This morning on WFAN, Paul Kinzer said his client, Francisco Rodriguez, is unlikely to accept a three– or four-year deal at this point in his career.
Kinzer was quick to point out that Francisco Cordero, at 32 years old, got a four-year deal from the Reds last season to be a closer.
“However,” Kinzer explained, “You have to keep an open mind, and see where the market will take you.”
According to Kinzer, there are three to four teams who are interested in Rodriguez, ‘though it’s a select market.’
When asked if Rodriguez would accept a five-year, $75 million deal, Kinzer laughed and said, ‘Sure, we’d probably be there.’
…this is weird…i mean, the guy is essentially negotiating on air…it’s like, he wanted the Mets to be aware of his demands, yet chose to do it on radio…odd…
…so, as of now, it sounds to me like he still expects to get at least a five-year deal, worth at least $13 million per season…
Rodriguez likes New York, Kinzer says, and he likes the big stage, and is very intrigued by the Mets.
…by the way, nice job by Craig Carton on WFAN for making some news in this interview…nice work…
To listen to Kinzer’s entire interview, go to WFAN.com.
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75 million for a guy who pitches 60 innings, likely at most, a year is a joke. Hopefully his price will drop like a rock when free agency actually starts.
75 is not the number. THats the ceiling. In a one horse race we can get him for 4/60 ish.
take it and turn to the next problem.
Its actually good hearing that his agent would be on board with 5y/75mil because that tells me that is about the most that they expect, or they wouldnt say its a good offer…
Maybe they can negotiate down to four years and/or less money.
Mariano Rivera got 3y/15mil, and F. Cordero got 4 y/45.5mil w/team option so 4 years at 14 or 5 years at 13 would seem more reasonable. Short load the first year because Wagner is still on the books and it fits well in the overall payroll picture.
Mariano: 3 years 15 per year.
Krod: 4 years 56 mil with option for 5th year. Heavy incentives throughout that could easily pay him more than 15 per year.
if you listento the interview its just amazing.
Carton is actually throwing out numbers and the agent is agreeing or not.
4 / 60 he paused and said he would have to talk to his client about it.
This guy has a har_ on for NY and his agent knows it. Lets just sign him up and move on
THis agent is NO Boras.,
To me it sounded like they did not expect to get 5/75. When Carton said that, the agent said that “yes, they would be there” or whatever. The way it sounded, not too many teams are interested and he is definitely interested in playing in NY. He was practically saying it on the air that his client wants to be on the Mets. Very strange. I think 4/60 or something like that gets it done and I think you have to do that.
Wow……..it’s nice to be looking at a situation that seems to be improving as time goes by !!
Get KROD
He will be a Met, the Mets are the best fit and inreality the only fit, all Minaya is doing is feigning interest in Fuentes to get KROD down to 4 years and 50-60M.
You are correct sir!!
which sounds like a good plan to me!
i think 5 years would only have to be 13 per but if you give 4 years it sounds like theyll want 15 per. frankly, id rather go with the shorter more expensive contract. Either way he is the best reliever on the market and that is our number 1 need so I dont see a reason why we should not sign him. I also think its important to get it done asap so Omar can move on to the many other holes both in the bullpen and rotation along with LF.
He’s interested in playing New York for one simple reason…the Mets are the ONLY team that will come close to his demands….the Mets are totally in the drivers seat here….4 years 50 million with bonus opportunities
4 years 50 million sounds good to me. But 15 million per for a reliever is terrible.
Well, what you call terrible would have likely gotten us over the hump last season.
He would have stopped our 6th,7th, and 8th inning guys from giving up leads too? I think it’s ridiculous that people have completely forgotten how bad our bullpen was even before Wagner went down. The 9th inning wasnt the problem, innings 6,7,8 & 9 were the problem. If we spend all this money on K-rod and only make a few changes in the rest of the bullpen we’re just going to end up disappointed again.
All those ninth inning blows. Remember, we only needed one more game.
how many leads did we blow before the 9th, though?
I would put the number on 10-15 leads blown before the 9th inning.
I agree, we in great need of a 8th inning guy as well as a closer.
Exactly good sir. It is inevitable in my opinion that K-rod signs with the Mets. It is necessary and smart. However the whole bullpen needs to be re-tooled. The WHOLE bullpen is trash. K-rod only helps a little bit.
I agree 100% with Gina. We need a reliable set up man (or two) as well as a closer. Remember ‘06 before Sanchez got hurt? Heilman to Sanchez to Wagner. Almost unbeatable.
And no, I’m not advocating Heilman can get it done anymore – at least not on the NY Mets. He’s worn out his welcome here….
i was thinking along the same lines…put a lot of incentives or bonuses in the contract so not all of the money is gaurenteed
i’d be OK with a 4 year deal…ideally, no more than a 3 year, but i guess that’s negotiation for ya, coming some where in the middle….
If they signed K-Rod, I’d hope they would fill the bullpen with younger or different arms, I really liked what I saw out of Parnell and would like to see him in the bullpen
oh how the offseason can be so entertaining…
Here’s a example for you.
Fr. Cordero got
$0.5M signing bonus
08:$8.5M, 09:$12M, 10:$12M, 11:$12M,
12:$12M club option ($1M buyout)
full no-trade clause 2008-09,
limited no-trade clause for remainder of contract
so this is what I would offer KRod
09: 8.5 with a 0.5 signing bonus (he made 10 last year so going any lower here would be tough)
10-12: 14.0 with a full, full no trade.
13: 14.0 team option with a 2.0 buyout
this is 53 over 4 years, or 65 over 5 years.
give 0.5 mil bonuses for 40, 50, 60, and 70 appearances. Which are all fairly reachable and would add 8-10 mil to the deal if he stays healthy.
which would pay him a max of… 5 year and 75 mil.
The Mets look good as they ‘only’ risk 53 mil, while KRod is being given his full request.
I love it, but I do not he is going to take a pay cut for his first year.
They should take into account that he should have won 25 games were it not for the “bullpen”.
oops, wrong topic.
Joel Sherman wrote about this yesterday.
“He’s interested in playing New York for one simple reason…the Mets are the ONLY team that will come close to his demands….the Mets are totally in the drivers seat here….4 years 50 million with bonus opportunities”
It’s a one team race, Minaya will know that. He will let every other team get fixed up then get KROD round thge table to get serious,
4 years 60 millions… DONE!!!!
The idea of him closing for us get better and better by the day. I can’t wait for him to close out a game a do his little celebration and tick off the Phillies even more.
That said I think we should go no higher than $14M, but I would be willing to give him a an option 5th year, that would kick in once certain marks are met.
I honestly don’t care if they go 4-5 years if thats whats necessary to get him as long as they dont make the same mistake they did with wagner by not pushing hard to get insurance
I doubt any insurance agency is going to insure the full length of a contract 3+ years to any pitcher, especially one who’s always had people speculating about his injury chances because of his motion.
i know thats what makes it tough…idk too much about insuring players but can u insure the back end of a contract…like a 5 year deal last 2 insured? its just if we can avoid the situation that we are in now where we are probably going to be paying $25+ million for a closer next year because of wagner we have to
deja vu all over again…
I have a better idea for Closer …. Barack Obama!
No track record, no experience…. who cares!!!!
Yes, I am officially on the Obama band wagon. And what I have learned from the Democrats is that all that stuff is meaningless.
Hey, I have seen Obama with a Sox hat on, so I know he knows something about baseball… and that good enough for me!
Plus, the Mets could offer if a sweeet four year deal that is much more than he would make as President, but reasonable to the payroll.
What do you think?
Please crawl back into the hole you ame out of. Go to a political blog if you have nothing worth while to say reagrding baseball.
Excuse the rudeness, but its better to leave that stuff off here, and yes I am on the bandwagon too.
He’s a ChiSox fan a$$hole.
Mets don’t fair that well with the big name aquistions; let’s not give history a chance to repeat itself yet again…
Younger, faster, defense, pitching….
I say skip the 15 M $ guy…
think outta da box and take a few chances…
it can’t get worse than watching them the last 2 seasons!
u have to think from omar’s perspective…if he doesnt make a move for a top closer and the bullpen tanks AGAIN every1 is gonna say its his fault…he is less likely to take all the blame if he is able to say he did everything he could to get the best closer
It can get much worse. Sitting in a half empty shea, drinking RC Cola, during the early 1990s was much worse than these last 2 seasons.
RC Cola, thats cla-ssic! You almost made me burst out into laughter in the middle of my cla-ss just now
my man; I was there for the rheingold years!
but when you don’t expect much, the champagne is not so bitter….
KRod is going to want at a minimum 4 years / 46 mill like what Cordero got. I would give him a 5 year / 65 mill contract plus a club option to push it to 80. Let’s not forget, KRod is 26 years old! It’s not like we’re giving a 5 year contract to 32-33 year old. We gotta lock him up through his prime years! At the end of his contract he’ll be 31-32 years old!
Look for Omar to try to back-load a contract to compensate for the $13MM they have to pay Wagner this year.
I have a feeling we are going to get K-Rod and get him for FAR less than he thinks he is getting. There simply is no market.
You have to think he might actually start to look shorter-term for blow-it-out money with the idea of hitting the market again when he is still in his prime in 2 years.
Omar is not an idiiot. He knows no other team is gonna pay that much for a closer so Omar is gonna talk about Fuentes and trading for a closer
then in the end K-Rod will be a met for 4 years 48-52 with bonuses and a mutual option for a 5th.
Also if Dye can be had for let’s say Evans, Heilman and a decent prospect (Tobi Stoner) then you have to pull the trigger.
Dye will guarentee you 270 with 25+ HR and 80 RBI. He’s clutch, he’s a leader and he hits RH. Put him behind Delgado and before Church and you have a formidable line-up while leaving the seat warm for F-Mart. Murphy can bat 7th and develop into a better hitter so when Dye leaves they don’t lose a beat.
Reyes
Beltran
Wright
Delgado
Dye
Church
Murphy
Schneider/Castro
I love Jermaine Dye. And though people will whine about age, he is not another Moises Alou.
not to mention he’s had over 500 AB the last 5 seasons and he’d only be here for 1 year maybe 2 if he has a great year and F-Mart isn’t ready
rich is that you?
I think Dye would be great, but Evans, Heilman and Stoner will not come close to getting it done.
Don’t forget about the 11 mill we would be paying plus the buyout. It would essentialy be a salary dump and they get a couple of good young players.
I agree and your standpiont on Dye. But Beltran is not and will never be a #2 hitter. Please people get it through your head. A guy like Murphy who has the potential for power to develop with fairly good speed to become a 3 hitter is a real #2. Even Castio if he wasn’t such a bust. Beltran hits 115 RBI’s consistantly every year! That won’t come hitting 2nd. You need to utilize that in a middle order spot 3-5. You also need to spread out the lefties down low in the order. That mean big no to Ibanez.
Reyes
Murphy
Wright
Delgado
Beltran
Dye
Church
Snieder/Castro
beltran has said publicly he prefers hitting 2nd and his numbers back that up. his average is much higher as a 2 hitter
he likes to take pitches, he likes to drive the ball and he likes to walk plus he has speed.
plus Murphy is not proven enough to bat 2nd. Murphy needs to gradually move down the lineup. It is way too much to ask him to bat 2nd every day. He only has 150 ML AB
I’m telling you, you all are blinded by his saves total this year. The velocity on his fastball is down, his BB/K ratio is up, his Whip has gone up almost every year, his motion is an injury waiting to happen as he gets older…Please..please I beg of you Omar…NO K-ROD!!! It will be a disaster.
He’s better than Fuentes and certainly any internal option we have.
no Heilman is better he just needs to build up his confidence haha
As he gets older? Like some1 mentioned before his contract will be up by the time he is about 32 years old
SIGN K-ROD ‘08!!!
Put it in the books. Now get one of CC/Burnett/Sheets and one of Manny/Dunn/Tex and Omar’s fantasy team will be set (of course there’s much work to be done in the bullpen).
I’d be happier knowing that someone like Juan Cruz were also in the pen, not just Rodriguez, because a lot of bad stuff happens before the ninth inning. They need a replacement for Sanchez, and I don’t think I see it among the players we have.
Can they afford (and sign) both Cruz and Rodriguez?
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