K-Rod unhappy he's not in closer's mix

[pitchleague]

okay, so I hope that our fans don't take this all the wrong way and start booing him--especially if he has a bad inning. It could get ugly.

[logan82]

“I’m not lying, I’m not creating something out of nowhere. I’m just stating the facts. That’s something I should not be discussing with any of you guys. That’s something I should be discussing with the manager in his office.”

 

You are right it isn't and it is. Why don't you stop talking now.

[pebadger]

The way this gets to be a big deal is if people make it a big deal. K-Rod didn't just wake up and feel this way. He's felt this way for a while, as he makes clear in his comments. Despite that, he's still done a fine job in the role he has. K-Rod knows full well that things will likely work out best for him if he doesn't rock the boat.

 

None of this mattered until the guy from CBS made it matter. I don't know what we as fans really expect from these guys sometimes. We don't want them to speak their minds, but we don't want them to be phonies. K-Rod answered the questions asked honestly. The writer is the one who injected loaded words like "betrayal" into the story.

 

I'm guessing people have known from the day he got here that he wants to close. So long as that desire doesn't disrupt things, how is that any different than any other guy wanting a bigger role but subordinating that desire to the needs of the team and playing his role the best he can? I'm guessing that characterization applies to more than one guy on most big league rosters.

[markedman5]

I have no problem with his desire to close....I have a problem with him going to the media.

 

Anyone who has ever played on a team knows that this kind of stuff should be kept in house....especially at this point in the season.

[The Heartbreak Yid]

Perhaps he'd be happier closing meaningless games for the Mets.

[FVBrewerFan]

Ok KROD is taking it to a new level now...........RR needs to handle him.

 

http://brewersbeat.mlblog...-rod-stands-by-comments/

So, as I said earlier, this was not a writer making something up as many people suggested. And now it begins. It's not a big deal because Sportsline reported it. It's a big deal because KRod has now talked about this twice, and the story will continue to grow.

 

I don't think this one is tough. We all know he wants to close, and none of us blame him for that. But you just can't call your organization a bunch of liars during a pennant race.

[TooLiveBrew]

We all know he wants to close, and none of us blame him for that.

 

I do, he's being a knucklehead. Instead of just being part of one of the best pitching staffs in the league & chasing a WS title, he's going to pout & whine about not closing. The closer's role has to be one of the dumbest things in this sport.

[Funketown]

This is perfect. The more the Brewers anger K-Rod the less likely he is to accept arbitration. In all seriousness, they should consider making him park his car in Waukesha and consider running over his dog. Maybe put his locker somewhere near Bernie's Terrace.

 

I don't think it's wrong of him to be upset, but this is not the type of thing that should go to the media.

[umphrey]

This is exactly what he said a week after we traded for him. This is not a new opinion from him. Like I said then, he's going to put his game face on, fake it (being a team player) for a few months and get his contract next year.

The other thing he said

[bucksman4]

This is on RR now. The fact that Rodriguez is talking about this again today tells me RR was too gun shy to address the comments immediately and take control of the situation yesterday.

 

Obviously Melvin and RR deserve blame for not letting him know up front that if Axford continues to get the job done, the role belongs to him.

 

K Rod is an idiot though. To get all worked up over a meaningless, individual stat is not being a team player and for that reason alone am happy he will not be a Brewer next year. They better corral him ASAP so this doesn't start to be a distraction in the clubhouse.

[FVBrewerFan]

This is exactly what he said a week after we traded for him. This is not a new opinion from him. Like I said then, he's going to put his game face on, fake it (being a team player) for a few months and get his contract next year.

The other thing he said

NO, it's not exactly what he said a week after trading for him. What he has said twice now this week is that the Brewers lied to him. Or we can use the word dishonest if you prefer. I think the point is being missed here, it's NOT about his desire to close. It's his claim that Brewers lied to him, and he's not happy about it. Now whether or not they did is another story, but we don't need a player bad-mouthing the club during a pennant race.

[jeffy]

To get all worked up over a meaningless, individual stat ...

 

Well, baseball as a whole is full of idiocy over that meaningless stat.

It means $$$ for relief pitchers.

It means potentially having a "rock star" entrance (ala. Hoffman).

Managers make decisions on who pitches based on that stat.

Fans think the manager is an idiot if the best relief pitcher is not the "closer".

It means your best relief pitcher sits in the bullpen when a game may be on the line, because it is not the ninth inning and/or you are, say behind by one run or tied, but with a 3 run lead in the ninth you will trot that best reliever out there even if it will be his third game in a row.

[NievesNoNO]

Well, baseball as a whole is full of idiocy over that meaningless stat.

It means $$$ for relief pitchers.

It means potentially having a "rock star" entrance (ala. Hoffman).

Managers make decisions on who pitches based on that stat.

Fans think the manager is an idiot if the best relief pitcher is not the "closer".

It means your best relief pitcher sits in the bullpen when a game may be on the line, because it is not the ninth inning and/or you are, say behind by one run or tied, but with a 3 run lead in the ninth you will trot that best reliever out there even if it will be his third game in a row.

JohnBriggs12 wrote:

---

He's a

rental. His happiness in a role he'll have for another month is so far

down the pay no mind list, it's ridiculous. It's in his interest to

pitch well now. It's in the Brewers' interest he pitch well now.

Nothing else really matters.

---

You two summed it up. It's in his best interest to pitch well, happy or not. I don't think there will be an issue with performance going forward. The save stat is the most worthless stat ever created. As good as you might be K-Rod you are a reliever because you are not good enough to start. As soon as managers start using their relievers without regard to a stupid stat and using them as the game dictates using them we'll start to see a shift in thinking. Some manager has got to have the gonads/smarts to do this....Right??

 

If the Brewers indeed did lie to him, then that's a problem. Everyone understands why the trade happened and I don't really think anyone expected K-Rod to be happy about his role, but if the Brewers promised to let him close out some games then that's an issue. Who knows what they told him, but it's obvious Axford is this team's closer and they only needed to tell him that his role is the setup guy barring some change in circumstance:

 

"Hey, KRod it's great to have you on board. We're hoping all our moves will get us to the World Series. We both know why this trade happened. We have an established closer so you're going to be our setup man. The best setup guy in the league I might add. If Ax for some reason isn't getting the job done you're the next guy in line. Any questions?"

 

Would that have been so hard? I'm not saying that didn't happen but I do remember reading that the Brewers comment was they would share closing duties or something to that affect.

[adambr2]

#1, I do think K-Rod is being selfish. Not one word about the job Axford has done. Not anything about how good this arrangement has been for the team. Just whining about his role on the team. He couldn't care less about our bullpen overall as long as it means him pitching the 9th. K-Rod, Ax has been perfect since you got here, and he has no margin for error. If he had messed up, you would have gotten your chances by now. He hasn't. Deal with it.

 

Also, you're going to vent to the media about it, but you "haven't talked to Roenicke" about it? I like how he mentions he hasn't talked to Roenicke because it has to be the right time and place, but yet seems to think that saying it to a guy with a microphone in the middle of a pennant race in mid-September is a good time and place. Do these guys have any media relations awareness whatsoever?

 

I do, however, agree that it should have been handled better by the organization. I think they were just trying to do their best to appease K-Rod with him just arriving, while still not offering him the role, and I don't think that was the right move, because now they come across as dishonest. It didn't have to be difficult. "Ax is our closer, he's certainly earned that role with his performance this year. But it's such a huge benefit to our bullpen having a guy like Frankie here who could easily step into that role if we needed him to. " How hard would that have been?

[Roderick]

I don't think it can get any lower than the previous 0% chance that

he would have accepted arbitration. He's made it abundantly clear he

is a closer, and is going to be a closer next year, something that won't

be available for him in Milwaukee.

 

I asked this question to, I believe it was Tom H., on a Brewers chat a few weeks ago. And this is why I take what he says with a grain of salt. He made it sound like there was no way the Brewers would offer arby to K-Rod. I agree with you RoCo. I don't think he'd ever accept it. But Tom H. apparently does.

My fear with arbitration is that the closer/late inning relief market is so full this off-season that it might be financially worth it to accept arbitration if offered and test the waters next off-season when the closer market is much lighter. I would bet he doesn't accept arby either ... but it wouldn't surprise me if he did.

I can see why the Brewers wouldn't risk arby, if that is the way they go. If all KRod cares about is money, he will be better off taking the arby and then going free agency in 2013. Hopefully the closing role is more important. Here is what Jayson Stark had in his column:

• And then there's a guy who's no longer the Mets' problem: Francisco Rodriguez.

When he vented to cbssports.com this week about his setup role in

Milwaukee, he may have thought he was just letting the world know he

wants to sign this winter as somebody's closer. But all he really told

other teams is that wherever he goes, it will be about him, period.

 

"He's just telling you what he's all about and what's really

important to him," grumbled one NL exec. "All he had to do was say,

'When I talk to teams in the offseason, I want to close.' How hard is

that? But it didn't come out that way."

 

The same exec said he looks at this incarnation of K-Rod as "probably

just a 5 or 6 million-[a-year] guy. He might give you 30 saves, but he

also might give you 10 blown saves. He's just not the same guy. When you

look at this stuff, he's only throwing 90-91 [mph] now. So it's not

like people will be ramming down his door."

[Raw Biz]

I don't think it can get any lower than the previous 0% chance that

he would have accepted arbitration. He's made it abundantly clear he

is a closer, and is going to be a closer next year, something that won't

be available for him in Milwaukee.

 

I asked this question to, I believe it was Tom H., on a Brewers chat a few weeks ago. And this is why I take what he says with a grain of salt. He made it sound like there was no way the Brewers would offer arby to K-Rod. I agree with you RoCo. I don't think he'd ever accept it. But Tom H. apparently does.

My fear with arbitration is that the closer/late inning relief market is so full this off-season that it might be financially worth it to accept arbitration if offered and test the waters next off-season when the closer market is much lighter. I would bet he doesn't accept arby either ... but it wouldn't surprise me if he did.

I can see why the Brewers wouldn't risk arby, if that is the way they go. If all KRod cares about is money, he will be better off taking the arby and then going free agency in 2013. Hopefully the closing role is more important. Here is what Jayson Stark had in his column:

• And then there's a guy who's no longer the Mets' problem: Francisco Rodriguez.

When he vented to cbssports.com this week about his setup role in

Milwaukee, he may have thought he was just letting the world know he

wants to sign this winter as somebody's closer. But all he really told

other teams is that wherever he goes, it will be about him, period.

 

"He's just telling you what he's all about and what's really

important to him," grumbled one NL exec. "All he had to do was say,

'When I talk to teams in the offseason, I want to close.' How hard is

that? But it didn't come out that way."

 

The same exec said he looks at this incarnation of K-Rod as "probably

just a 5 or 6 million-[a-year] guy. He might give you 30 saves, but he

also might give you 10 blown saves. He's just not the same guy. When you

look at this stuff, he's only throwing 90-91 [mph] now. So it's not

like people will be ramming down his door."

People are forgetting that he's a Boras client now and Boras likes money too. And Boras won't get any until KRod signs a new contract. It will ultimately be up to KRod whether to accept or not but I think the desire to close (and knowing he won't in Milwaukee) along with the pressure from Boras will mean he turns it down. And if he doesn't, we could pay him for the one year and have another dominating back-end of the bullpen or we could try and trade him. I think that's worth the risk.

[jeffy]

If all KRod cares about is money, he will be better off taking the arby and then going free agency in 2013.

 

Why would he be better off with arbitration, rather than a multi-year contract?

[pebadger]

Because there's a good chance he'll make more money in arby (which is somewhat backwards looking) than he will on the open market (which is more forward looking).

 

As noted in that article, K-Rod is not what he once was. My dad is a Twins season ticket holder. He was used to seeing K-Rod from his AL days. He went to the Phils weekend with me. First thing he said on Sunday after the 8th was "K-Rod's not the same", even though K-Rod was decent that day. If guys like my dad, who is a pretty astute observer but still an amateur, notices that sort of thing, I think the professional scouting book is pretty much written. Doesn't mean somebody won't maybe have a different take on the situation, but it's not a given that the open market is necessarily a no-brainer just in terms of money. Of course you control a bunch of other factors for yourself when you are a free agent, but just in terms of revenue arby might be his better bet.

[Roderick]

If all KRod cares about is money, he will be better off taking the arby and then going free agency in 2013.

 

Why would he be better off with arbitration, rather than a multi-year contract?

Maybe I misunderstand arby, but he made $11.5M this year and will only make more next year as he hasn't imploded or anything like that. That is looking like what he will get on the open market for two years. So take the one year arby and then go free agency the following year. Is any team going to be crazy enough to go 3 years/$30M or something?

 

Wouldn't arby be a new contract? I don't know why not, so Bores would get his cut of that money - for those that say Bores will make him go free agency.