After punching his girlfriend’s father in the family room of the team’s clubhouse last week, Mets’ closer Francisco Rodriguez will need surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right thumb.

He could be a little lighter in the wallet soon, too.

According to SI.com’s Jon Heyman, the Mets are looking into voiding K-Rod’s contract on the grounds that he injured himself outside of the course of play. Seeing as how he’s set to make $11.5 million in 2011 and $17.5 million in 2012 (which also includes a $3.5 million buyout), voiding the closer’s contract would create a ton of financial relief for New York.

But voiding his contract won’t be an easy task for the Mets, who first need to get past the player’s union. The move could also hurt them in future deals with free agents who don’t want to play for a team that goes after players’ money (even if said player was being an idiot).

Another option the Mets have is going after K-Rod’s remaining 2010 salary. They obviously won’t get as much financial relief in that scenario, but every little bit helps.

Either way, they have a daunting task ahead of them and Rodriguez has certainly put them in an incredible bind. While it’s too early to suggest that the Mets will rid themselves of him entirely, don’t count out an outright release.