It's the third week of January. The best catcher of his generation is still sitting home, jobless and practically offerless, wondering what's become of his career. He is angry. He is frustrated. He is studying his maps of Japan.

And then the Florida Marlins drop 10 million bucks down Pudge Rodriguez's chimney.

Amazing. Beats playing the Power Ball. That's for sure.

	Ivan Rodriguez had 60 RBI in 2002, his lowest year-ending total since the strike-shortened 1994 season.

We won't know for nine months whether the one-year, $10-million deal Pudge Rodriguez signed with the Marlins on Wednesday will turn out to be a good thing for his new employers. But it's hard to see how it can be a bad thing for the best catcher of his generation.

His alternatives were a three-year, $18-million offer from the Orioles or an opportunity to start speaking Japanese. Let's just say that, by his own admission, Pudge Rodriguez wasn't real big on either Plan A or Plan B.

But Plan C? How fast could he say yes?

True, he'll play this year for not much more than he made last year ($9.6 million). True, he gets no long-term security out of this arrangement. True, it's a long way from the A-Rod-type deal he once thought free agency would bring him.

But for this player in this market at this stage of his career, this was the deal of the century.

After three months of getting almost no offers, Rodriguez wound up as one of only four players (joining Jim Thome, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux) who will emerge from this winter's nuclear free-agent winter with a contract averaging $10 million a year.

And he gets a year to re-establish his career, his talent, his health and his market value -- with absolutely no strings attached.

And he doesn't even have to move. (Have we mentioned that his home for most of the year just happens to be in beautiful Miami, Fla.?)

Now that's a deal.

So it's no mystery why the Marlins would have looked mighty good to old Pudge Rodriguez. But how this came about on Florida's end is the fascinating part of this saga.

According to GM Larry Beinfest, he and his scouting guru, Dan Jennings, were brainstorming late last week when they started discussing the 14,883rd story of the winter that happened to mention that Rodriguez was still eminently available for employment.

	“	We were dealing with a great and special opportunity to sign a special player. ... We feel like, for our team, this is a special year, and a special season, and he warrants it. ”
		— Jeffrey Loria, Marlins owner, on signing Pudge Rodriguez

Hmmmmm, they said.

By the weekend, they had discussed terms with Rodriguez's agent, Jeff Moorad. Then they ran the idea past owner Jeffrey Loria. And Loria -- even though he had been feeling no particular urge to abruptly raise his payroll $10 million in the third week of January -- decided that in this case, it was worth loosening up "special money."

"We were dealing," Loria said Wednesday night, "with a great and special opportunity to sign a special player. ... We feel like, for our team, this is a special year, and a special season, and he warrants it."

It's hard to deny that there weren't many other 10-time Gold Glove winners who had hit .300 for eight straight seasons still looking for work. So "special" is a word that can still appear in the same sentence with "Pudge" and not look one bit ridiculous.

Except, of course, if he was so special, how come almost no one east of Tokyo was interested -- certainly at anywhere close to that money?

OK, long story. Pick your favorite answer: A) Pudge hadn't played more than 111 games since 1999. B) He had reached that age (31) where catchers begin to slide downhill. C) The economy is in the dumper. Or D) It's a conspiracy!

Whatever, doesn't matter. What matters is that this guy is a Marlin now, further complicating a National League East race that was already more confusing than the plot line of "Adaptation."

Could the Marlins find something to do with a 10-time All-Star? Sure. They'll probably hit him third, according to manager Jeff Torborg. That'll work.

But we'll try not to dwell too much on the fact that they already had two catchers (Mike Redmond and Ramon Castro). Or that they actually needed a left-handed hitter more than another right-handed bat, seeing as how their entire prospective starting lineup hit fewer home runs batting left-handed last year (18) than Raul Ibanez.

Ah, but this is no time to quibble. In a heavily Latino market, this is a guy who will pay immediate dividends. In fact, he already has. In the first hour after word spread that Pudge was a Marlin, according to team president David Samson, the club sold 22 full season-ticket packages. Another 4,000, and he'll nearly pay for himself.

Of course, in a year -- whether Rodriguez pays for himself or not, whether he hits 30 homers or six, whether the Marlins finish first or last -- he can still bail out for greener pastures. And who knows what we'll make of this contract by then?

But this week, for the best catcher of his generation, the Florida Marlins didn't just look better than the Nippon Ham Fighters. Heck, they looked better than Santa Claus.

Jayson Stark is a senior writer for ESPN.com.