Pudge Rodriguez, Future General Manager?

Here's a nice find by our good friend Mike McClary at The Daily Fungo.  We already knew that Pudge Rodriguez wanted out of Detroit, but according to the New York Daily News' Bill Madden, he was more proactive than just sharing that sentiment with Dave Dombrowski.  Pudge already had the deal worked out in his mind.

It seems nobody had an inkling of this until Rodriguez, who is a free agent after the season, asked for a meeting with Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski at the team hotel in Cleveland, at which he was the one who suggested a trade to the Yankees.

"They need a catcher and I want to catch every day," Rodriguez reportedly told Dombrowski.  "Why don't you see if you can work something out?"

After that, Double-D called up Yankees GM Brian Cashman and asked if he could get Kyle Farnsworth in return for Pudge. 

And if you're someone who loves to see Scott Boras get knocked down a peg, you might enjoy yet another player putting him in the corner.  Pudge just wanted to get this done, and had no time for his agent's machinations this time around.

When Dombrowski got to the ballpark in Cleveland, he called Rodriguez into Leyland's office at which time they made a courtesy call to Rodriguez's agent Scott Boras, who, predictably, immediately started making demands for compensation to his client in exchange for waiving his no-trade clause.  At that point, Rodriguez reportedly got on the phone and told Boras to butt out; that this was his wish and that everything had already been signed off on.

Hopefully, Dombrowski has held onto Pudge's phone number.  Maybe he can consult his former catcher on what to do with Dontrelle Willis, Nate Robertson, Gary Sheffield, or Edgar Renteria.