K-Rod May Be Baseball's First 60-Save Man

Francisco Rodriguez is a great closer, there's no question about that, but there are already a ton of miles on his shoulder, and some teams may be shying away from the guy because of that. At the minimum they would like to drop his value a tad before signing.

So the "drop in velocity" rumors have started making the rounds, so much so that his agent has had to come out and defend the guy, in arguably his greatest season yet.

The Mets are of course the heavy favorite for Rodriguez's services, and their was even a story from a Venezuelan newspaper yesterday, that Francisco Rodriguez wass on his way to New York for a physical exam, in advance of signing a contract with the Mets. But a person within the Mets organization tonight said "it's not true."

Give it a week or two. He will be a Met.

Robothols latest ..

Ken Rosenthal Angels will avoid long negotiations for Teixeira

Boras contends that teams frequently take a wrongheaded view with franchise players such as Teixeira and Ramirez, talking not about how they add revenue, but how they subtract from available payroll.

Consider Boras' take on Ramirez:

"We've got an exact model," Boras said. "We've seen the player in the market produce 5, 6, 7 million dollars a month for the franchise. That's additional revenue to their team. Certainly that's a rare player. And his impact obviously can be measured as well by the millions more they made in the postseason."

Teixeira, 28, isn't the same type of attraction, but he's eight years younger, far better defensively and a more consistent personality. If the Angels pass on him, the Red Sox, Yankees and other clubs almost certainly will jump. The issue for the Angels is not the player; it's the pace of the negotiations.

"A lot of it depends upon how quickly you get the information the player wants to hear," Boras said. "Sometimes the player wants to meet personally with teams. Sometimes he's very happy with where he is. If clubs come forward and meet what the needs are, it can move forward and operate pretty fluidly and quickly."