K-Rod's agent, Boras, disputes setup angle
Closer Francisco Rodriguez of the New York Mets celebrates after getting the final out and the save against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. (July 4, 2011) Credit: Getty
PHOENIX -- The Mets' effort to trade Francisco Rodriguez didn't necessarily get tougher Monday, but it definitely grew louder.
Scott Boras confirmed that he is K-Rod's new representative, replacing Paul Kinzer. And baseball's most prominent, powerful agent worked quickly to dispute the industrywide notion that Rodriguez, because of a unique vesting option, will be dealt somewhere as a setup man this summer.
"Francisco Rodriguez is a historic closer," Boras said at the player availabilities at a ritzy area hotel. "He's not going anywhere to be a setup man."
Of course, it isn't quite that simple. As per the terms of the three-year, $37-million deal that Rodriguez signed with the Mets in December 2009, he can block trades to 10 teams, the identities of which are not yet known. That leaves 19 prospective suitors against whom the only potential roadblock K-Rod can construct is potential unhappiness.
"Closers don't make good setup men," said Boras, who represented Eric Gagne when the former Cy Young Award-winning closer bombed as a Red Sox setup man in 2007. "Does anyone want an unhappy setup man in their clubhouse?"
That Mets contract featured a $17.5-million vesting option (against a $3.5-million buyout) for 2012 that will go into effect if K-Rod finishes 55 games in this 2011 season. He sits at the All-Star break with 34 games finished, putting him on a pace for 61, six more than he needs.
Hence the Mets' strong interest in dealing him to avoid committing to that high salary for next year. And that's why teams would rather acquire K-Rod as a setup man for less experienced closers. The vesting option looms for everyone.
Arizona, Milwaukee, St. Louis and Texas top the list of teams looking for setup help. There are other options available on the trade market, such as San Diego's Heath Bell, Baltimore's Koji Uehara, Oakland's Grant Balfour and Florida's Leo Nuñez.
Rodriguez is enjoying a decent rebound season after last year's arrest for the skirmish with the grandfather of his children. He has a 3.16 ERA in 422/3 innings and has converted 23 of 26 save opportunities.
Yet he's hardly dominant, and when you combine K-Rod's contract with Boras' stated opinions, teams surely will look closely at other options before seriously going after the righthander.
Which could prove a headache for the Mets, who have pleased the Players Association by utilizing K-Rod without apparent wariness of the vesting option. Considering that they're looking to cut their payroll, the last thing they want is a $17.5-million closer.
