The month of January is upon us, which brings us to the month being commonly known as the month of Andrew Friedman. You see, January, the first month of the year has become the month that the Rays VP of Operations makes sure his cell phone is always fully charged, that he has plenty of ink and paper in his fax machine, printer and numerous pens he'll be using after he's done his wheeling and dealing.
Here we are, January 5, only 46 days till pitchers and catchers report for spring training and Friedman has begun the month with his first signing – not a power hitting designated hitter or first baseman as many expected but instead a formidable reliever in Fernando Rodney, formerly of the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The deal is a $1.75 million with a $2.5 million option for 2013 with a $250,000 buyout.
“Fernando’s pure stuff is top-notch and can beat hitters both in and out of the strike zone,” said Rays Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman. “We feel he will be able to maximize his ability with us to further strengthen our bullpen.”
A nine-year veteran, (Detroit 2002-09; Los Angeles 2010-11) Rodney had his best season in 2009 with Detroit when he converted 37 of 38 save opportunities (in 73 appearances), the highest save percentage among American League pitchers over 73 appearances.
It was also during this time [2009] that Rodney was suspended for three games after throwing a baseball into the press box at Tropicana Field after getting the final out of a game.
Rays beat writer, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times writes that Rodney along with his agent's rep called him [Topkin] to clear the air, in regards to the 2009 incident.
For his career, Rodney has compiled a 28-38 record with a 4.29 ERA (430-IP) and 87 saves in 124 save opportunities
Last season with Los Angeles, Rodney went 3-5 with 3 saves and a 4.50 ERA in 39 appearances in which he held opponents to a .224 (26-for-116) batting average with 26 strikeouts.
An upper back strain landed him on the disabled list for 35 games (June 9 – July 21) and he completed the year pitching in just two of the Angels final 29 games.
Rodney's arrival doesn't mean the end to Kyle Farnsworth's position as the teams “unofficial, official” closer. It's expected that Rodney and Joel Peralta will work the seventh and eighth innings, setting up for Farnsworth.
Rodney could also see some time closing games if Farnsworth, who's 25 saves were a career high in 2011 is unavailable.
For more info: Tampa Bay Rays, Fernando Rodney
Enjoy this article? Click the ‘subscribe’ link at the top of this article and sign up to receive email updates when new articles are posted. Follow Althea on Twitter
Comments