Well, it’s official. Frankie Rodriguez and the specter of his $17 Million vesting option have moved on to the sunny environs of Wisconsin. Honestly, I’m at a little bit of a loss as to how to feel about this.

On one hand, I was never a K-Rod hater as some Mets fans and local media types seemed to be. On the other hand, I never felt particularly invested in him as a player. I was happy when he did good because that usually meant the team won, and I was pissed when he screwed up because that usually meant the team lost. End of story.

On one hand, I completely understand why they moved him. $17M is a lot of loot to pay some guy who pitches about 70 innings a season. That works out to about a quarter of a million dollars per inning. $81,000 per out. On the other hand, even though the Mets still have a steep hill to climb if they want to see any October baseball, this move almost feels like giving up. On the third hand, maybe freeing up that $17M (which I think is safe to say would’ve been kicking in this season) will enable them to resign a certain speedy Dominican who I really, really, really, really want to see in Queens for a long time to come.

One one hand, maybe it’ll be cool to watch Bobby Parnell or maybe Pedro Beato grow into the closers role. On the other hand, maybe it’ll be completely maddening to watch Bobby Parnell or Pedro Beato grow into the closers role.

All in all, I guess I see more positives in this move than negatives, and like I said, I completely understand the thinking behind it. Good luck to you, Frankie. It’s been real. It’s been fun. It hasn’t always been real fun. And to the Milwaukee fans out there, please keep you arms and legs inside of the car at all times. The ride can get bumpy at times.

Tags: 2009 Allen & Ginter, Francisco Rodriguez
Filed Under: Mets News by slangon
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