K-Rod's contract may create odd situations

JUPITER, Fla. -- Shortly before the Mets' bus departed Wednesday morning for Roger Dean Stadium, five players had a lively discussion in the clubhouse.

Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez chatted by Reyes' locker. Each has an expiring contract, and the Mets, ever mindful of payroll, would happily wave goodbye to all five. In some cases, they might not wait until the end of this season to do so.

Only with Rodriguez, it's not that simple. The Mets are chained to K-Rod by an easily attainable $17.5-million option, one that automatically vests for next year if Rodriguez finishes 55 games this season.

How realistic is that goal? For five seasons starting in 2005, the year K-Rod became a full-time closer for the Angels, he averaged 61.4 games finished, with no fewer than 56. That tally does not include last season -- when he had only 46 -- because it ended Aug. 14. That was K-Rod's final outing before surgery on a torn right thumb ligament, the result of punching his girlfriend's father in the Citi Field family room three days earlier.

No one expects Rodriguez to fall short of the 55-game vesting figure this year, so whenever he is called upon -- or not, in some questionable instances -- the Mets will be under the microscope. K-Rod is scheduled to make his Grapefruit League debut Thursday against the Cardinals, but these calls to the bullpen are freebies. Starting April 1, each appearance will be significant. "It's going to be a point of interest," Paul Kinzer, the agent for Rodriguez, told Newsday. "I would hope that their desire to win would override anything like that. We'll be following it very closely."

Kinzer is not alone. Michael Weiner, executive director of the Players Association, visited the Mets last month and maintained the union would be monitoring Rodriguez's usage as well.

Said Weiner: "There's arbitration precedent that makes clear that a team cannot sit a player down or decline to use him to prevent him from earning a bonus or having a year vest."

The Mets, however, have serious cash-flow problems, and that mega-option looms like a tidal wave for a drowning man.

"Yeah, 2012 factors into our thinking in 2011," general manager Sandy Alderson has said. "It would be disingenuous to say otherwise, but going into the season, he's our closer. If he pitches well, he's valuable to us. If he pitches poorly, we probably don't have to worry about it."

The Mets have only themselves to blame. Rodriguez is earning $11.5 million this season, the last of his three-year, $37-million contract, and Kinzer said the steep option was tacked on as a way to backload some salary.

Rodriguez's contract also includes a $3.5-million buyout, and it's possible the Mets could consider that if they choose to eat additional money in any attempt to trade him. Trying to deal K-Rod might be their only escape clause.

As long as he stays healthy, it will be nearly impossible to prevent Rodriguez from cashing in. Manager Terry Collins has said the option will not influence how K-Rod is used, but that's easy to say now, with the Mets still optimistic about their chances.

"The more we win, he's going to be a big part of it," Collins said. "And if we keep winning, I'm sure he'll keep going out there. So I plan on using him how I'm supposed to use him."

That's open to interpretation. Collins could lean on K-Rod more in the eighth inning, depending on the game situation, and pull him before the ninth. Rodriguez says the vesting option is out of his control, that he "doesn't really worry about that."

If so, K-Rod is the only one. With the Mets' ownership group under siege -- awash in debt and facing a potential $1-billion lawsuit from Bernard Madoff trustee Irving Picard -- there's no telling how desperate things may get during the season. Or what the financial mess could mean for the higher-priced players such as Rodriguez.

"There's a lot of variables with the Mets," Kinzer said. "We just have to see what happens."