Oakland Athletics trade for the hat-tilter: Fernando Rodney

The Oakland Athletics completed their third trade after the non-waiver deadline on July 31st by acquiring Fernando Rodney from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for Dakota Chalmers.

Fernando Rodney won’t get the chance to shoot his arrow after completing a save for the Oakland Athletics, but you kind of want to see it, don’t you?

I can picture it now. Rodney, on the mound in the green and gold, hat tilted to the left as he completes the save. He turns towards the center field wall, raising his bow with his left arm.

Fernando pulls his right elbow tightly behind him, leaning his body back towards home plate. Then the release. The arrow cuts like a knife through the air, peppering a seat up on top of Mount Davis.

A gladiator shooting arrows in the Coliseum. This is how legends are made.

OK, OK, forgive the overzealous hyperbole, but if ever there was a season to start getting carried away, this is it!

The hat

I was in the checkout line at Target last night when my phone notifications started going crazy. My guess as to what was happening without looking fell somewhere between a tornado warning and an all-out nuclear attack.

The notifications were loud, constant, and people around me were staring. I felt pressured in the moment with all those faces looking at me so I raised my hands and apologized like I was at the library.

It should be noted, I was alone at Target and still I ended up with a dozen things I hadn’t planned on purchasing. I had previously thought the lack of discipline inside those red walls was reserved for my darling wife. I was wrong. They got me. She’s going to have a field day when she reads this.

A quick check of my phone showed the country was not under attack and instead the Oakland Athletics had added reliever Fernando Rodney to the bullpen. I was ecstatic… until I started seeing negative comments from some Athletics’ fans about Fernando’s hat being tilted to the left.

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Let’s address the hat now and get it out of the way. So often, when we see someone doing something different, we pass judgment about the action or the person without having all of the information.

Doing so leads to a lack of understanding and intolerance towards each other so let’s shed some light on why Fernando wears his hat the way he does.

In December of 2016, Dave Lumia, a reporter/journalist for FoxSportsArizona.com, wrote the following.

"Rodney says he wears his cap tilted to the left side of his head as a tribute to his father — Ulise Rodney — who died six days before Fernando made his major league debut with the Tigers in 2002. Ulise was a fisherman in the Dominican Republic and wore his cap tilted to the side because “that’s the side the sun hits his face.”"

I understand being a traditionalist. Maintaining reverence for the game is hugely important, but in Rodney’s case, this isn’t about disrespect. Instead, it’s quite the opposite.

I fully support Rodney honoring his father in this manner. Family and baseball have always gone hand in hand. It’s part of what makes this game so pure. He’s not doing a disservice to it by turning his cap a touch to the left.

To those Athletics fans who believe Rodney is “spitting on the history of the game” (one of the Twitter responses I read), I urge you to Google a man named “Babe Ruth.” Click over to images and start counting how many different pictures you see of Babe wearing his hat, tilted to the left side.

An embarrassment of riches

I’m running out of superlatives to describe the bullpen Billy Beane has assembled. Perhaps who we have in the bullpen isn’t the real head turner, instead, maybe the real story is what the cost was to assemble this collection of relievers.

And I mean “collection” in every sense of the word. Say the names out loud and let them settle around you in the air. Lou Trivino. Blake Treinen. Jeurys Familia. Fernando Rodney. I can’t speak those four names without shaking my head at the end.

When Fernando Rodney is your 4th best reliever, I think it’s fair to say the Oakland Athletics are pretty much reliever connoisseurs at this point.

Rodney was acquired for 21 year-old Dakota Chalmers, a 3rd round pick back in 2015. Chalmers initially was one of the A’s top prospects before leveling off. He is currently on the shelf after having undergone Tommy John surgery earlier this year.

Now certainly, Rodney has been around the block. This is his 16th season in the league and the Oakland Athletics will be his 10th team, but he can still run his fastball up to the mid 90’s and his strikeout rate per 9 innings sits at a very appealing 10.31 this season.

Simply put, we are going to bullpen our way to the playoffs. The acquisition of Rodney serves to solidify that approach. It’s a truly amazing season when one of your team’s mid to late inning relievers happens to also be the all-time active saves leader.

The march continues

The push for the playoffs continues this evening as we travel to Anaheim to take on the Angels for a three game stretch. It will be hard to match the playoff atmosphere we just experienced against the Dodgers in Oakland but these three games are every bit as important if we intend the catch the ‘Stros.

My hope as an Athletics fan is that I get the chance to see Rodney on the mound tonight. Electricity always fills the air when you get to unwrap a new present and Fernando with all the character he brings to the mound will be just that.

dark. Next. The rich get richer

If nothing else, I do consider myself a bit more enlightened for having looked into Rodney’s story. Going forward, I know each time I see Rodney’s hat tilted, I’ll be thinking about a then 25 year-old man wishing his father had lived six more days so that a shared dream could be realized together.