NEW YORK — The passion of Yankees fans is undeniable. Newly inked starting pitcher Carlos Rodon already has experienced that passion without even stepping foot on the mound.
While rumors were swirling around the time of the winter meetings about the Bombers’ and Rodon’s mutual interest, Yankees faithful decided to take matters into their own hands. Fans found Rodon’s Venmo account — an app that allows you to send and receive money — and began to send him money.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” Rodon said with a chuckle after his Yankee introductory press conference. “My wife [Ashley] and I were in the car and I was starting to send them back and she was like, Carlos, there’s like 400 Venmo requests.
“My cousin was standing right there and was like ‘hey, we should do something nice for someone for the holidays,’ and that’s kind of something we’re going to do.”
“Yankee fans and all fans of baseball, I appreciate you guys sending me Venmos,” Rodon added. “I don’t need the money, but we’re going to give it to someone who does need the money.”
Rodon indeed does not need the money as his six-year, $162 million deal was made official on Wednesday afternoon. However, the southpaw and his wife are going to make good on his promise that the fans’ money will be put to good use. They already have an idea of what cause they will support.
“We have a kid whose house burned down,” said Rodon. “He’s 15 or 16 years old, we’re going to do something nice for him for the holidays. [They’re] a family in western-central Indiana who doesn’t really have much. [They] don’t have home insurance, so they’ve kind of gotten set up with a house and some living situations.
“Obviously, it’s the holiday season, so we’re going to do something nice for the kid.”
The good news for Yankees fans is that they landed their target and their money is going to a better cause. Their investment in trying to acquire their player seems to be well thought out as Rodon has experienced success while on the mound in the Bronx.
The 30-year-old owns a career 2.16 ERA in four starts at Yankee Stadium. His most recent start at the Stadium resulted in six shutout innings, two hits, zero walks and 13 strikeouts on May 21, 2021.
