The Mets Get K-Rod

The Mets signed Francisco Rodriguez to a three year $37 million dollar deal. It also has a vesting option for a fourth year at $14 million. It is believed the option is based on innings pitched in the  second and third year or just the third year. This is a good signing by Omar Minaya. The Mets will be without Billy Wagner this year and forever after that. They needed a closer and Omar went and got the best one on the market at a reasonable value. The most important part is the reasonable years. Giving three years to a 26 year old closer is a reasonable business risk. It is  better than giving three years to a 33 year old closer who was demoted from his closing roll during a pennant race two years ago. Better than a 2 year deal to a closer who has a history of arm problems and spent time on the DL last year. Better than a 1 year deal for one of the better closers in Major League history who is on the downside of his career and had problems the last two seasons in a pitcher’s ball park. It is even better than trading prospects to other teams to get their closers. All K-Rod cost was money and a draft pick. That Draft pick will be recuperated when someone overpays for Oliver Perez.

If anyone wants to question why the Mets made K-Rod a priority, I point to September 2007 and September 2008. In 2007, Billy Wagner went down at the end of the month during a nasty slide that, well, you know. In 2008, Billy Wagner went down for the season and was poorly replaced by Aaron Heilman, Duaner Sanchez, Luis Ayala, and Brian Stokes. I have heard all the arguments as to why a closer is overrated. They are only overrated when you have a good one. When you have a bad one, or none at all, they are pretty important. The Mets are paying for a security blanket. They are paying for a consistent presence. In K-Rod they will have one.

Let’s look at his last four seasons.  2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. I take those because those are the four he was the full time closer. Since saves are a product of your team playing close games, I am not going to give you those. Here are better stats to gauge his importance. His innings pitched were 67.3, 73, 67.3, 68.3. His hits allowed were 45, 52, 50, 54.  His HR allowed were 7,6,3,4.  His walks allowed were 32, 28, 34, 34. His strikeouts were 91,98,90,77. His ERA’s were 2.67, 1.73, 2.81 and 2.24. His WHIP’s were 1.14, 1.09, 1.24 and 1.28. To check out all of the stats look here. My point to all of this is you know what you are getting. He is 26. The one total that is a little alerting is his decrease in strikeouts last season. I am curious to see if that is an aberration or if it is a trend. They say he has developed his change up and that makes him more of a “pitcher” than a “thrower”. Either way, the Mets are taking a gamble on a pretty consistently good pitcher who is 26. I am going to say this is who he is. And for the Mets, consistency is very important in moving forward from the craziness of the last two seasons.

Another plus to Frankie Rodriguez is he is marketable and he wants to be here. That is important for the psyche of the team and the fans. You just know when a  guy took the money and is uncomfortable being on the team. It turns the guy into a lightning rod and makes everyone’s life uncomfortable. The signing is a strong chip in moving in the right direction. By no means is it the only thing that needs to be fixed. The Mets need at least two relievers and I envision Huston Street and/or Chad Cordero being part of that. I see young flamethrowers like Robert Parnell and Eddie Kunz being part of that, if they are not traded for a starter. Speaking of that, they need at least one, if not two more, starters. They also need to dump the albatross that is Luis Castillo and get a better second baseman. And a righty bat with pop would be nice. But the offense is secondary and the Mets seem to be approaching the offseason that way.

I am prepared for the arguments in the comments. “He has lost a bit of his fastball.” Well, he still throws in the 90’s and if his change up is good, it doesn’t matter how hard you throw as long as the change up is significant. “He has thrown a lot of innings at 26.” Well if you look, his first two full seasons he threw 86 and 84. The last 4 he only broke 70 innings once. That is not a crazy amount for a reliever. “He has not had success in the postseason recently” That is true but I am looking to make the postseason at this point so I am willing to chance it. “$12.5 million is a lot for a relief pitcher” I tend to agree but, as I said, you are paying for security and he is only on the hook for three years. If he gets his option, he will be 30. So if he stays this consistent, the Mets have to give a 30 year old closer one year at $14 million. Not terrible. They can think about signing a 31 year old closer in 4 years. Right now, they have a very good, consistent presence. Which in Metland, is nice for a change.