K-Rod OK with a deal but wants to stay

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Francisco Rodriguez has insisted that he wants to remain with the Mets, so the closer was annoyed Friday when asked to repeat himself in light of a story that had him eyeing the Bronx to set up for Mariano Rivera.

"I want to stay here," Rodriguez said before Friday's game against the Rangers. "I don't want to be traded. That part was left out. I only said that 'if' I was traded, I would set up for another team. But I don't want to go anywhere."

The trigger, of course, was his dropping the Yankees into the conversation along with mentioning the Rays. K-Rod further explained that he was talking about contenders.

The Yankees' need has become more urgent after the loss of Joba Chamberlain, who had season-ending Tommy John surgery, and the prolonged absence of setup man Rafael Soriano (elbow). When the subject of K-Rod was broached Friday to Joe Girardi, he deferred to general manager Brian Cashman.

"That's something that our front office takes care of," Girardi said. "That's something that we're told to basically be tight-lipped on because of tampering rules."

The Mets know they have little chance of staying in contention without Rodriguez, and that's why Sandy Alderson isn't shopping him around just yet. But while he's here, the Mets would prefer that K-Rod remain focused on his job in Flushing, and Terry Collins is satisfied that's the case.

Rodriguez made sure to speak with Collins as soon as he arrived Friday. K-Rod told the manager he was misrepresented in the story and does not want to be traded.

"I did not read it, but he told me about it," Collins said. "He said he did say that he wanted to stay here, but if he was traded, he'd like to go to a contender, which -- make no mistake about it -- that is where he would go if somebody traded for him."

Rodriguez is not alone on the Mets when it comes to trade speculation. Carlos Beltran is the player most likely to be moved, with the fates of K-Rod and Jose Reyes more closely tied to the fortunes of the team over the next few weeks.

The Mets entered Friday trailing the Braves by 5½ games in the wild-card race, but also staring at a difficult stretch leading up to the All-Star break.

Collins understands that there's no way for his players to avoid the inevitable trade questions, but the Mets can turn down the volume by reeling off a few wins.

"If we go 4-2 on this road trip and we stay in the hunt," Collins said, "I'm not sure anybody's going anywhere."

With Rodriguez, however, there are financial considerations. Not only is he earning $11.5 million this season, but K-Rod has a $17.5-million option for 2012 that automatically vests if he finishes 55 games.

That appears to be a lock if he remains with the Mets as Rodriguez already has 28 through the first 75 games.If he is traded, to the Yankees for example, that team could sidestep the option by using him in a setup role, something that Rodriguez already has said he'd be willing to do if a potential deal were brought to his attention. For their part, the Yankees certainly aren't distancing themselves from K-Rod -- or at least the idea of acquiring him.

"Well, [David] Robertson has done a great job for us," Girardi said. "In baseball, you can never have enough pitching. I don't care if you're 20 deep. You can never have too much."

For now, Rodriguez is content to be the Mets' closer. But his standing on the team remains a fluid situation, and one that could change dramatically by July 11, which is the start of the All-Star break.

"We got 13 road games in the next 16 days," Collins said. "I'd say they're pretty important. We still got plans to get everybody on the same page in the second half and hopefully make a run at it."

With Anthony Rieber