K-Rod granted three more weeks to work out plea deal

Francisco Rodriguez has been granted three more weeks to work out a plea deal with the Queens district attorney's office before the case potentially goes to trial.

At a brief hearing Wednesday morning at Queens Criminal Court, Judge Elisa Koenderman adjourned the Mets closer's case until Dec. 3 and raised the possibility of beginning a trial that day.

But Rodriguez's attorney, Christopher Booth, dismissed the mention of a trial as "a figure of speech" on his way out of court, insisting there will be a plea deal presented to the judge at the next hearing.

"This is not going to go to trial," he said.

Assistant District Attorney Scott Kessler confirmed that plea-deal discussions were ongoing during yesterday's hearing, adding that the two sides planned to meet immediately after the hearing to continue negotiations.

Rodriguez faces as much as two years in jail if convicted of third-degree assault, second-degree harassment and criminal contempt charges.

Rodriguez was arrested after a game on Aug. 11 and is accused of attacking the grandfather of his twin children inside the Citi Field family room and, in the following weeks, violating an order of protection by sending dozens of text messages to his fiancee.

Booth first raised the possibility of a plea deal during interviews outside court after Rodriguez's previous court hearing here a month ago.

"As you can imagine there are many layers of complications to this case, so many different issues that need to be addressed," Booth said. "But we're working very hard to resolve it. We're close. We want to resolve this case by the next date and we're confident we can do that."

Rodriguez was in court but did not speak during the hearing and did not respond to reporters' questions. Last month he withdrew his grievance against the Mets, agreeing to forfeit the $3.1 million in salary that the Mets withheld in August and September in exchange for the Mets restoring his contract to guaranteed status.

Rodriguez, who also admitted as part of the settlement with the Mets that he injured his thumb during the alleged attack on Aug. 11, will make $11.5 million next season in the final year of a three-year, $37-million contract. But a 2012 option for $17 million will vest if he finishes 55 games and is deemed healthy after the season.

Booth declined to comment on a New York Times report that Rodriguez lived with Mets clubhouse manager Charlie Samuels in the wake of the order of protection handed down at his Aug. 12 arraignment, effectively barring him from returning to his Old Brookville home.

Last week the Mets suspended Samuels without pay after learning that authorities have linked him to an ongoing police investigation into gambling.