TODAY: Rodriguez will have an opt-out opportunity on July 12th, Jon Heyman of Fan Rag tweets. That gives the Nats about two weeks to watch the veteran throw at Triple-A before making a decision on adding him to the MLB roster.
YESTERDAY, 7:27pm: A deal is now in place, according to Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post (Twitter link).
3:09pm: The Nationals and veteran right-hander Francisco Rodriguez are nearing agreement on a minor league contract, according to reports from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter) and Mark Zuckerman of MASNsports.com (via Twitter). FanRag’s Jon Heyman reported earlier today that Washington was pursuing the Beverly Hills Sports Council client, who was released by the Tigers over the weekend.
Editor’s Note: an earlier version of this post mistakenly stated that the contract had been finalized.
The 35-year-old Rodriguez was clobbered for a 7.82 ERA through 25 1/3 innings in Detroit thanks largely to a staggering nine home runs allowed in that small sample of work. He’s had success with a diminished fastball in recent seasons, but this year’s average of 88.9 mph is the lowest of his storied career.
For all of his 2017 struggles, Rodriguez did post a very solid 3.24 ERA with 8.0 K/9, 3.2 BB/9 and a career-high 54.7 percent ground-ball rate as the Tigers’ closer in 2016, totaling 44 saves throughout the year. He’s earning $8MM this year, though the Tigers are on the hook for the remainder of that considerable sum. The Nats will only have to pay K-Rod the pro-rated portion of the league minimum for any time he spends in the Majors.
Though the Nationals are running away with the NL East, their bullpen has been an unmitigated disaster in 2017. Washington’s 4.88 bullpen ERA ranks 26th in the Majors, and the Nats also rank 25th in bullpen FIP (4.72) and 21st in bullpen xFIP (4.52). The Nats currently have de facto closer Koda Glover and veteran righty Shawn Kelley on the disabled list along with lefty Sammy Solis. With that group on the shelf, the team is presently relying on Matt Albers, Enny Romero, Blake Treinen, Oliver Perez, Joe Blanton, Matt Grace and Jacob Turner to comprise its relief corps.
Obviously, there’s no guarantee that Rodriguez will serve as any type of upgrade over that bunch, but given the state of Dusty Baker’s bullpen, the Nats figure to be at least loosely interested in virtually any veteran reliever that becomes available. Moreover, it’ll be a shock if general manager Mike Rizzo doesn’t make at least one notable bullpen acquisition on the trade market, and it’s possible that he could look to acquire multiple relievers between now and the July 31 non-waiver deadline.
*yawn*
20 minutes of torture going to hit Washington D.C.
Syracuse (AAA), not D.C.
20 minutes – is that how long it takes for each one of his pitches to reach the catcher’s glove these days?
Good luck with that Nats.
Untucked shirts for everyone!
HA!
Wow. Nats throwing everything against the wall and hope it sticks. Bullpen is horrible and keeps getting worse. GO DODGERS baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Don’t jinx us, whole lotta ball to still be played…..but yea…..Go Dodgers!!!
Eat h out for that thing called Karma
Watch out for that thing called Karma
Just cough up prospect Juan Soto. WSox will probably send you fireballer Kahnle along with Robertson:)
World Series here we come!
His signing is a reflection of the game. Teams are looking for pitching and will try whatever they can (see Fister to Boston).
Pirates will give you back Felipe Rivero…
…for Victor Robles.
lol
Somebody needs to start a Nats player acquisition GoFundMe site. Donations, donations…I thought it was the trash. (Nope, just the Nats bullpen)
I knew this would happen. Called it the second he was waved
Dusty Baker might know when to use him better than Brad Ausmus did. Baker has a reputation for being able to manage his pen better than most other managers.
K-Rod had a significant part in defeating Dusty’s Giants in the 2002 WS.
That was almost 15 years ago. Considering Asmus had him overprotecting up until this year, not sure Baker can do much more.
Ulysses Grant had a significant part in winning the Civil War, but neither of them should currently grace a major league roster…
True but I WOULD sign Sherman if I had a big series upcoming in Atlanta.
I like what you did there
No no…. he has a point. 2002 seems like yesterday. Cody bellinger was 6 years old
Ausmus used him in every possible situation and he failed them all. How he was used wasn’t the issue. His change up lost the movement he once had and people were sitting on it and crushing it. He had trouble locating his fastball to the extent you need to locate an 88/89 mph heater. He was an extremely helpful team mate in the pen. If the Nats have some young talent there, that might be his greatest contribution.
I hope he finds it again. He is a great guy.
Dusty probably won’t use him considering this is a minor league signing and he will be pitching in Triple-A
He will not be pitching in AAA more then 2 weeks. That is what the opt out July 12 is for. Its only a minor league signing as they are checking him out. Otherwise they need to make a 40 man roster move now.
Dusty does NOT have a reputation for being able to manage a pen better than most
An interesting comparison:
Pitcher A: 1089 IP, 7.0 H/9, 0.8 HR/9, 2.5 BB/9, 9.4 K/9. 2.87 ERA, 1.035 WHIP. Led the league in saves twice in 18 seasons
Pitcher B: 976 IP, 6.0 H/9, 0.9 HR/9, 3.4 BB/9, 10.5 K/9. 2.86 ERA, 1.155 WHIP. Led the league in saves three times in 16 seasons.
A is Trevor Hoffman.
B is Francisco Rodriguez
Cool comparison, but Pitcher B of now and Pitcher B of the past 16 years are not the same guy. Dude’s done. His numbers this year should be even worse than they are – tons of hard-hit balls were caught on the Comerica warning track.
These franchise’s in the Tigers and Nats are cursed at the closer position which in turn has them signing the same re-treads in hope of squeezing the last ounce of whatever is left in them. Didn’t work with Joe Nathan, doubt it works with K-Rod here.
Oh what the last decade would have been if Zumaya didn’t blow his arm to smithereens and if Chad Cordero could have repeated his ROY season for multiple years there-after.
Hoffman lost velocity around that same age (34), adjusted and had a few good seasons and lasted until 42. It’s possible – even probable – that Rodriguez is done, but I’d like to give him more than 25 innings before declaring him toast.
I’m going to out on a limb and say that if you’re implying a possible Hall of Fame candidacy by comparing K-Rod with Trevor Hoffman, I would say that would’ve been more likely had K-Rod stayed with the Angels. Because that’s the club he made headlines with and got his “K-Rod” reputation with. Since then he’s been thrown around and hasn’t really impacted the game nearly the same way. I’ve always said that he was the Angels’ Mariano Rivera and is a big reason they had their run, and then him leaving is a big reason they fell off so quickly. I remember year after year I’d see the graphic on TV where the Halos would be something like 65-1 when leading after 8 innings because of both Scot Shields and K-Rod. And if they would’ve kept him it probably would’ve been a better outcome, and K-Rod probably would’ve continued to impact the game as the legendary K-Rod. That’s just me though. Regardless, that’s a very intriguing comparison.
Hoffman will get in because the longevity allowed him the counting stats; if K-Rod were to turn things around and put together 4 or five more quality seasons the numbers are going to be pretty even.
Why is that interesting?
Because most people view Hoffman as a sure-fire, no doubt Hall of Famer, but nobody really sees Rodriguez as that, although the numbers, through their age 34-seasons especially, are pretty similar, with Rodriguez getting the advantage because he pitched in the tougher league. I’m not arguing he’s better than Hoffman, I’m just pointing out that he really isn’t as far off as the perception of him is.
HR-od
I had to log back into the site (again) just to upvote that.
Don’t expect this dud of a signing to inspire anyone in DC to strike up the band with a stirring rendition of Happy Days are Here Again. The only sound you’ll hear in WAS is the sound they play on the Price is Right when someone loses.
Joe Nathan was ‘not good enough’ to make this team.
Pirates will give the nats tony Watson in exchange the pierogies get to swim laps in the reflecting pool
I dont think hes good no more. Everything he throws is out of the strike zone. Some of these guys are so stupid they will swing at anything. If i was the manager i wouldnt allow my hitters to swing at anything. With 2 strikes I would consider letting them swing otherwise forget it.