Francisco Rodriguez or Brian Fuentes

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Francisco Rodriguez or Brian Fuentes

Francisco Rodriguez 17 votes

Brian Fuentes 13 votes

metirish
Nov 19 2008 06:21 AM

From Ken Davidoff

] Mets have choice of either K-Rod or Fuentes BY KEN DAVIDOFF The Mets have many goals and many choices in this baseball offseason, but as they take in the lay of the land now, they think they know this: Acquiring a closer will be first on their list of accomplishments. They will sign either Francisco Rodriguez or Brian Fuentes to be their closer. Whom they sign will depend on the contract terms. The free-agent market on closers has diminished to where the Mets, the only big-market team looking for an elite reliever, should have their pick of either K-Rod or Fuentes, the top two available options. Though clubs such as Milwaukee and Texas will be shopping for a closer, as well, the struggling economy has limited many clubs' budgets.

Not caring about contracts which player do you want if what Davidoff says is true?

metsmarathon
Nov 19 2008 07:06 AM

NOT caring about contract, obviously rodriguez is the better pitcher, and at 26 y/o compared to fuentes at 32, is more likely to continue to be a better pitcher in the future.

if the economy and the market is hurting k-rod, then we should take advantage of that and sign him to a reasonable deal. if the market were expected to be wacky, then i'd say got for fuentes.

yeah, yeah, closers are overrated, and i'll be among the first to agree with that, but you still want, given the choice between two players, teh better of the two to be your closer, don't you?

metirish
Nov 19 2008 07:10 AM

Me saying not to care about contracts in retrospect is silly.Taking contracts into account who would you want?

Edgy DC
Nov 19 2008 07:14 AM

D'oh! I already voted.

Nonetheless, I took contracts into account. The bottom line at the bank always finds a way to feed into the bottom line on the field.

Benjamin Grimm
Nov 19 2008 07:29 AM

I did take contracts into account, and voted Fuentes. If it comes to a point where the Mets could get either pitcher for the same number of years and dollars, I'd certainly go with Rodriguez.

If they're both willing to sign for three years, and Rodriguez is higher by only a couple of million per year, I'd go with him.

Overall, I'm not sure what I want to see happen. As long as they get either of those guys I'll be glad. And if they can get Rodriguez without limiting their ability to fill other needs this offseason, that will be optimal.

(By the way, I just discovered the other day that Rodriguez wears number 57. Who would have guessed that the Mets could have two premium players with a conflict over a uniform number as high as 57?)

MFS62
Nov 19 2008 07:44 AM

I voted for Fuentes because we still don't know if there will be a curse of Bobby Thigpen.

Later

John Cougar Lunchbucket
Nov 19 2008 07:45 AM

I went w/ Fuentes too. Not that I'd kick K rod outta bed or anything.

Frayed Knot
Nov 19 2008 07:49 AM

Looks like they're resigned to snagging one or the other so I'm not going to go nuts over which one.
I guess all other things being equal you'd have to go with Rodriguez seeing as how he's younger and theoretically better - even if the whispers about losing stuff start to worry you and Fuentes did what he did in Coors Field.

As far as the contract, I generally don't care how much money these guys make at least until it affects other potential moves. To that extent I usually worry more about the length of the deals than the per/year dollars so I suspect they'll grab the first one who agrees to what they consider reasonable terms.

Below is an "average" season (70 IPs) for each (with Wags thrown in) boiled down from 2006-2008.

<table><tr><td align="center">---</td><td align="center">H</td><td align="center">ER</td><td align="center">BB</td><td align="center">K</td><td align="center">HR</td><td align="center">WHiP</td><td align="center">ERA</td></tr><tr><td align="center">K-Rod</td><td align="center">52</td><td align="center">18</td><td align="center">32</td><td align="center">90</td><td align="center">4</td><td align="center">1.20</td><td align="center">2.31</td></tr><tr><td align="center">Fuentes</td><td align="center">53</td><td align="center">24</td><td align="center">26</td><td align="center">78</td><td align="center">6</td><td align="center">1.13</td><td align="center">3.09</td></tr><tr><td align="center">Wagner</td><td align="center">54</td><td align="center">19</td><td align="center">20</td><td align="center">84</td><td align="center">6</td><td align="center">1.06</td><td align="center">2.40</td></tr></table>

Edgy DC
Nov 19 2008 08:30 AM

ERA+ over that period:

Rodriguez: 209
Fuentes: 155
Waggoner: 180

I'm leaning toward changing my vote.

HahnSolo
Nov 19 2008 08:40 AM

I have slightly more confidence that we'll get 3-4 decent years out of KRod than we will out of Fuentes.

So, an ever so slight vote to KRod.

TransMonk
Nov 19 2008 09:22 AM

K-Rod would be the best start.

We need more than just a closer, though.

soupcan
Nov 19 2008 09:30 AM

K-Rod.

Edgy DC
Nov 19 2008 09:32 AM

If we get K-Rod, can we not call him that?

OlerudOwned
Nov 19 2008 09:36 AM

="Edgy DC":1fvjl4b7]If we get K-Rod, can we not call him that?[/quote:1fvjl4b7]
Pretty please.

Fman99
Nov 19 2008 09:37 AM

I vote for Frankie Rodriguez.

TransMonk
Nov 19 2008 09:38 AM

Franky?

The Cicso Kid?

Excitable Boy?

John Cougar Lunchbucket
Nov 19 2008 09:40 AM

="Edgy DC"]If we get K-Rod, can we not call him that?

No. Although he'll also be known as "The Mets' $15 Million Closer" and "Omar's Big Splash" and "Salve for Met fans' wounds"

And he'll never be known as anything but a disappointment should he fail to be every bit as good -- probably better-- than he's been to this point in his career, since nobody will remember for sure just how good or great he really is to begin with.

This is my whole argument over going after a so called "superstar" for such a high-profile but ultimately unpredictable role.

I'd in fact go after the cheapest good pitcher we can find here and plow that $$ toward Texiera or somebody worth the big-ass buxxxx.

Benjamin Grimm
Nov 19 2008 09:42 AM

I promise that I won't.

His agent called him "Frankie" in a quote I read. I'm down with calling him Frankie.

Edgy DC
Nov 19 2008 09:44 AM

Then get Kerry Wood and a whole bunch of other guys?

While you say so much that is true, one can't let dodging misplaced hype drive their decisions either. Where you pull out is exactly the piont where the hype is driving the market.

smg58
Nov 19 2008 09:54 AM

I'm going with Rodriguez, because something tells me he won't go for as much as people think and Fuentes won't come that much cheaper. Fuentes is not worth a Wagner-sized deal, and Rodriguez is worth a bit more than that.

soupcan
Nov 19 2008 09:58 AM

="Edgy DC":2xgb2fuf]If we get K-Rod, can we not call him that?[/quote:2xgb2fuf]

Yes - I'd agree to that.

John Cougar Lunchbucket
Nov 19 2008 10:00 AM

]Then get Kerry Wood and a whole bunch of other guys?

If I believed they could truly commit to that AND spend the closer $$ on a hitter, absolutely.

attgig
Nov 19 2008 10:45 AM

I voted for fuentes, but I'd vote for Kerry Wood, and also signing Joe Beimel.

Edgy DC
Nov 19 2008 10:47 AM

Ooh. We've got a sig line agenda.

Rockin' Doc
Nov 19 2008 11:12 AM

Rodriguez is the better pitcher and is younger than Fuentes, so I would prefer him as long as the contract isn't too steep. I would be willing to pay a little extra in $ to land Rodriguez. If the bidding gets too steep for him, then I would go with Fuentes or possibly Wood.

HahnSolo
Nov 19 2008 12:00 PM

Refresh my memory someone: why wasn't Fuentes closing for the Rocks in the '07 postseason. Corpas closed. Was Fuentes coming off an injury or something?

John Cougar Lunchbucket
Nov 19 2008 12:03 PM

As I recall it he lost his mojo for awhile.

Is Jose Valverde an option? His numbers aren't much worse than Fuentes. At worst he could ably replace Duaner Sanchez as a setter-upper

Frayed Knot
Nov 19 2008 12:34 PM

Yeah, in June of '07 Fuentes was cruising along with a sub-2.00 ERA and 20 saves vs 2 blown when he ran into the closer's week from hell:

6/22 @ Tor: 1/3 IP, 3 runs (2 ER) on 4 hits (Blown save + Loss)
6/25 @ Chi: 2/3 IP, 2 runs (0 ER) on 3 hits (Blown Save + Loss)
6/28 @ Hou: 2/3 IP, 4 runs on 3 hits + 1 BB, 1 HR (Blown Save + Loss)
6/29 @ Hou: 2/3 IP, 2 runs on 1 hits + 1 BB, 1 HR (Blown Save + Loss)
7/1 @ Hou: 1 IP, 2 runs on 2 hits + 2 BBs (non-save situation)

That stretch of consecutive appearences (5 games, 3-1/3 IP, 13 runs (10 earned) 13 hits for 4 blown saves/walk-off losses) was enough to jack his ERA from 1.89 to 4.17 and get him pulled from the closer's role.
He wasn't used in a 9th inning save situation for the remainder of the year although he only gave up 4 runs on 13 hits in the next 25 outings (1.46 ERA).