Mets Sign Francisco Rodriguez To 3-Year Deal
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Tue, December 09, 2008 04:48 PM | Comments: 49
Posts
The Mets have signed free agent closer Francisco Rodriguez to a three-year, $37M deal. Rodriguez shattered the single-season save record last season with 62 of them last season, recording a 2.24 ERA for the Angels. Career, he has saved 208 games with a 2.35 ERA.
Seems like a usual acquisition for the Mets. Obviously K-Rod is a great pitcher, and he goes a long way in adding some bullpen assurance to the Mets, but I’m in no way scared by this move. Not at all. The Mets could sign Derek Lowe, Manny Ramirez and CC Sabathia, too, and I still wouldn’t be scared.
Good for the Mets. I hope K-Rod stays healthy and prospers in his three years with them.
Posts: 0 oh kaykaykay-rod
YESS!
Posted: 04:50 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 Geoff
thats actually a decent contract because its only three years still. not scared….
Posted: 04:51 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 Leo
Geoff, how are you not scared of the best closer in baseball?
Posted: 04:52 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 CT
very similar to Lidge’s 3 year, $37.5 extension
Posted: 04:52 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 Leo
The Mets now have the best closer + best starter in the game
Posted: 04:52 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 Chris.I
Congrats to the Mets. It should be an interesting season ahead of us. One thing is certain tho…We still have Lights out Lidge! Still I don’t feel threatened either.
Posted: 05:02 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 NJ
Love seeing K-Rod’s ego get shattered by taking a deal so ‘beneath’ his value. He’s a good pitcher but he’s no Mariano, in no hurry to see us face him but the Mets were going to land someone and I’m just glad it’s not Fuentes.
Posted: 05:04 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 mike mike
Tim if they signed ibeanz and lowe you wouldn’t be scared. Maybe it’s because you realize we won’t have to get serious about winning for at least 20 years. To not match there moves to improve to me isn’t the sign of a team going out to win it all. The three games we won by is now gone, plus do you think lidge is perfect again. and utley being hurt to start the season and us adding punto scares me.
Posted: 05:08 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 NC Jason
Best Closer in baseball? I believe he still blew 7 saves more saves than Lidge. And that is all we heard when Wagner left, how did that work out for you all.
Posted: 05:09 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 justin
how many saves did he blow last year? i think 8.
You just know those saves are going to be blown against the Phillies. Its the Mets come on. They try everything but still cant get out of there own way. Not scared. Remember they need to have the lead to use him and dont forget we have one of the best offenses in baseball, if we replace burrell with a good bat.
Posted: 05:09 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 Jason
We can downplay this because we won the World Series.
But its a really f’ing big move for the Mets.
Tim, can you collaborate phillies.scout.com’s report on Peavy?
Now that would be a counter. . .
Posted: 05:10 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 MP
Guess what? K-Rod may be the best closer, but he wasn’t perfect all season. He also had to save way more games than Lidge did this year. Let’s not get too excited, I still think we have a great chance of keeping the Mets out of the postseason a third time.
Posted: 05:11 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 Chuck P
Given the chance, he will implode… if you throw a firecracker into the fire it will explode. His blown saves will increase twofold… he will crumble under the pressure of the NY media and eventually he will give in to the lifestyle that gets these guys in trouble time and time again. A lot of LA fans are calling him K-Fraud… we might have to use that one again :-)
Posted: 05:12 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 Paul
The Mets better get some middle relief guys that can get him the ball.
Posted: 05:13 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 Wilson
It’s a good deal for the Mets….however….if you closely look at K Rod’s numbers and average velocity…he’s not on the upswing anymore even at 26. Higher WHIP, lower velocity, lower K rate….but he still saved 62 games. I’m not worried about it….I doubt Utley is out til June, Lidge could very well be perfect again…if not he can easily match K Rod’s numbers and there’s really no indication that the Mets are getting better anywhere else, as they sill have to go through their middle relief
Posted: 05:15 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 maxhole
leo, not scared because the mets couldnt make it to their closer last year. wagner wasn’t responsible for every blown save, and the mets still haven’t upgraded that same awesome middle relief. and how do you not label the guy with a perfect save season the best closer in baseball? santana was your savior last year, is k-rod the second coming?
Posted: 05:19 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 Jim
uhhh crap the mets have the best closer and pitcher
Posted: 05:22 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 Andrew
I’m from Cali and definitely not afraid. K-Rod broke the record because he was put in a lot of times with one out to go after Arrendondo recorded the first two. He didn’t look strong that much either, blowing a lot of saves and coming really close to blow more.
We beat Wagner and we can beat K-Rod.
Posted: 05:35 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 Manny
They get better…but, no worries.
Posted: 05:37 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 SJ Mike
It’s a very good deal for the Mets, but they still have to GET TO him in the 6th, 7th, and 8th. It’s a solid move that improves their club, but they have a ways to go still to make that bullpen reliable top to bottom.
Posted: 05:39 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 reasonable met fan
ok, i think its a bit ignorant to say that the mets could add a ton of people and you guys wouldnt be scared. its not like you guys exactly ran away with the division here. I alwats find it funny to hear how much the mets suck and yet you wrapped up the division on the second to last day.
I do think this is a good signing, and i dont believe that this is the only one the mets will make. they know the bullpen is a train wreck and now that this is done, they can focus on other areas.
The phillie bullpen has been fantastic for 2 years running, arent you guys worried about the slightest drop off here? we all talk about lidge being perfect again , but what about the rest of the guys, can they all keep it up?
Posted: 05:41 PM on December 9, 2008
Posts: 0 psujoe
OK, KRod for 3 @ 37. I would guess closers get less expensive from her. Doesn’t this hurt Madson’s negotiating power in 2009 or is there less closers?
Posted: 01:22 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 Jim
Ok met fan, how about this?
Do you really think that K-Rod will light a fire under your bullpen? Your whole team? The mets needa lot of work, including moving castillo and schiender.
K-rod does not nessecarily mean more wins. In fact, he had more blown saves than the entire phillies team last year.
Posted: 01:23 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 Justin
K-Rod is a good closer but he always had great bullpen arms around him in Anaheim, Percival towards the end of his career there, Scot Shields, Arriedondo (not sure of spelling), etc. What do the Mets have? Scott Schoenweis? Aaron Heilman? I’m sorry if I’m a Mets fan I would have rathered the team go out and get setup men/guys who can bridge the gap between the starters and a closer. It almost doesn’t matter if its K-Rod or Luis Ayala if you don’t put the pieces around him like the Phils have done the past 2 seasons. K-Rod is now going to have his nicknamed changed to W-Rod (Walk Rod). ESPN 950 AM was saying today they think his arm is one of those arms that just look like it’s going to fall off one day and with the Mets track record of the last few seasons I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened in the next 2.
Posted: 01:36 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 Philsphan
Lidge is the best closer right now and I am not just saying that because he is on the Phillies. He didn’t blow any save situation this year, K-Rod blew 7.
Posted: 01:45 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 J cole
Just like the Mets were the team to beat with Santanna last year, right? One player cannot save an entire team. The Mets are buying great players, but do they have a great team? They have a lot of good talent, but not as a whole.
Posted: 02:05 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 dan
I don’t have the numbers in front of me, but I don’t need them for this calculation.
Step one- Number of save opportunities. K-Rod had way more.
Step two- Save percentage. Lidge’s was perfect.
Step three- Evaluate. If Lidge had as many opportunities, and kept the same save percentage he had all year, he would have saved seven more games. How’s that for the best closer in baseball?
I know it’s pointless to say that and that most think Lidge was bound to blow one sooner or later, but I honestly believe that Lidge would have done more with that many opportunities and is thus the best closer in baseball.
Mets upgraded from the end of last year with this move, but think about how they looked at the beginning of last year. Not scared.
Posted: 02:06 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 nate
I find it interesting that on the same day that they signed K-Rod to this big contract, they’re going back to the city AGAIN to ask for 83 million dollars MORE to finish the stadium.
Posted: 02:08 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 metsblow4show
K-Rod is no better then Billy Wagner. So the way I see it, the Muts are pretty much where they were at the start of last season and we all know how that went for them.
Posted: 02:23 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 krams
Best closer in baseball? Uh, Brad Lidge?
He’ll have a good year for them, but they still need the rest of the bullpen.
Posted: 02:40 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 Phillies Phan SC
Leo,
They may have the best startes and closers, but unless every starter goes 8 innings, they still have a weak bullpen. They have to GET to K-Rod first. Plus, Lidge is much better than K-Rod. 65 saves means a lot of close games…
Posted: 07:33 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 David, the Mets fan from Queens
The Mets-Phillies rivalry will thrive throughout 2009. Both ball clubs have beautiful stadiums and adoring fans. I’m very excited about the NL East in 2009.
I’m heading down to Philly on Saturday. Any recommendations for a New Yorker?
Posted: 08:38 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 Jason B
I’m not afraid of K-Rod and I’ll tell you why… The Mets Bullpen is hands down, the worst in Baseball. Sure it got infinately better by signing Rodriguez, but he is only the 9th inning guy. They haven’t done anything to sure up the 7th or 8th inning roles. K-Rod is only good if the bullpen can get him to the save oppurtunity. Let’s remember that out of the 29 blown saves the Mets had last year, only 8 of them came in the 9th inning. 21 of them came in the 7th and 8th. Another reason I’m not afraid of K-Rod is when they signed Santana last year, we thought the Mets would win the East. We were wrong. Adding a closer is important, but it only scratches the surface of the Mutts problems. Thier starting rotation is less than spectacular, Thier line up has holes in it as Delgado will not likely repeat his last years performance. Adding a closer helps, but the Phils are still the superior team.
Posted: 08:57 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 rivlez
A lot of you guys are just retarded. How can you compare a guy that had 69 save opportunities to a guy that had only 41. Go ahead and think that he’s going to save all games this season. The Mets bullpen blew so many games that if they even won half of them they would’ve won 100 games. If Minaya doesn’t get at least a few more guys in that pen this is going to be the same thing as the last few years. K-Rod is a HUGE improvement over wagner. It wouldn’t hurt if some of you guys were logical and stopped talking out of your asses.
Posted: 09:30 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 Tyler
NC Jason.
“Best Closer in baseball? I believe he still blew 7 saves more saves than Lidge. And that is all we heard when Wagner left, how did that work out for you all.”
Sure, he did blow 7 more saves than Lidge, but when you save 62 games and set the major-league record, I think 7 blown saves is ok.
Posted: 09:55 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 Phillies Phan SC
I was thinking about this further… The Mets starting rotation is not even that good. Santana, by far, is their best, and he is one of the best in baseball. But Pelfrey, and whomever else they will have are OK. K-Rod is nice to have, but like the others said, it is going to take the Mets a lot more than K-Rod. I went back to 27 of the games that were blown for the Mets. Out of the 27, 17 were blown in the 7th and 8th innings. Granted that would have been enough to win the Division, but there were other factors too, like 33 innings without scoring… The Phillies are by FAR not perfect, but K-Rod is only one piece. The Mets have to do more… Even if the Mets do it in 2009, we STILL did it first in 2008. So am I worried…. Nope. I wish them all the best, and right now, I am in it for the ride regardless how it pans out.
Posted: 10:05 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 Mark
I love how when the Mets acquired Santana, that made them an automatic threat to make a post-season run. Don’t get me wrong, Sanatana is a horse and did well but, he’s only one man.
So, what? Now they get KRod. Big deal!
They still will need relief in the 7th and 8th innings on most occasions. It’s a solid pick up but, still, it’s only one man.
They just better hope they have the lead before the 9th inning so they can use him.
Posted: 10:50 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 NJ
Agree with you there Mark, the Mets are all about headline news and being seen to be appeasing the fans but there’s no direction coming from that club and all Minaya seems to do be good for is flasing the cash.
I fear those big names the Mets keep bringing in but I’m comforted by the fact they keep repeating the same mistake. They’ve all but emptied their farm on trades and free agent signings and they’ll loose more picks this year, they need to completely re-structure their middle relief and they have putrid depth since their bench guys have to fill the void for bad health, bad contract guys. Their going to try and buy a championship but their headed for tough times.
Is K-Rod an upgrade over Wagner? Doesn’t really matter.
Posted: 11:05 AM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 David, the Mets fan from Queens
Hey NJ,
To willingly answer your rhetorical question, it DOES matter if K-Rod is an upgrade over Wagner. A better closer suggests that my Mets will close games more efficiently and not blow many saves. My aforementioned logic entails that the Mets will win more games, which then implies that your Phillies would in turn have to win more games as well in order to win the NL East.
Let’s not forget about the Braves.
Posted: 03:04 PM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 Justin
I completely forgot the Mets still have to sign 2 starters unless they’re going to bring guys from the dilapitated farm system. Their rotation is Santana, Pelfrey, Jon Niese, and what Aaron Heilman is now in the rotation? Thats going to mean LOTS of innings for the leagues worst bullpen and an overworked K-Rod.
The Braves haven’t done anything, what Javier Vasquez is going to strike fear into people? He’s been on 3 teams in 3 years, something tells me he’s had problems everywhere else.
Posted: 03:14 PM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 NJ
K-Rod isn’t much of an upgrade over Wagner because he was still an elite closer before his injury. Having K-Rod doesn’t mean you’ll blow less saves, he blows as many saves as anyone and you’ll continue to blow saves in middle-relief and with the set-up guys. My concern was that Minaya would have actually made the smart play and signed Fuentes. K-Rod’s loyalty won’t be to the Mets and it will hurt you just as it did with Wagner but the Heilman’s and Feliciano’s (who I thinks one of the best lefty relievers in the game) will continue to take the blame when it’s really bad scouting and poor investments from Minaya that has stopped the Mets from dominating the NL East. If the Mets really want to turn the table on the Phillies they should be looking at adding support peices, we’ll all agree you have great stars but it’s almost always how your support guys who hold the team together that determines those crucial few extra wins or losses.
That’s why I say K-Rod doesn’t matter because there’s only so much he can do, there’s a reason Brad Lidge bought his fellow relievers diamond watches on his dime.
Posted: 03:30 PM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 NJ
We should fear the Braves just as the Mets should have feared us enough to check their ego’s at the door when they were the dominant team in the division.
The thing that made the Braves so strong for so long is even with players with egos, they knew they had to work harder than everyone else to stay at the top which is something that needs to be instilled into our guys like Ryan Howard and Brett Myers.
Posted: 03:36 PM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 KM
The Mets are lucky they got him to sign a 3 year deal, because he has been slowly declining over the last 3 years.
Also, they have still have to get him the ball with a lead in the 9th, so I am not scared by the move.
Posted: 06:15 PM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 Tyler
KM, declining?! Setting the major-league saves record is declining?!
People can talk about the face that his fastball has dropped about 5 MPH, but guess what, that’s because he has thrown his change up, slider and curve ball more that the fastball.
As a young pitcher, he heavily relied on the fastball, now, he is a breaking ball pitcher.
Posted: 06:30 PM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 phillyhater
i love how every other Phillies fan is saying how you arent scared. All this means is the fact that you are scared. You wouldnt be saying it if you werent scared. You all know that the only reason you guys won the division is because Wagner went down. And there is NO WAY your bullpen is gonna repeat their performance of last year.
Posted: 10:40 PM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 joshua
Oh my God, you people are sooo thick! OBVIOUSLY the mets are not done with their deals…all of you people are like, “oh but they still got to get to the 9th” no SHIT! Omar as we speak is working on getting JJ Putz, and others to get us to the 9th so Krod can close your ass.
And I am gonna laugh next season, because the law of averages states, that lidge will blow a few saves this year..and tehy might be HUGE ones
Posted: 11:24 PM on December 10, 2008
Posts: 0 phillyhater
thank you Joshua, I was gonna say tghe same thing. Everyone’s like, oooooh i’m not scared. They need more than him. It takes one more than one guy. I really hate Phillies fans. You all are so obsessed with the Mets its scary. Once again, you are more concerned with the Mets than you are your own team, you bunch of stupid idiots.
Posted: 12:03 AM on December 11, 2008
Posts: 0 Realmetsfan
METS ALSO GET JJ PUTZ AND SEAN GREEN. Ha!!! Are any of you philly phans worried NOWWWW!!!!
Posted: 01:16 AM on December 11, 2008
Posts: 0 krodamet
hahahah we were 11-7 against u guys and u still believe 09 will be great again listen were gonna be like 06 but a different result champs!
u may have won the world series(congrads) but thats the past now…
i dont wanna here …..”yeah and who one the world series in 08″
i’d just say” this is 09 and its now.” ya cant change the past but u can decide the future…
“the mets are the team to beat”
-krod
Posted: 09:06 PM on December 31, 2008