Yankees: David Cone’s Rougned Odor take is funny and spot-on

Why did the New York Yankees trade for Rougned Odor, one of the league’s strangest players, about a week after he was DFA’d by the Texas Rangers?

Couldn’t tell you. They like his pop? They like his panache? They saw a bargain they couldn’t pass up?

Sure, sure. All of these are technically acceptable options. Odor’s the 26th man on the 26-man roster, arguably, and any chance at acquiring a 30-homer bat there is probably worth batting an eye at.

David Cone, though, saw through Odor’s supposed potential at third base and Yankee Stadium rejuvenation status. We think he figured out what Brian Cashman was really thinking here.

Like we said, it’s hard to be overly excited about this move, and much easier to be kind of angry.

But Cone, level-headed as always, realized on air Tuesday night just how low-risk it was, and came up with a funny quip that explained Odor’s worth.

https://twitter.com/CeeNoelle/status/1379584355006349314?s=20

Yankees announcer David Cone nailed the Rougned Odor trade.

Look, what other take can anyone possibly have?

Yes, Derek Dietrich has been better over the past few years, and more versatile (108 wRC+ over the past few years, as opposed to Odor’s below-average mark). No, Odor doesn’t solve anything related to Tyler Wade. No, he doesn’t…exactly field very well, and we’re not sure why he cost Josh Stowers and a top-20 prospect.

But when it comes to throwing hands? As Cone noted, he’s among the very best.

The Blue Jays-Rangers playoff rivalry may be long forgotten at this point, but the two teams were quite heated following Jose Bautista’s series-shifting 2015 bat flip homer. The next summer, when both squads met in the Texas heat, Odor greeted Bautista at second base with a sucker punch to the jaw, one of the most violent hits ever witnessed on a baseball diamond.

A sock so famous the Rangers included it in their farewell post to the second baseman.

As many wise men and women have said on Tuesday, if Odor becomes a major part of this team’s trajectory, it either means he put things together once again, or it means the season has become a massive disaster.

Better to be like Cone and take a lighthearted look at the whole thing instead.

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