Joely Rodriguez is happy to be trading places with Miguel Castro.
On Sunday, the New York Yankees sent Rodriguez, a left-handed reliever, to the New York Mets for Castro, a right-handed reliever. On Tuesday, Rodriguez talked about the swap. Per WFAN:
“I feel good. It’s not the first time I’ve been traded, but I’m excited for the opportunity I have here,” Rodriguez said through a translator as the Mets prepared to break camp. “I feel like I have more of an opportunity to pitch here, because the Yankees have more lefties than we do here, so I feel like I’ll have that opportunity.”
The Yankees acquired Rodriguez in July as part of the Joey Gallo trade with the Texas Rangers. He made 21 appearances for the Yankees, compiling an impressive 2.84 ERA over 19 innings of work.
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Here are the details of the trade, per Yankees PR:
Castro, 27, went 3-4 with a 3.45 ERA (70.1IP, 48H, 30R/27ER, 43BB, 77K, 7HR) in a career-high 69 appearances, including two starts (both as an opener) with the Mets in 2021. His 3.45 ERA marked a Major League career-best, in addition to his 0.90 HR/9.0IP and 6.14 H/9.0IP. He led all Mets relievers in appearances and innings pitched, and held batters to a .189 (48-for-254) opponents’ batting average. He was acquired by the Mets from the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later (INF Victor González) and LHP Kevin Smith on August 31, 2020.
Over his seven-year Major League career, the right-handed pitcher has gone 11-22 with seven saves and a 4.13 ERA (353.1IP, 306H, 177R/162ER, 190BB, 311K, 45HR) in 299 appearances (four starts) for the Toronto Blue Jays (2015), Colorado Rockies (2015-16), Baltimore Orioles (2017-20) and the Mets (2020-21). A native of La Romana, D.R., he originally signed with Toronto as a non-drafted free agent on January 5, 2012.
Rodríguez, 30, has gone 3-5 with one save and a 4.61 ERA (95.2IP, 106H, 59R/49ER, 42BB, 89K, 8HR) in 102 relief appearances over four Major League seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies (2016-17), Texas Rangers (2020-21) and Yankees (2021). He also spent two seasons (2018-19) with the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball League. The Santo Domingo, D.R., native was originally signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a non-drafted free agent on March 31, 2009.
In 2021, the left-handed pitcher combined with the Rangers and Yankees to go 2-3 with one save and a 4.66 ERA (46.1IP, 53H, 27R/24ER, 18BB, 47K, 4HR) in a career-high 52 relief appearances. He had been acquired by the Yankees from the Rangers along with INF/OF Joey Gallo and cash considerations in exchange for minor league right-handed pitcher Glenn Otto and infielders Ezequiel Duran, Trevor Hauver and Josh Smith on July 29, 2021. In 21 appearances with the Yankees, he went 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA (19.0IP, 21H, 8R/6ER, 6BB, 17K, 1HR).
This trade marks just the third trade between the Yankees and Mets since 2005. On April 10, 2018, the Yankees acquired INF/OF L.J. Mazzilli from the Mets for OF Kendall Coleman. On December 19, 2014, the Yankees acquired RHP Gonzalez Germen from the Mets for cash considerations.
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Mike Rosenstein may be reached at mrosenstein@njadvancemedia.com.
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