Angels Open To In-Season Talks For K-Rod

I agree with you, I wouldnt give any pitcher to a 5 year deal or more either, under any circumstance. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about Johan Santana's contract in a couple of years. He seems to already have lost a few mph on his fastball and though his numbers are good, I am not impressed. He is throwing a ton of pitches and giving up a ton of homeruns. Did the Twins call no give-backs on that deal?

A big reason Santana gives up homeruns is because he is always around the zone. Giving up a bunch of solo shots is not going to hurt your team or your ERA. He will only be 35 when the contract is done and hasn't shown a propensity toward injury, and neither are his mechanics an issue.

As for K-Rod, it is good to see the Angels are coming around on this. They realize Speier is not good enough to close and Shields does better as a setup man as well. Arredondo is interesting, but he doesn't have Frankie's dynamic hooks and is only 2 years younger. Most people forget that Frankie is only 26 years old and hasn't shown a single sign of arm problems. He had the ankle issue earlier this year, but even that seemed to make him into a better pitcher, as he stopped overthrowing his fastball and it has started to develop a sink and hits the strike zone more. He damn well should get a 5 year deal.

"K-Rod, simply, is not that good."

What in the world are you talking about? As a full time closer, K-Rod has never had less than 40 saves. Outside of his true rookie year, when he was being used in a role similar to that of Rivera early in his career, Frankie hasn't posted an ERA of over 2.81 and has never issued more than 35 walks. He already has converted 17/18 this year, and the Angels have only played 27% of their games. All that, and he has never had even an inkling of an arm problem. 5 years, or 4 with at least 2 options, is a good thing.