As we speculated yesterday, the New York Mets have signed Francisco Rodriguez. Rodriguez, formerly of the Los Angeles Angels, is coming off of a season in which he saved an MLB record 62 games.
The initial offer by the Mets was believed to be for two years. However, the Mets decided to up the deal to three years. The deal with Rodriguez is believed to be worth approximately $37 million.
Rodriguez will step right into the closer role for the Mets. He’ll replace Billy Wagner, who was lost to a long-term injury last season.
Although Rodriguez was obviously a wanted man following his record breaking season, some teams were scared off by the fact that his velocity was lower last year than in previous seasons. His strikeouts per inning were down and his walks remained about the same. In fact, in each of his previous five seasons, Rodriguez had struck out more batters.
But the Mets are willing to roll the dice with Rodriguez and hope that he can make up for any lost velocity. Time will tell whether or not this was $37 million well spent.
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