Veteran reliever Francisco Rodriguez has reached an agreement with the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League, Jon Heyman of FanRag tweets.
The 36-year-old Rodriguez had been without an employer since the Phillies released him in March after a failed bid to crack their Opening Day roster. The right-hander previously inked a minor league deal with the Phillies, who took a flyer on him in the wake of a dismal season for the longtime closer. As a member of the Tigers in 2017, Rodriguez pitched to a 7.82 ERA/7.38 FIP and logged an unappealing groundball rate (30.1 percent) across 25 1/3 innings before they released him in June.
Odds may be against K-Rod ever pitching in the majors again, but it’s clear he hasn’t abandoned that goal. For now, he’s set to serve as one of the most accomplished players in the history of the Atlantic League, which has seen some household names come and go over the years. Also a former Angel, Met, Brewer and Oriole, Rodriguez ranks fourth all-time in saves (437) and owns a 2.86 ERA over 976 major league innings.
K-Rod will probably be very good there for their level of play.
Hope he fights his way back into a MLB closer role again someday before it’s all said and done. He has come back from horrible years before. At 36 years old, it’s not too late for him to make a comeback. As a SP that would be more unlikely, but relievers have mid to late 30’s career revivals sometimes.
For a second I thought it was Francisco Liriano since he is on the tigers and is named Francisco
But then I remembered he pitched the tigers to a win against my orioles yesterday
All done. Delusional if he thinks he can get back to the show. Throwing beach balls the last two seasons.
I’d love to see him make one more comeback. Maybe in Anaheim, just to see him go back to the place where he was so great.