Brewers sign K-Rod - 1 year / 3.25 mil

[DoubleSwitch]

As long as were talking about repeat Brewers with domestic violence charges, I'm going to throw out Russell Branyan as the solution to all our first base woes.

[igor67]

Come to think of it, I bet Cirillo v3 next year would crush Yuni v3

[torts]

Isn't a mil here or there really irrelevant to us as fans in a one year deal? There is no salary cap and this won't effect us getting someone else later in the season. It's cool if people like to play GM and speculate on the best dollar spent, however, the money shouldn't change anything for this year right? Besides maybe brats at Miller going from $6.50 to $6.55.

 

That's pretty much where i'm at

 

While 3 million seems maybe a bit pricey, if K-Rod had gotten 2 million instead of 3, would it really matter much in the grand scheme of things for the payroll this year? Plus, his K/BB ratio was really good last year, so if he pitches well and the team struggles, by being only owed around 1.5 million at the deadline, maybe he could be flipped again for a prospect.

 

My only real beef with the money is i'd probably rather spend that on some young Latin free agents and hope to hit big, thus adding to our pretty bleak farm system. Then again, in today's exploding salary structure, 3 million dollars is practically nothing

 

well looks like Melvin is doing both, and spending that money equally on the two.

[adambr2]

If I never hear the Thornburg for Ike Davis suggestion again, it'll be too soon.

 

File that one right up there with the Jorge De La Rosa for Tony Graffanino trade.

[MNBrew]

Yeah, I'm totally with you on the Thornburg-for-Davis stuff.

 

However, JDLR put up a lovely 8.60 ERA in 2006 up 'til he was traded (18G, 30 IP), and he was truly showing no signs of putting it together in his 3rd MLB season. Heck, his WHIP over his 3 partial seasons in MIL was 1.92 with nearly identical -- and awful -- K:9 & BB:9 rates (7.4 & 7.0, respectively). And he pretty much stunk in KC, too, and his 1st year in Colorado was only passably on a Braden Looper level. It took 'til 2009 - his 6th year in MLB - for him to have a respectable season, and his 16-9 record was still accompanied by a very Dave-Bush-in-a-good-year ERA of 4.38.

[Outlander]

Pretty sure K-Rod has never been convicted of any crimes, so I'm not sure where people get off on calling out his characters and such.

This is an internet message board, not a court of law. Contrary to the opinions of some I encourage judging other people and using your brain to determine if they are of good or bad character. I am of the opinion he is a person of bad character. I get off on calling him out based on the below public police report which I posted in a previous year but since the Brewers continue to sign him I will post again and bold why I think he is a person of low character since you asked.

 

She told deputies she and Rodriguez had been arguing before going to bed, and he became upset and struck her on the head.

 

She said her nose began to bleed after getting hit due to a history of physical abuse. The woman told police she grabbed a sweatshirt and tried to stop the bleeding, but then Rodriguez grabbed her by the hair and threw her. Once on the floor, she said Rodriguez then began kicking her and injured her left upper shoulder blade, bruised her left upper thigh and injured her left hand near her wrist.

 

After the beating, she said Rodriguez dragged her to his car. She told him to take her to the hospital, but Rodriguez screamed at her to change her bloody clothes and refused to take her anywhere until she did. She told Rodriguez she was in a great amount of pain and unable to lift her arm very high, so he cut the sleeve of her shirt so she could remove it.

 

After putting on a clean shirt, according to the complaint, Rodriguez began to drive the victim around, but she said it appeared they were just driving around in circles in the subdivision. They began to argue again in the truck and the victim said Rodriguez struck her in the chin, then drove around some more before returning to the home.

 

When they got back, the victim said she wanted to call the police for help, but Rodriguez then grabbed all the of the phones and began to hide them, so she had to go to the second floor of the residence to find a telephone to use. Police interviewed the maid about the incident and she said she took a pill to sleep and didn't see the incident, but she has worked for Rodriguez for six years and this is a normal and known behavior for him.

[RobDeer 45]

Boy Outlander, I have not read that before and it really makes me cringe. I'm all for second chances for people, but not only is this type of thing horrible, it also appears to be a pattern. I will have a hard time really cheering for the guy. I will prob find myself wanting to do well for the team's sake, but I won't look at him the same.

 

I know you can't just sign guys that have never done anything wrong in there life, but if there is a pattern, I too would rather avoid these type of people.

[monty57]

There was also a very publicized incident when he was in New York, where he beat up his girlfriend/wife's father.

[JohnBriggs12]

Yeah, I'm totally with you on the Thornburg-for-Davis stuff.

 

However, JDLR put up a lovely 8.60 ERA in 2006 up 'til he was traded (18G, 30 IP), and he was truly showing no signs of putting it together in his 3rd MLB season. Heck, his WHIP over his 3 partial seasons in MIL was 1.92 with nearly identical -- and awful -- K:9 & BB:9 rates (7.4 & 7.0, respectively). And he pretty much stunk in KC, too, and his 1st year in Colorado was only passably on a Braden Looper level. It took 'til 2009 - his 6th year in MLB - for him to have a respectable season, and his 16-9 record was still accompanied by a very Dave-Bush-in-a-good-year ERA of 4.38.

 

JDLR was also out of options too so it wasn't like they could simply send him down. That also limited his trade value. Only a team like KC which could afford to be patient had any interest at all. The Brewers, on the verge of contending, couldn't wait any longer on him. Graffanino was quite useful too filling in for the injured Weeks in 06 and keeping 3B warm till Braun showed up in 07.

[kalle8]

this is an insurance signing.

not for the bullpen, but for Melvin: "what do you want from me? I even signed the veteran with closing experience to back up Henderson..."

[TURBO]

Is he a scumbag, more than likely so, but that is from a police report, and is hearsay.

 

I completely believe the majority of what was said there to be true, however, was any of it proven?

 

I hate rooting for guys like this, I hate even more having them on our team, but every team seems to have them, so it is what it is...

[jerichoholicninja]

If we knew the personal lives of all professional athletes we would think 75% of them are scumbags.

[Storm]

75% might be low. Look into the Vikings activities on Lake Minnetonka a couple years ago. Read Ball Four. Think Brett Farve.

 

In the early 70's my wife and her friend were hustled by several Brewers in a Waukesha bar. Both Brewers were wearing wedding rings.

[gregmag]

I'm on board with the bad character signing plus bad baseball signing judgment. As usual, the discussion here has been very smart. Yes, he wasn't convicted of anything. No, the rest of us don't need to limit our disapproval to people whom the state finds guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, especially in an area as important and rife with dropped charges as domestic violence.

 

It matters, first and foremost, because I'd kind of like for the Brewers, and MLB in general, to cultivate a female as well as male fan base. One good reason for not having an all-white/anglo team -- I mean, if it's absolutely the best team that falls into place for you, then so be it, but how likely is that? -- is to help appeal to fans who aren't white / anglo. Obviously we're going to have an all-male team. But what does it say to female fans when we can't even be bothered to avoid overpaying for relief pitchers with domestic violence raps?

 

On the baseball side, $3.25 million is too much for a decent but not great performer at a position of unpredictability where a good team can usually find bodies. Maybe Doug's still spooked by 2012. At least it's just one year, and assuming he isn't leading us to the pennant come July, hopefully we unload him for another prospect.

[Invader3K]

If we knew the personal lives of all professional athletes we would think 75% of them are scumbags.

 

I've long ago resigned myself to not looking to professional athletes for moral guidance. I intend to teach my son the same thing when he is older. We already have a known liar and cheat on our team, as well as a known drunk driver, so it's not like the Brewers are some hallowed sanctuary of baseball purity.

 

I don't know what K-Rod did or didn't do...maybe he is a scumbag. I'll say he probably is...I just don't see the need to cast down moral judgement when none of us know the full story and he's never been convicted of a crime. There are two sides to every story.

 

As far as the dollars...it "seems" like a lot of money, but I don't think it's really out of line for a one year contract for an established veteran reliever these days. That's just how baseball is.

[DuWayne Steurer]

It's not that I 'don't care', but there's no law or reason that some one accused of what he did can't work. That's up to him and the employer to hash out over the morality aspect of it I guess.

[bork]

I believe the reason there were no charges was because Krod and his girlfriend fled the country.

[BuckyBrewer61]

If we knew the personal lives of all professional athletes we would think 75% of them are scumbags.

 

It's one thing to be a scumbag, another entirely to be a domestic abuser. I'm sure there are players out there that exhibit behavior of which I am blissfully unaware, but I am all too well aware of this KRod's pattern of behavior and it makes me sick. I don't consider myself self-righteous, I'll be rooting for the liar/cheater and drunk driver this year, but domestic abuse is another thing entirely and to applaud anything he does just doesn't sit well with me. I am very disappointed the Brewers signed him again, and shudder at the idea of him pitching in big games and high leverage situations, because I don't think I will be able to root for the Brewers at that time.

[HiAndTight]

If we knew the personal lives of all professional athletes we would think 75% of them are scumbags.

 

 

 

If we knew the personal lives of most people and if we took out the worst things that most people have done, we'd think most of them were scumbags.

 

This is just a general statement, not in anyway defending what Krod did for the record as I find these things are often conflated.

[HiAndTight]

this is an insurance signing.

not for the bullpen, but for Melvin: "what do you want from me? I even signed the veteran with closing experience to back up Henderson..."

 

 

Really? You think Melvin's position in Milwaukee is so tenuous that he needs to make a token signing so he can say, "see, I tried?" I think that's kinda ridiculous. As if he would be spared(if he were in danger of losing his job) because he signed an aging reliever that didn't command much attention on the FA market.

 

I don't think Melvin is that petty, nor do I think that Melvin is in any danger.

 

I don't think K-Rod was worth 3.25 million dollars. I think it would have been better to sign Mujica for a little bit more, or even a guy like Balfour. But...what the heck, maybe we can just sign K-Rod every year and trade him. I'd probably pay 3.25 million for the rights to Delmonico...

[danzig6767]

An article about him

 

http://www.baseballanalytics.org/baseball-analytics-blog/2014/2/11/francisco-rodriguez-bucking-the-old-reliever-trend-with-age.html

[SoupTown]

Interesting to me that his velocity drop (fastballs) between 2008 and 2013 was only 1.1 mph. 92.2 vs 91.1. And, as the article says, his offspeed stuff (vs left hand batters) was much, much improved subsequent to his 2008 62 save season.

 

Without any emotion attached, the articles analysis supports the hypothesis that the old dog aint so old and still has his high K tricks.

[jerichoholicninja]

A small drop in velocity for KRod shouldn't affect him too much as his best pitch has always been his changeup. Obviously at some point the fastball velocity and changeup velocity get too close and you wind up like Trevor Hoffman, but KRod's not there yet.