According to the Detroit Tigers, the have claimed RHP Dereck Rodriguez off waivers from the San Francisco Giants.
Rodriguez, who is the son of former Tigers catcher Ivan ‘Pudge’ Rodriguez, has been optioned to the Tigers alternate training site.
The Tigers today have claimed RHP Dereck Rodríguez off waivers from the San Francisco Giants and optioned him to the alternate training site. Rodriguez is the son of Hall of Fame catcher and former Tiger Iván Rodríguez.
— Tigers PR (@DetroitTigersPR) August 31, 2020
Before claiming Dereck, Tigers GM Al Avila reached out to Pudge for some insight on his son.
“I called Pudge today and he gave me some good insight on what he thought went on there,” Avila said.
Avila added that he believes Rodriguez still has some upside that can be reached with some coaching.
“We thought with some coaching and some effort on his part we can get him back to where he was,” Avila said. “He’s still young, still has some upside.”
“I talked to Bruce Bochy (former Giants manager) and he raved about his make-up, his work ethic and how competitive he is,” Avila said. “He was surprised the Giants put him out there.”
Only time will tell if Dereck Rodriguez will pan out but it was worth taking a flier on him and hoping!
