The Braves have non-tendered right-handed pitcher Richard Rodriguez, reports MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand. Acquired in a mid-season deal with Pittsburgh, Rodriguez pitched to fine bottom-line results in Atlanta but carried worrying peripherals and faded down the stretch. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected the former closer to make $3.1MM in his upcoming trip through arbitration.
A non-tender is an unceremonious end to the year for a player who was a mainstay out of the Pirates bullpen for years. Still, Rodriguez was long thought to be a risky investment owing to a 2-pitch arsenal that leaned on a 93mph fastball most of the time. This approach led to excellent control (4% walk-rate in 2021) and ample pop-ups, but also left Rodriguez with a rather volatile strikeout ability (36.6% strikeout rate in 2020; 16.7% rate in 2021) and at heightened risk for home runs. As a player who has found ample success with his skillset, it won’t be a surprise to see Rodriguez get swooped up by a team for a similar price tag the Braves passed on.
Also being non-tendered by the club are infielder Johan Camargo and right-handed pitcher Jasseel De La Cruz. The soon-to-be 28-year-old Camargo had a 3.2 bWAR showing for the Braves back in 2018 but has seen his offense and playing time slide in recent years. A hitless 15-game stint with the Braves this year coupled with the recent extension of Orlando Arcia gives Atlanta reason to move on, though other clubs will surely be intrigued by Camargo’s versatility and continued Triple-A dominance. De La Cruz meanwhile has scattered strong results as a starter throughout his minor league career but struggled to a 7.19 ERA in 56 Triple-A innings. His non-tender frees up a spot on the Atlanta 40-man roster, bringing it down to 38 players.
First “wow” of the day. He didn’t come cheap. Bryse Wilson was part of that deal.
Um, Bryse Wilson isn’t good.
Bryse Wilson will have a pretty good season with the pirates…unlike you..crawl back under the floorboards
Mrs. Wilson please don’t take these comments as attacks on your child.
Floorboards for you bean a$$
@ghost of ben, you are dumb. Good day.
He still has potential though, too early to say he is bad. 6 shutout innings in a Game 4 NLCS win against Kershaw and the Dodgers…just a little over a year ago.
I agree that giving up Wilson’s entire career for one good month of Dick-Rod is a steep price. The Braves won it all though. They may never have if Dick-Rod wasn’t great that first month he was here. It’s kind of like when the Cubs traded for Aroldis Chapman. He helped them win it all and flags fly forever so it was probably worth it. I still think it would have been smarter to give Rodriguez the $3M that they just paid Arcia. At least Rodriguez was good for a month and several months before that with the Pirates. Arcia just sucked at the major league level. I thought they would cut Arcia and keep Rodriguez. People were saying the Braves would cut Shane Greene and they didn’t even though he was owed twice as much as Rodriguez. You have to wonder if the Braves would have still won the division without Rodriguez’s good month. If so, keeping Wilson would have definitely been the better choice.
Never heard RichRod being called “Dick-Rod”.
Multiple cheap seasons of a #5 starter has plenty of value. Pirates also received a nice young arm.
Yeah he was cheap. Wilson ain’t good
You can slither under the floorboards with the other troll
Very unfortunate. I’m not sure I had much trust in Wilson though. All in all, it’s hard to complain about that trade deadline.
I’m happy Camargo is gone but not Rich Rodriguez. I think Rich Rod will bounce back.
H
All deals come with a price tag. Atlanta won it all last year so the Rich Rod deal, along with all they gave up to add an entirely new OF in June/July was more than worth it to the Braves organization and their fans. I’m surprised they received all they did without having to give up their top prospects too.
Non-tendering RR & Camargo is somewhat surprising but it’s the cost of doing business. Hopefully they are reducing their team salary to re-sign Freddie Freeman to a contract that works for both sides. If not, in AA we trust. He proved last year that if he’s unable to make the primary deal he wants, he has a Plan B, Plan C, Plan D and even a Plan E. If their pitching can stay healthy, the Braves will be competing for another title next season, with or without Freddie (hopefully with of course). Ocuna’s return alone would offset that loss and AA would go out and trade for a Matt Olson type to replace him.
Perfect candidate for the Phillies. In the sense that he’ll have a 9.00+ era.
He’s better than anyone in the Phillies’ bullpen, especially with Neris gone.
Only a 3.1 K9 with the Braves…wow.
Worth noting that his FIP was a whopping 3 runs higher than his ERA
Stats aside, the Braves got a close-up look at what he has in thank. They saw the man producing those disturbing numbers. That means as much as his FIP or K rate. Maybe he gets a spring invite somewhere, but it’s hard to imagine him getting much in guaranteed money.
big qualifier missing here – three runs higher after the trade. he was actually underperforming his FIP at the time that he was dealt.
Don’t know if that was smart considering they gave up Bryce Wilson for him. At least give him a shot?
Bryse Wilson is garbage
Another troll idiot..time for a troll party under the floorboards
Naw dude he’s not good.
Yeah, I wouldn’t have minded resigning him and trading him, or attempting to trade him. They also could have simply worked with him through the offseason, and just see what kind of spring training he had. Then, if he wasnt any good they could have traded or released him, the money wasn’t all that much of a gamble.
In terms of giving up Bryse Wilson, that was more of Bryse needing a change of scenery, and the Braves wanting to trade him where he’d get a better chance to start on a regular basis.
Bryse was a bulldog on the mound, his secondary offerings just escape him at times, and even at his best he’s often a two pitch starter..However, when his change-up is really working, he becomes ALOT more consistent and reliable, and he could be a very serviceable back of the rotation starter if he’s ever able to throw his two off speed pitches consistently from start to start.
As pedestrian as he looked for the Braves, I can’t believe he was that good for the Pirates. Somebody will give him a chance.
Camargo next ????
You do see that in the report no?
Remember when this guy was a top trade target? Oof.
Really stinks to give up Wilson for him and to essentially waste that away by not valuing him enough to take to the playoffs and now non-tender him. I think he’s worth 3 mil. Easily. Even if he comes back as a 6th inning guy or what not. Very frustrating
They won the world series without him and didn’t give up much for him. You’re frustrated with that? Jeez, you’re very hard to please.
@getrealgone2, Fire AA.
Keep in mind his numbers significantly dropped once he wasn’t able to use sticky agents anymore for his spin rates. He might be resigned for something less than the are figure.
He has all winter to prepare for his next job in baseball. It goes something like this:
“Beer man here. Get your ice-cold beer.”
Nope. He will get a guaranteed major league deal. He just won’t be good.
His next job should be pitching in the HR Derby!
*arb*
No Arb for him this season. He is a free agent now.
Still crazy he was the most “expensive” acquisition at the deadline and he didn’t even play a role in the championship run.
Wow. Went from being a lights out closer and hor deadline target to not worth the 3million.
Braves need a lot of work rn to catch up the Mets. Hopefully the make it a race so we are prepared for tougher teams come playoffs time
Who are the Mets?
MetsFan22 – your beloved Mets were 10-12 wins behind the Braves already. You added Max, Marte and a few other pieces – but subtracted Baez’s 4 WAR, Conforto (likely), Loup, etc. you are net neutral at this point. The Mets are still firmly behind the Braves.
This is coming from a LAD fan- everyone in MLB sees the Mets as far inferior. And you don’t think LOLMets factors in? Max is just as likely to blow his elbow out in sprint training as he is to post a 3 WAR at 38 coming off 200+ IP
Meta are still firmly behind Braves but not at “net neutral” to last year. Max for Marcus should at least be a wash. Marte for Conforto will be a slight upgrade. Baez was not on team until the end and Canha adds more than Loup even though Loup was great. But the Mets will only make expanded playoffs if Jacob can pitch 26 or 27 starts. They will be fight with Phillies and Marlins for second in division.
Acuna will be back for the Braves and I firmly believe we’ve yet to see the best of Albies, who is already a star. Those two, Riley, and Swanson should have some outstanding years ahead of them.
Oh there you are…f*** off!
Ben Clemens last night noted he has the Mets equal to the Braves
Mets could be equal to the Braves, Only if they dont sign Freddie!!
Braves are still better with Freddie
that’s cap. the Braves have yet to bring back Freeman and havent filled their OF holes yet. Im Mets realist but they have to be clear favorites right now until the Braves at least get back to where they were before free agency.
I think I answered that BTW the OF is full with Duvall and Ozuna. Not full enough for my tastes but there still is Freddie
I’m glad the Mets went on another spending spree to give you ammunition for your trolling. I expect to see posts like this until the Mets annual collapse next summer
AA, good move. He acted like he didn’t want to be there or learn another pitch. His fastball was flat with no movement.
This is a surprise. I hope that the Jays snag both Rodriguez and Boyd.
As a Braves fan, I’m not wild about this move. I know the peripherals weren’t great, but for $3m, he seemed worth at least carrying and allowing him to start in lower leverage situations. I hope this doesn’t mean the Braves are trying to find the money to sign Freeman that way…
Odd that Rodriguez’s K numbers fell so much in ’21. Combining the previous three seasons he posted 10.5 K/9 across 158 innings. His velocity was right around where it usually is too, so doesn’t’ seem there was an underlying injury.
He had a 1.95 FIP before the memo about the crackdown on sticky foreign substances came out. Then he loses a like 200+ RPM on his fastball and finishes with a FIP of 4.04. That’s why the K numbers got worse.
You can actually see this reflected in the K/9 last year. It was 7.7 with Pittsburgh where he had a couple months pre-sticky ban, then only 3.1 with Atlanta.
His numbers nosed dived after they cracked down on sticky stuff
Rodriguez only played 27 games for the Braves. In the first 17 games he gave up 2 er. Is that luck, is it good pitching, is it better calling behind the plate on pitch selection? He pitched lights out pretty much in the first 17, so what changed? Those people taking a negative viewpoint on Rodriguez are a bit unfair.
In his last 10 games as a Brave he have up 7 ER. I am not sure he was helped too much by the pitch selection behind the plate, he has a good fast ball and you’ll find that is where he got hurt by having that pitch called/asked for too many times. This very same sequence also hurt Will Smith at times when too many sliders were called. One example of that was with Dilmer Flores, slider happy about 4 times and then home run.
Rodriguez gave up 8 home runs all year, 6 out of 8 were as a Brave., even though he gave up 7 ER in those last 10 games his era only went from 2.41 to 2.94, and his FIP went from 2.71 on Aug 24 to 4.04 by the last game of the season. You don’t go a whole season with a sub 3 era through luck. The Pirates will probably re-acquire him.
As for the Yates signing I hope he won’t be another Cole Hamels.
Pirates don’t need him. They have a new closer in Bednar and don’t need set up guys.
Cheapish bullpen guy with upside is right up the Mets’ alley.
Good thing Mark Buehrle played when he did. Dude would be non-tendered in 2021 lol.
in spite of being a darn fine pitcher and a lock to join the “Hall of Very Good”
The Braves needed his 40-man spot for Freddie.
@bhambrave, Tomorrow might be a huge news day.
Question: How would you feel if by this time tomorrow the Braves had lost Freeman to another team and replaced him with Olsen (and perhaps an Oakland SP)?
The smart money is that neither happens before the lockout.
We’ll see.
I’d define that as a disappointing news day. I’d be mad, and I mean really mad.
This sucks. I loved rich rod.
Camargo is finally gone! Good!
I’m not entirely surprised about Rich Rod. He wasn’t awful but the Braves probably felt they could get the same production for cheaper, so…
This isn’t the end for Rodriguez. He will be a bullpen piece for the New Orleans Gators in 2029.
The Braves don’t have the payroll space that many people think. With Ozuna going be 16 million; Acuna gets a 10 million raise to 15 million; and if Atlanta resigns Freeman it would be at about 32 million which is a 10 million raise.
Not counting the pay raises to Duvall; Fried; Riley and Swanson. Plus still going need a bench bat; an outfielder till Acuna is ready; a back of rotation starter.
Rodriguez may just been a luxury they couldn’t afford to keep around as every dollar saved is money that can be put back into team.
I think AA will put a quality team on the field a d has found judgment.
100% correct. I thought Ozuna would be suspended for the whole year on top of the games he had already missed.
But his salary takes up a lot of the extra money the team had.
Good move. I wouldn’t want him pitching with a close lead and a comparable pitcher could be had cheaper.
Should replace Familia in the Mets 7th innings. Closer mentality, manager needs to use him in the right spots. Oh, and we need a manager.
The good news is Eppler can interview candidates and hire a manager during the lockout without the distraction of player negotiations. I hope he uses that time wisely.
Dodgers sign Freeman to 6-year/$180M contract. Braves counter by locking up Daniel Vogelbach on a 2/10 deal. AA last seen being chased through the streets of ATL by angry mob
I’m a little surprised they’re keeping Newcomb.
What are the odds that braves are checking in on Correa in case freeman walks? Are they potentially thinking of moving Riley to 1st and having either dansby or Correa play 3rd? Couldn’t possibly imagine they’d be willing to pay Correa more than Freeman tho…