The Brewers upped the ante in the National League Central by acquiring Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez from the Mets.
John Mozeliak, you are on the clock. The same goes for Walt Jocketty. The second half of the playoff race is officially on.
The Brewers boldly went where many teams were unwilling to go, taking on the last half-season of K-Rod’s three-year, $37 million deal and his potential $17.5 million option for 2012. But if the Brewers use him as a set-up man for current closer John Axford, then Rodriguez may not reach the 55 games-finished threshold to trigger that option.
Rodriguez has finished 34 games thus far this season. It’ll be interesting to see how the Brewers manage that.
K-Rod recently switched agents, hiring Scott Boras – who does NOT envision Rodriguez taking a back seat to Axford,
“Francisco Rodriguez is a historic closer,” Boras reminded Newsday. “He's not going anywhere to be a setup man.”
And . . .
“Closers don't make good setup men. Does anyone want an unhappy setup man in their clubhouse?”
Whatever the Brewers do with K-Rod will be good for that team. Milwaukee has been teetering this season, looking for a turning point. This could be it.
“That is a really big trade,” Milwaukee slugger Prince Fielder told reporters at the All-Star Game. “He can really help us, he is a great player. It definitely gives us a spark. We are in first place now and getting him gives us a little more help.
“He is going to bring the success he has had in his career, his confidence. He is going to keep doing what he is doing. You can't go wrong when you get that kind of talent. You can never have too many guys. No discredit to Axford at all, but to get him, too, is great.”
The Brewers are going for it this season, since that team seems resigned to losing Fielder to free agency.
The Cards, meanwhile, hope to secure Albert Pujols for the long haul and adjust their budget accordingly. But they haven’t won a playoff game since their 2006 World Championship and the organization feels some urgency to end the drought.
How will that urgency translate into action before the trade deadline? Stay tuned.
ELSWHERE ON THE RELIEF FRONT
Eduardo Sanchez threw two shutout innings in Springfield Tuesday night, allowing one hit, issuing one walk and striking out two batters.
His velocity is back to normal – 93 to 95 miles per hour – but his command needs work. "I think he had 13 balls and 13 strikes, and some of those were out of the zone," Cardinals minor league pitching coordinator Dyar Miller told the Springfield News-Leader.
Sanchez will solidify the Cards bullpen upon his return to the majors. But Miller suggested he will need at least two more rehab appearances before moving up.
MYSTERIES OF THE UNIVERSE
Questions to ponder while wondering if Pujols will take his All-Star snub out on NL pitchers down the stretch:
Couldn't college football video games become way more realistic?
Will America ever recover from Chris Berman's call of the Home Run Derby?
How could teams at the Class A level get worked up enough to brawl?
Will another NFL team ever get various governments to foot a new stadium bill? Does this ever end well for the citizens?
QUIPS ‘R US
Here is what some of America’s leading sports pundits have been writing:
Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports: “At 27, Fielder has evolved into one of the game’s great sluggers, and not the one-dimensional sort, either. He walks more than he strikes out. He’s agile enough for someone carrying upwards of 300 pounds on a frame that looks ill-suited to support it. He will hit free agency this offseason as perhaps the biggest attraction, and it’s looking likelier that he’ll exit it with the biggest contract handed to someone not named Alex Rodriguez. Fielder’s ascent coincided with Albert Pujols’ struggles and injury, and the possibility grows greater daily of Fielder actually usurping Pujols on the open market.”
Jayson Stark, ESPN.com: “Manager Ron Washington was having a whole mess of trouble trying to match that NL firestorm. For some reason, he agreed to limit his starter, Jered Weaver, to one inning, as a favor to the Angels. Then Weaver's designated successor, Josh Beckett, had to shut it down while warming up and couldn't go. And the AL pitching procession just got increasingly out of whack from there. So Washington wound up running this game like an intrasquad game before the Cactus League opener. And wasn't that special?”
Gregg Doyel, CBSSports.com: “At some point you have to admire Bud Selig. No, really. You do. Because after all these years, with the world still telling him he's wrong about the way he runs his All-Star Game and without a shred of compelling evidence in his defense, Selig just sits there and takes it. Doesn't care how stupid he looks. It's impressive, really. That kind of self-confidence, delusional as it may be, is remarkable. We should all go through life as tunnel-visioned as Selig, not hearing anything being said or reading anything being written about us. He's kind of like the religious zealots that walk through my neighborhood, knocking on doors, waving their literature and having our doors slammed in their faces. Still they come back. Why? Because they're convinced they're right, and there is peace in such conviction. The rest of the world thinks they're spooky and possibly insane -- but here they come again, walking up my driveway.”
MEGAPHONE
“Let's put the Derek Jeter question to bed: There isn't a player that I'm more proud of in the last 15 years than Derek Jeter. He has played the game like it should be played. He's even been a better human being off the field as great as he is on the field. So any concerns that I keep hearing about Derek Jeter, I know why Derek Jeter isn't here. I respect that. And I must tell you I think I would have made the same decision that Derek Jeter did. Derek Jeter has brought to this sport great pride. He's become a role model. Earned it. Still earning it. And so any suggestion that I, or anybody else, is unhappy with him about not being here is just false.”
Selig, supporting Jeter’s decision to bail on the All-Star Game.
