FanHouse K Rod

It was a pretty odd sight for Angels fans that have grown accustomed to closer Francisco Rodriguez's celebrations. Ever since K-Rod came to the big leagues, he's always capped off a save by pointing to the sky in a salute to his late grandfather. Well, when Rodriguez picked up his 59th save of the season on Thursday, he didn't point to the sky or celebrate. He just shook his catcher's hand, high-fived some teammates, and went to the clubhouse.

The reason for this is because even though he picked up the save and bailed out an Angels bullpen that did their best to blow a six-run lead, he wasn't very happy with the way he threw the ball on Thursday, or on Wednesday when he blew a save chance. In other words, it sounds like K-Rod may be getting a bit tired.

Which is why it's probably time for Mike Scioscia to shut him down for the remaining week and a half. I'm not saying don't use him at all, but use him as little as possible, just enough to keep his arm loose.

I understood why Scioscia was using Rodriguez so much during the season, as he wanted to win a division, and he wanted to help his closer break Bobby Thigpen's record for saves in a season. Well, both of those goals have now been accomplished, Mike. It would probably serve the Angels a lot better to have Frankie rested and ready for the playoffs instead of bringing him in during a meaningless game against the Athletics.

The inevitable finally happened, as Francisco Rodriguez has just tied the single season saves record with his 57th save against the Seattle Mariners. Bobby Thigpen had held the saves record alone since 1990, and since then John Smoltz and Eric Gagne had come close in 2002 and 2003, but now Rodriguez has caught Thigpen and is getting ready to pass him with about two and a half weeks to go.

It was a strange save in that the Angels were up 7-0 in the eighth inning, and Frankie was seemingly headed for a rest tonight. But Justin Speier gave up three in the eighth, and Scot Shields let a couple of runners on in the ninth to give Rodriguez the save opportunity. And after inducing Ichiro Suzuki into a double play, the task seemed easy. But K-Rod still had to endure a couple of base hits (the first of which brought in a run) before getting Raul Ibanez to ground out to first to gain a seat at Thigpen's table.

Stat oddity: Rodriguez's 57th save came against the Mariners ... who have 57 wins.

Back in spring training, Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez looked around the Angels training complex and said that it would probably be the last time he'd be there as a member of the Los Angeles Angels. Then after racking up 38 saves in the first half, K-Rod reiterated the fact that the Angels have had six years to try and lock him up to a long-term deal, and didn't do it, so he still expected to leave after the season.

Well, now it seems that Francisco has changed his mind. He is still intent on testing the market this winter, but that doesn't mean he's not open to returning to the Halos in 2009.

"I want to clarify something," Rodriguez said before Friday night's game against the White Sox. "Just because I want to explore the market, it doesn't mean I don't want to be here.

"As a player, I worked hard for six years, and I earned that right to go out there and see what there is. That doesn't mean I don't want to be here. I want to see what's out there, and it would be stupid on my part if I didn't."

K-Rod will be looking for a five-year deal in the $15 million a year range, and given the season he's had and the amount of teams who will probably be looking for a closer this offseason, he's probably going to get it. Still, he did say that he would consider a four-year offer from the Angels with the option for a fifth year.

Of course, considering the bidding war that may ensue for his services, and the money the Angels already have invested in other areas of the team, I still don't think he'll be an Angel in 2009.

Things are going really well with the Angels right now. They have the best record in baseball, and a hefty 15 game lead over the Rangers in the AL West. Basically, the last six weeks of the season will be nothing but preparation for the postseason.

The only thing the team really has left to accomplish is Francisco Rodriguez's bid to break Bobby Thigpen's mark for most saves (57) in a season. Since everything is going so smoothly for the Halos, it doesn't give their fans much to complain about, and as we all know, fans always need something to complain about. It makes us feel important. So that's why some Angels fans are grumbling over Mike Scioscia's use of K-Rod, and saying that he's trying to pump up his save stats when he isn't needed.

"I find that to be questioning our integrity," Scioscia said, a hint of ire in his voice. "Everything we do is what's best for the team. If the closer is available, why wouldn't you use him if the situation dictates the game needs to be closed out? Why wouldn't you?

"If there's a save situation and Frankie is available, he's going to get the ball."

On the surface, you'd have to think that Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez is loving life right now. He's already got 43 saves in 46 chances this season, leaving him only 14 shy of tying Bobby Thigpen's record for saves in a season of 57. Then there's the fact that he's playing for a team that's 10.5 games up on it's division, and doesn't look like it's going to get a serious challenge from anybody.

Oh, and he's having this record shattering season of his in his walk year. Yep, he's a free agent this winter, and K-Rod is going to get paid. So everything is perfect, right? No, actually, there is one thing that Francisco's doing a lot of this year that's really bothering him.

But the right-hander has already walked 28, seven shy of his career high, set in 2003. He has struck out only 48, well off the pace of his 99-strikeout average in his first five full seasons. Opponents have reached base at a career-high .302 clip against Rodriguez.

"The walks are kind of high -- that's the only thing that irritates me," said Rodriguez, who is on pace for 67 saves. "I have to give credit to the hitters. They're not chasing pitches as much as they used to. They're working counts.

In my last post about Jose Contreras' trip to the disabled list, I marveled at the fact White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was able to string together 75 consecutive words without swearing. I'm pretty sure that's a career high for the Sox skipper. Though it also worries me because that's not the Ozzie Guillen we've all come to know and love.

Thankfully, even though Ozzie's cleaned up his language a bit, he has yet to stop holding grudges. Particularly against Texas Rangers, as Rangers closer C.J. Wilson joins a group that includes Buck Showalter and Vicente Padilla before him as somebody who just ticks Ozzie off.

A week ago today, in the last game before the All-Star break, Wilson came on to close a game in which the Rangers had a four-run lead. Well, after allowing three-runs to score, Wilson finally got the third out of the inning with the bases loaded and proceeded to celebrate as though he'd just won the World Series. Ozzie didn't like it and said something then, and now a week later with the Rangers set to come to Chicago, Ozzie would like C.J. to know he still hasn't forgotten it.

"You can be cocky, be yourself or have your own showtime," Guillen told Chicago reporters Friday. "But when you don't respect the opposition and do what he did, that's not professional. That's the reason I was screaming to him. When you're nobody and show people up like that. ... Wait till you're somebody in baseball, and then do whatever you want to do.

The Los Angeles Angels have to be loving what's going on up in Oakland. For the first half of the season, the upstart Athletics had the Angels looking over their shoulders a bit more than they would have liked, but with the recent trades that have sent Rich Harden and Joe Blanton to the National League, the Angels have just about clinched the AL West.

They've got an eight game lead on the A's now, and a 9.5 game lead on the Rangers, and at this point it doesn't look like either of those two teams is going to pose a real threat. So the Angels GM Tony Reagins is at that point where he knows he doesn't have to make any moves, as he told ESPN's Buster Olney yesterday.

"We're comfortable with our club at this point," Reagins said. "We're confident. At this point, I don't see us making any drastic moves. ... As of today, I don't see us changing the makeup of the club in a major way."

But as Olney goes on in today's blog entry, that doesn't mean they won't be making any "minor" moves. They're not going to be looking to add a bat--even though Gary Matthews Jr. has a torn ACL--but there may be some interest in Orioles All-Star George Sherrill. According to Olney, the Orioles are quietly letting teams outside the AL East know that Sherrill is available, and George does make a lot of sense for Los Angeles.

He can be that lefty specialist they've needed for a while, and he provides some insurance should K-Rod sign elsewhere this winter.

Back in February, Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez let it be known that the 2008 season would more than likely be his last spent donning an Angels uniform. Neither he or the Angels could work out a long-term deal over the winter, and K-Rod went into the season with every expectation of testing the free agent market after the season.

Well, with every day that passes and every save Rodriguez racks up (38 at the break!), there's a little cha-ching that goes off inside his head. Still, he wouldn't have the chance to get so many saves if he didn't play for a good team, so maybe he's reconsidering leaving the Angels after this season and will take less money to stay there?

Um, no. No he's not.

"I'm going to go out there and explore the market," Rodriguez told the Los Angeles Times. "They had six years. They didn't get anything done with me.

"If I wait six years, why not wait another two and a half months?"

Yeah, even though the Angels are a good team, adding Rodriguez to the back of your bullpen can make a lot of average teams good. So it's kind of hard to argue with his decision to test the market, because he is going to be rich. Considering that he's probably going to obliterate Bobby Thigpen's record of 56 saves in a season, you have to figure he'll break the bank this winter and surpass Mariano Rivera's $15 million a season.

One of the biggest fears for a player that's playing in his first season with a new team after signing a big contract is winning over the new home fans. There's enough pressure on your shoulders as it is to perform with such a large price tag attached to you, but getting off to a slow start does nothing but make it even worse.

I don't think Torii Hunter needs to worry about it too much after the performance he gave in front of Angels fans on Monday. Not only did Hunter give the Angels a 2-1 lead in the 8th inning with a solo home run, he also saved the day in the 9th. After K-Rod gave up three runs to the Indians to blow his first save of the season, Torii came to the rescue with a walk-off grand slam in the 9th.

"All those fans who left, they're like, 'Man, I missed it!' " Hunter said. "That was awesome. That celebration was nice. That's how chemistry is started. These are my new teammates . . . when I came in, they doused me with beer."

Did you drink any of it? I mean, that seems like a waste of precious alcohol to me. Wasn't there any Gatorade around?

Anyway, after tearing the cover off the ball all spring, Hunter has brought his hot bat along with him into the regular season, already leading the American League with 4 home runs. He's also hitting .333 and has now driven in 8 runs.

Needless to say, if Torii keeps hitting like this throughout the season, he'll become just as popular in Los Angeles as he was in Minnesota.

If you just look at his numbers so far on the season, you probably don't see anything wrong with Angels closer Francisco Rodriguez. In three appearances so far, K-Rod has thrown three innings and allowed only one hit and no runs as he picked up all three save opportunities.

If you look a little closer at Francisco's performances, though, you notice that he's already walked three batters, and that half of the pitches he's thrown have been for balls. The reason for it? Well, K-Rod, like many other Angels pitchers at the moment, is hurting.

Closer Francisco Rodriguez, bothered since last season by a sore left ankle, grimaced repeatedly and appeared to be hobbling during a shaky 19-pitch save Friday. And Manager Mike Scioscia said the pain is now coming from his right ankle, the one he uses to push off the mound.

"He tweaked it a couple of days ago, and we're going to look at it closely," Scioscia said. "But it is a little sore."

Rodriguez says he could have pitched on Sunday had he been needed, but fortunately for him Jon Garland decided to get rocked so Frankie could have the day off. I don't think Rodriguez's sore ankle will turn into a big deal, but considering it's the ankle he uses to push off the mound with, the Angels might be better served to give him a few days off and hope it heals.

Of course, it's a lot easier to say that then do it when they're already without Scot Shields and Chris Bootcheck in the bullpen.