If you believe Arte Moreno, the Angels will have a new closer in 2009 …
The chances of the Angels retaining record-setting closer Francisco Rodriguez went from slim to virtually none on Wednesday, with owner Arte Moreno saying, "We're turning the page on this one."
--snip--
Rodriguez is one of the top right-handed relievers in the game, but the Angels appear to have exhausted their efforts to retain the free agent.
The Angels thought they had an agreement with Rodriguez on a three-year, $34 million deal last November, but Rodriguez turned it down after Yankees closer Mariano Rivera signed a three-year, $45 million contract.
Rodriguez, who went 2-3 with a 2.24 earned run average and a record 62 saves in 69 games last season, is looking for a deal of four or five years in length and $15 million a year.
"Believe it or not, we really spent a lot of time and effort trying to re-sign Frankie," Moreno said. "There were six different offers on the table at different times, and this time last year, we thought we had him signed. Then Rivera got his deal.
"I'm not one of these never-never people, but I think, as a whole, it's time to turn the page and move forward and get to things we need to do."
The Angels plan to offer Rodriguez arbitration on Dec. 1 so they can receive a first-round draft pick and a sandwich pick after the first round as compensation for losing the 26-year-old, who is expected to draw heavy interest from the New York Mets.
The arbitration offer also leaves a crack in the door for a possible return to Anaheim for Rodriguez, who could sign a one-year deal with the Angels if he is unhappy with the offers he receives elsewhere.
If Rodriguez departs, a pair of right-handed set-up men -- veteran Scot Shields and rookie Jose Arredondo -- would be in line to replace him, but Moreno said the Angels would also pursue a reliever in free agency or by trade.
You know, for all the talk about everybody needing relief help, there really aren't all that many teams who desperately need a new closer this winter. By my count, there are six:
• The Tigers can't really count on
Fernando Rodney or
Joel Zumaya;
• the Angels are probably going to lose K-Rod;
• the Mets don't have anybody;
• the Cubs may not want to spend what it takes to retain
Kerry Wood;
• the Brewers just learned that
Salomon Torres is
target=new>retiring
; and
• the Cardinals shouldn't assume that
Ryan Franklin will continue to thrive (by his standards).
And that's it. Every other team either has a decent closer in place or doesn't need one. What's more, two of those six teams -- the Angels with
Jose Arredondo and the Cubs with
Carlos Marmol -- already have closers-in-waiting, and have little reason to spend a great deal of money on a reliever this winter.
So now we're down to four teams: the Tigers, the Mets, the Brewers and the Cardinals. The Tigers supposedly don't have a great deal of money to spend this winter, the Brewers can't really afford a big contract for a reliever, and the Cardinals have bigger problems to worry about. This leaves the Mets all by their lonesome.
Meanwhile,
Brian Fuentes, Wood and Rodriguez are free agents. So are
Juan Cruz,
Trevor Hoffman,
Jason Isringhausen and
Bob Howry, all of whom are capable -- theoretically, at least -- of turning in the same sort of work that Salomon Torres gave the Brewers last year. Not that we should expect the Mets to settle for Torres-like work. But there's no shortage of good relief pitching on the open market this winter. The Angels can afford to let Rodriguez get away because they really don't need him, and the Mets can afford to be patient because if they don't sign Rodriguez they'll probably wind up with someone else who's nearly as good.
Yes, Mariano Rivera got his $15 million per season. But he's a unique pitcher, the Yankees a unique team. Each day it becomes less and less likely that K-Rod's going to get that sort of money.
(Tip of the cap to BTF's
Newsstand.)
Rob Neyer
