Mariners reliever Fernando Rodney has signed on with Octagon Baseball, the agency announced on Twitter. Rodney had previously been with MVP Sports Group.
A 13-year MLB veteran, the 38-year-old Rodney is nearing the end of a two-year, $14MM deal with Seattle. He was excellent last year, working to a 2.85 ERA with 10.3 /9 and 3.8 BB/9 over 66 1/3 frames, racking up a league-leading 48 saves in the process.
But things have turned south thus far in 2015. Over 37 2/3 frames, his ERA stands at an ugly 5.73, leading to a loss of 9th inning duties. While his walk rate has gone up slightly, Rodney has seen his strikeout rate drop to 7.2 K/9 as he continues to generate less swings and misses.
Rodney still has time to rebuild value this year, and there at least some signs of promise. His average fastball velocity still tops 95 mph. Though he’s allowed long balls at about twice his career average, Rodney’s groundball rate is still over 50% and he’s allowed less overall hard contact than in the previous two seasons.
With the change in representation, it would seem likely that Rodney intends to play in 2016. Though Rodney’s age and recent results suggest that his new agents will have their work cut out for them, he’s sure to generate interest given his track record and maintained velocity.
Change his agent to holding out his hat, upside down looking for spare change…
Poor sign from the outset. Anyone looking at Rodney as an effective reliever has the same odds of him wearing his cap straight.. None.
I’d say “don’t let the door hit you on the way out” but I really do hope every door hits you, hard.
A stop sign is an octagon as well. Maybe Rodney should stop
He’s awful. I’ve seen enough of him on the west coast to know. He needs more than a new agent. New hat?