December 09, 2008
Wagner's Replacement
The first big free agent names falls:
The Mets agreed to financial terms with free-agent closer Francisco Rodriguez at the winter meetings on Tuesday, signing the record-setting former Angel to a three-year, $37 million deal, sources told the Daily News.
GM Omar Minaya, speaking at the Bellagio, declined to confirm an agreement had been reached with the 26-year-old closer.
If true, this is a great deal for the Mets. It's prefectly reasonable money for a closer, and if indeed K-Rod does blow up, the contract is short enough that it won't kill the payroll. On top of that, it should be fairly easy to insure. Minaya gets a quality closer without giving away anything but money.
On Rodriguez's side of the ledger, he'll be going into his age 30 season at the end of the deal. Three more years of quality closing and he'll do very well in his second round of free agency.
His value may have been depressed by the economy, but I think a shift in valuation of the closer position is also underway. Some teams have done very well with mediocre closers, and some have done very poorly with expensive ones. Also, Rivera notwithstanding, elite closers also tend to have very short careers. Combine those two, and I don't think you'll ever see a closer get much more than K-Rod got.
Of course, with inflation contracts will continue to rise; but proportionately, I think closers will stay in the middle of the pack, salary-wise.
