7/13/11

Bye...Bye...K-Rod...

By David Rubin

I liked the signing of K-Rod at the time Omar pulled the trigger on the deal, as he seemingly paid far less than expected on a yearly basis for a top-tier closer...and the option year did NOT loom so large at that time. I liked him enough to pick up 4 #75 t-shirts that spring for myself, my best friend and his kids, as we headed to Spring Training (I should've known better- now the shirt goes into a pile, joining Cameron, Piazza, Glavine, Pedro, Wagner, Floyd & Delgado- and, one day soon most likely, a whole bunch of Beltran)...I liked him enough to not throw my computer screen at the wall whenever his pitches topped out at 89 and became eminently hittable...and I even tolerated his almost wind-up toy motion - but when he hit the father of his girlfriend, I was completely turned off by his actions and wished that he had never been signed in the first place, along with the majority of Mets fans.

I DO have to commend him on his behavior this season, and it appears as though he's reformed as far as getting his anger in check, at least in regards to how he handles himself in public, and although he hasn't been "lights out" he has been pretty reliable in the 9th inning and basically shortened games where the team carried the lead into the 9th inning.


Moving forward, I am excited to see how Parnell handles the pressure of closing, how Izzy and or Beato handles the 8th inning/back-up closer role, and most of all, have to figure that with the potential albatross of K-Rod's option no longer hanging over their heads, the team has to once again be the front-runner to re-sign JOSE REYES in the off-season. If nothing else (and one can't expect to receive much in the way of prospects from a teams' minor league system that was torn asunder from the Marcum and Greinke deals), the fact that sacrificing Frankie in order to free up money to keep" Jo-Se Jo-Se Jo-Se Jo-Se" is a feather in GM Sandy Alderson's cap, indeed...

Does anyone want to buy a slightly used blue t-shirt with the #75 on the back? I think I'd trade it for 2 t-shirts to be named later and 10 cents...

6 comments:

Mack Ade said...

I'm still torn.

I know the trading of K-Rod fits the current plan... I just don't like being a seller.

K-Rod has been one of the key players on this team this year and is a real superstar. I don't trade superstars, I trade for them.

Matt Cerrone emailed me today and doesn't feel the trading of Rodriguez means the Mets are waving the white flag.

Dave Lennon tweeted me saying not to be confident that this means Reyes will be signed.

I'm been a fan for a long time and I simply don't remember when this team was trying to operate with less talent.

K-Rod for two prospects on a team with no prospects?

A vineyard????

David Rubin said...

Mack, I totally understand, but with Scott Boras in the picture, and that $17.5 option that would simply CRIPPLE the team's budget for 2012, the deal had to get done. If they keep Beltran all season, or at least through August, to see if the team can compete with him, then it's not really being a seller as much as it's being practical, in my opinion. If they trade Beltran now, or even soon, then they are indeed waving the flag, even if they WERE able to get a top prospect back for him, like a certain Giants minor league pitcher...

David Rubin said...

BTW- commenting via my Droid-phone is a LOT harder than it looks!!

Mack Ade said...

Thank God I never got into that shit....

Mack Ade said...

If Carlos just swung on that last pitch....

Charles said...

It was a no-brainer...if Milwaukee didn't take this deal, I heard Jeff Wilpon was going to leap off the Pepsi Porch onto K-Rod while he was warming up next homestand. This team just couldn't afford his price tag next year, and Collins usage of him thusfar assured his departure. Mack, if you really wanted to keep him for the remainder, he couldn't touch 55 games finished.