[Terry D]

Edwin Rodriguez was the kind of player who got lost in the crowd easily, like a lot of other minor league prospects. He was a fair defensive infielder (2B, 3B, SS) who got on base a little (.339 OBP in AAA ball) and had a little speed too, but he was less impressive the higher up the minor league ladder he went and he never stood out sufficiently in any one department to earn more than brief major league trials. He got three cups of java, his first coming with the Yankees during a crazy 1982 season when they used over 40 players. Edwin was part of a 1983 package the Yanks sent to the Padres to get John Montefusco (who was of course about to get hurt and lose most of his effectiveness; this was the 80s Yankees), and he got another sip in San Diego that year. Edwin's last came with the Padres in '85, leaving him with a .227 average in 25 major league plate appearances. Edwin went on to a long career as a manager, including a brief and unsuccessful spell with the Marlins. Two good Topps Vault images of him in the Padres '81 uniform have appeared, but none in the '85 uniform that I am aware of. Until recently the only Yankees image I had seen of Edwin was a not very well colorized picture, but here is a good genuine color image from ebay seller signaturesr4u!