves to be a gem in spring training, but probably not. This guy doesn't have bad ML numbers though.

Brian34Cook

From the in-case-you-missed-it department: The Yankees have signed pitcher Jason Johnson, INF Angel Berroa and OF John Rodriguez to minor-league contracts and invited them to spring training. Those are the names that have slipped out, anyway. They doubtless have inked several more as they pursue depth for both the major-league roster and Triple-A Scranton, but they don't announce the signings as they happen; they wait and make one announcement of all of them. Frankly, I'd prefer it if they announced them one at a time, because there are some interesting stories with many of these types of signees.

Take Rodriguez, for instance. At the World Series in 2006, he came to the interview room as a bench player extraordinaire for the Cardinals. There, he referred to himself as "a male Cinderella story" and he's right. The Yankees originally signed him out of the New York City projects when Rodriguez' uncle told a cop he knew at Yankee Stadium about his nephew and the cop urged a Yankee scout to go see Rodriguez playing in a summer league in 1996. It led to a tryout in which Rodriguez walloped three balls into the upper deck in right field, which helped him sign for a $1,000.

J-Rod hasn't been in the majors since 2006 and has only played 158 games across two seasons in the sports' biggest leagues. But he's hit nearly everywhere he's gone - he was always blocked as a Yankee prospect, toiling for eight years in their system, but was impressive enough with the bat to have the Cubs ask about him in the Sammy Sosa trade talks in 2000. His lifetime average/on-base/slugging line is .298-.378-.434.

Will he offer depth at Scranton? Probably, but the Yankees have called up all sorts of outfielders in recent years, so a trip to the Bronx, if he hits, certainly isn't out of the question.

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