Francisco Rodriguez Trade: My Initial Reactions
Most of us found out earlier this morning that the New York Mets traded closer Francisco Rodriguez to the Milwaukee Brewers for two players to be named later. The New York Mets had been expected to trade Francisco Rodriguez at some point before the trading deadline so this was not really a surprise. It was basically a matter of when, where and who (as in the return package). The New York Mets took care of the first two questions last night, but we will have to wait to see what the “who” part of the question turns out to be. When I put my post together this morning, I didn’t have to time to express much opinion – nor did I really have time to form much of one for that matter. As promised though, here I am.
I can’t really evaluate the trade until I know who the Mets get back in return. However, one of the main reasons for making the trade was salary relief. Rodriguez was probably owed somewhere close $5.75 million for the remainder of the season. That’s $5.75 million that the Mets no longer have to pay. Most importantly, the Mets are off of the hook for the vesting option that Rodriguez had in his contract. Rodriguez has finished 34 games in 2011 and if he finishes 21 more his team will owe him $17.5 million in 2012. The Mets definitely had to avoid that .50 caliber Teflon coated bullet. For that reason alone, this is already a good trade.
Stay tuned for more updates and/or speculation as more info is gathered on the players that could make their way over to the New York Mets.
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2 Rants to “Francisco Rodriguez Trade: My Initial Reactions”
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We’d better get something back in this deal. Say what you will about his contract, but the guy can contribute to a big league team and we shouldn’t just throw him to whomever will take him. Especially if we are kicking in any kind of money at all. I’m not impressed with this trade at all. We’d better get a helluva lot more for Beltran ! The only way I like this trade is if it leads us to signing Reyes and keeping Wright. We might not stay in the wildcard chase this year (but then again…we ARE the amazins after all) but we don’t need that much to compete next year. Especially if Johan comes back strong….
Keep the faith my Mets bretheran
I just wish that we could know who the five prospects are that the Mets get to chose from. Even if the return isn’t great, I don’t think we can understate the importance of avoiding a $17.5 million salary for a relief pitcher – that is really just unreal for anyone not named Mariano Rivera. I imagine that the return for Beltran will at least be solid. If the Mets trade him, the return will have to be better than the two draft picks that the Mets would receive as compensation. The Mets actually have some interesting pieces. I just don’t really like the starting pitching yet. I’m a bit pessimistic about Santana returning to top-of-the-rotation form – shoulder surgery is still somewhat of a crapshoot. I’m hoping that Matt Harvey and Jenrry Mejia can continue to develop (and get healthy in Mejia’s case) and eventually become ace-caliber pitchers.