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December 7, 2010 10-11 Offseason Joe Janish

K-Rod a Fit for Dodgers?

If Ned Colletti’s actions over the past few weeks are any indication, the Dodgers are hell-bent on building a winner in 2011. They have filled out the starting rotation and signed Juan Uribe to shore up their infield holes. They’ve signed a veteran catcher (Rod Barajas) and were reportedly discussing a deal to acquire Prince Fielder. Even if the Fielder deal is dead, LA is clearly building a team to “win now”. That said, one soft spot they need to address is the back of their bullpen, where Jonathan Broxton struggled and didn’t have a life saver to cling to when he drowned.

With J.J. Putz reportedly signing with the Diamondbacks, the free-agent market isn’t deep with back-end relievers. The best of the lot is Rafael Soriano, and then the talent pool drops considerably: Brian Fuentes, Takashi Saito, Jon Rauch, Kevin Gregg, Kerry Wood, and Chad Qualls are at the next level, and all are question marks.

So wouldn’t it make sense for the Dodgers talk to the Mets about Francisco Rodriguez’s availability?

I know, I know …. lately I’m obsessed with finding a taker for K-Rod. But can you blame me? The Mets are going nowhere in ’11 and likely will still be rebuilding in ’12 and I get ill just thinking about the possibility of that $17.5M option vesting — and that’s AFTER I throw up thinking about K-Rod belting an old man in Fred Wilpon’s House. If the Mets can find a new home for their slugging closer it would be best for everyone, wouldn’t it?

A return to LA might be the perfect thing for K-Rod — he’s had success there before and will be happy with a team expecting to compete for a playoff spot. The City of Angels is about as far one can get from New York City, and the distance will help separate him from his most recent heinous act. Chances are he still has a loyal contingent of fans on the Left Coast who will warmly welcome him back, and quickly forgive him of his sins (after all, the mean streets of NYC can bring out the worst in a man). The only concern is whether or not there’s an outstanding warrant for his arrest or an unexpired temporary restraining order on record.

OK, there may be one other fly in the ointment; the continuing divorce trial between the McCourts could prevent the Dodgers from spending big bucks on a closer. But, they just ponied up $12M for Hiroki Kuroda, and were working on acquiring Fielder, so there must be something left in the budget. And if the Dodgers were willing to return a promising young prospect, maybe the Mets would help pay K-Rod’s 2011 salary.

What do you think? Could K-Rod return to LA? Who should the Mets receive in return?

Joe Janish began MetsToday in 2005 to provide the unique perspective of a high-level player and coach -- he earned NCAA D-1 All-American honors as a catcher and coached several players who went on to play pro ball. As a result his posts often include mechanical evaluations, scout-like analysis, and opinions that go beyond the numbers. Follow Joe's baseball tips on Twitter at @onbaseball and at the On Baseball Google Plus page.
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  1. Paul December 7, 2010 at 8:36 am
    I think the most realistic scenario for (eventually) moving K-Rod is for him to open the year on the DL, come back in mid May, pitch well and get traded at the deadline.

    As silly as baseball economics have gotten, I don’t think that there’s a line waiting to spend about $30 million on 2 years of a closer who’s coming back from an injury and has anger management issues..

  2. ramo December 7, 2010 at 11:28 pm
    Wow, so much Dodger information was wrong!
  3. Metstheory22 December 8, 2010 at 2:47 pm
    I don’t know if we can trade K-Rod, but I think he was set up by his Common-law wife and her father. What better way to do this than infront of the Mets clubhouse. We do not know what happened but it sure smells like one.