The New York Mets, desperate for a closer, signed the best in the business, making KROD the highest paid relief pitcher in the game. The ink isn’t dry on the paper, but the deal is a reported three year, $37 million dollar deal, with a vesting option (dunno what that means) for a fourth year. I can still remember when starting pitchers were expected to & paid to complete games, it was an insult to the starting pitcher to pull him, not any more, not in this day of specialization. Francisco Rodriguez, won’t turn 27 until next month, he set a record last year with 62 saves with the Halos.
In 2008 the NY Mets converted only 43 saves out of 72 save opportunities. They were relying on Billy Wagner, who needed a ligament replaced in his pitching elbow last August. Even without a closer, NY finished the season with 89 wins, three games behind the Phillies in the East, and only one game behind the Brewers for the Wild Card. Aaron Heilman, Luis Ayala, and others in the Mets pen didn’t cut it, making getting a closer a top priority. There were some choices out there, Kerry Wood, Brian Fuentes, and alltime saves leader Trevor Hoffman, but in the end NY went with the best.
It will be interesting to see how KROD makes out in the Big Apple, it’s a long way from the Los Angeles Anaheim Angels. There’s going to be alot of pressure on Rodriguez to perform, he’s got an electric fastball & a slider that breaks out of sight. Francisco needs to get ahead of hitters in order to get them to bite on his breaking ball, usually in the dirt, control is not his strong suit. Besides that, the Angels had a pretty deep bullpen (Jose Arredondo, Scot Shields, & Darren Oliver), getting to the closer, we’ll have to see how the Mets setup men will bridge that gap. Last year’s signing of Ace Johan Santana was supposed to put the Metropolitans over the top, let’s see if KROD can do it.
