what should i do with pudge

[muffinman927]

should i wait out the 6 weeks or hope that he is only out for 4 weeks, or should i drop him b/c whit him bating at the 6th spot he is nto geting many rbi's and he is not hittign at all what should i do?

[Arlo]

I think dropping him at this point would be a bit rash. If he's healthy, he'll hit and pick up terrific rbi's, but that's quite an if at this point. I think you have two options at this point:

1) Hand onto him, wait a month or so (and use a substitute catcher), and hope he returns at full steam.

2) Work your phones or email, and try to trade him for decent value. I'm sure there will be lots of folks willing to take a gamble on him, considering the potential gain.

Which one you choose depends both on your style of play and on how many question marks you already have on your squad. Not an easy choice...

[timkell]

Pudge should definitely not be dropped. Piazza and Pudge are the only sure fire performers at catcher, when they're not hurt. If you can trade him for a next tier catcher, a la Lieberthal, etc, and some other position you need, I'd go for it, but if you can't get a decent deal with him, better to hold onto him.

Someone out there who has two second tier catchers would probably be willing to take the risk on him. Just make sure you get a lot in return because there are so few good catchers out there and none compare to Pudge and Piazza.