Our MLB editor files dispatches from the Winter Meetings in Las Vegas in Notes From Sin City.Mets general manager Omar Minaya officially announced the signing of Francisco Rodriguez Wednesday afternoon. Rodriguez is due to make a little less than $40 million over three years, but his contract also contains a vesting option for a fourth year that could push its value past $50 million.
Considering that earlier this offseason, K-Rod and his agents were talking about breaking the bank and the record for a contract given to a relief pitcher with a deal worth north of $75 million, that has to be a disappointment to Rodriguez. It could also be a sign that the plummeting economy has extended its reach into the national pastime.
Or not.
At Minaya's press conference, he admitted that the surprisingly robust closer market helped the Mets get a bargain with K-Rod.
"There is a group of relievers out there," said Minaya. "I think if there were no other relievers, the length [of the contract] would have been different."
There has been a ton of talk out here about the impact the economy is having on the game. It's been used as an explanation for the slow progress being made in the free-agent market, but agent Scott Boras just told everyone huddled around him in the Bellagio that, to paraphrase, baseball is, and has been, largely immune to the ups and downs of the national economy.
It's worth keeping in mind what Minaya said, though, as we go forward. There were a number of viable closers for the Mets to choose from -- names like Kerry Wood, Trevor Hoffman and Brian Fuentes. And relief pitching is hardly the only saturated market this winter. There are a number of DH/OF/1B bats available as well. Beyond prized first baseman Mark Teixeira and outfielder Manny Ramirez, there's Adam Dunn, Pat Burrell, Milton Bradley, Jason Giambi and so on.
If the guys listed above get significantly less than we all expected they would at the start of Hot Stove season, maybe it's a sign that the national economic downturn is impacting the national pastime. Or maybe it's just another example of one of economics' most basic principles -- supply and demand.
