After a record-setting 62-save season in 2008 with the Angels, Francisco Rodriguez has signed a three-year deal with the New York Mets. The $45 million contract, which includes an option for a fourth year, was reportedly the only offer from an organization other than the Angels.
Owner Arte Moreno said the Angels made as many as six contract offers to Rodriguez over the years, the last one for three years and $34 million in November 2007.
Rodriguez, believing his value was more in line with the three-year, $45-million deal Yankees closer Mariano Rivera signed that month, rejected the offer.
Rodriguez was hoping to parlay his record-setting season into a five-year, $75-million deal, but with a glut of closers available and only one big-market team in the hunt for one, Rodriguez’s market was severely depressed this winter.
Scioscia said the Angels wouldn’t necessarily enter 2009 with a set closer. Veteran setup man Scot Shields probably will be given the first crack at the job, and right-hander Jose Arredondo, coming off an impressive rookie season, will be considered.
Veteran left-hander Darren Oliver could pitch later in games, and hard-throwing youngster Kevin Jepsen will probably play a more prominent role. The Angels are also talking to the agent for free-agent left-hander Brian Fuentes, who could close.
Too bad K-Rod couldn’t just swallow his pride and stay with Angels, a team that will consistently have a shot at making the World Series. It seems like in the days of the modern bulky pitching contract (a la CC Sabathia), Rodriguez felt it with was about time he was given some monetary respect.
The Angels still made the right move. Scot Shields is an effective set-up man and if they can land Brian Fuentes as a closer, they should be in good shape. But pitching was never the Angels’ problem. As seen in the last fall’s ALDS, the only person who drove some runs in was Mark Texiera, and it appears that he’s who they’re going after.
And they should. Aside from Albert Pujols, Texiera is the best all-around first baseman in the game. He has a good attitude, a solid bat, and is a wall at first base. If I were Arte Moreno, the owner of the Angels, I’d sign this guy before Brian Cashman of the Yankees looks under his chair and finds $200 million that he had forgotten about after closing in on Sabathia earlier this morning.
