We continue or Fantasy Baseball analysis for the 2009 season with newly acquired closer Francisco Rodriguez of the New York Mets.

Fransisco Rodriguez: Rodriguez rewarded fantasy owners last season with an impressive campaign. K-Rod established a new single season saves record, finishing up with sixty two doors slammed.

So that begs the question; "Will K-Rod repeat, come close to, or totally miss last season's production?" Lets examine:


On the Field Factors:

Sixty two saves. That means he appeared in at least sixty two games. In total, however, K-Rod graced the mound seventy six last season. That is a mind boggling number for any reliever, let alone a closer. K-Rod pitched in 68 1/3 innings while also posting his third lowest ERA (2.24) since becoming a big time contributor to the Angels bullpen.

By all accounts, K-Rod will not repeat last season's success, and if the Mets are smart, he won't even come close. Trading for JJ Putz will help lighten K-Rod's workload, and even give him a rest every once and a while. The Mets say they plan on using Putz as a set up guy, but they're not dumb enough to expect Francisco to handle another abnormally large workload in back to back seasons.

Didn't seem to work that well for Billy Wagner.

Off the Field Factors:

K-Rod leaves quiet Los Angeles or Anahiem or wherever that team calls home for the Big Apple, the big bright scary New York City. K-Rod's successes and failures will be placed under bright lights and microscopes, every outing critiqued by mindless bloggers like myself. K-Rod will be compared to his cross town rival Mariano Rivera, a much taller order than having to hold a candle against the likes of Huston Street, Takashi Saito, or whoever the closer of the week is in San Francisco.

Final Thoughts:

While we understand that telling people not to select K-Rod as their fantasy closer of choice is just short of a retarded notion, we're urging you not to overspend or pick with, say your second draft slot. K-Rod is quite a talented arm to have on your team, but lets face it, he's on the Mets now.

Sports Illustrated, Newsday, and the New York Post are all reporting that Fransisco Rodriguez and the New York Mets are on the same page when it comes to contract talk.

The Mets offered the single season saves leader a contract believed to be worth 3 years at $37 million plus:

Rodriguez's agent, Paul Kinzer, said, "I am more optimistic than I have ever been" about finalizing a deal between K-Rod and the Mets, according to the Post. "We will know more in the next 24 hours, but so far everything has been positive."

The Mets looked to solidify at least one of their roster spots for the upcoming '09 season, picking up Carlos Delgado's $12 million option.

Delgado was primed to be let go by the Mets in the offseason, following a horrific start to the season. His late season offensive outburst leading to a .271 BA, 38 HR and 115 RBIs season, made the Mets decision to keep him much easier.

In other Mets news, Pedro Martinez, outfielder Moises Alou, second baseman Ramon Martinez and pitchers Tony Armas Jr., Luis Ayala and Ricardo Rincon all filed for free agency.

108 Red Stitches Rating:

Things are starting to look a lot like 2007 for the Mets. Entering a crucial period in their schedule, they find themselves in a familiar position; looking up.

After taking hold of the NL East lead, the Mets have found a way to tumble down, now trailing the Phillies as another September collapse begins to look imminent.

The Mets just announced that Fernado Tatis will miss the remainder of the season after seperating his shoulder against the Nationals. Add that to Damion Easley being scratched from the lineup and the Mets are slowly losing quality right handed bats.

The Mets have recently lost closer Billy Wagner to a season (possibly career) ending injury and don't expect John Maine to return until the playoffs (and may return to a bullpen role).

Maybe it wasn't Willy's fault.