Francisco Rodriguez was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers from the New York Mets late Tuesday night, and SB Nation blog Brew Crew Ball summarized everything quite succinctly .
Francisco Rodriguez Trade: Brewers Fans Happy To Get ‘Set-Up Man’ From Mets
Before getting to the Brew Crew Ball reaction however, let's catch everyone up on the details. The Mets traded Rodriguez and $5 million in cash to Milwaukee for two prospects to be named later -- and apparently they're not any of the more important players coming up in the Brewers' farm system.
This means, according to Brew Crew Ball, that the Brewers will now have a completely dominant bullpen with LaTroy Hawkins and Takashi Saito relieving the starters before Rodriguez sets up for John Axford, who should continue in his role as closer.
Yes, it seems as though Rodriguez will be demoted to set-up duties in Milwaukee (the exact position his agent was against earlier this week). Not because K-Rod’s not talented, of course, but because the Brewers would owe him much more money if he were to close 20 more games this season and Axford has done well so far this season.
To wit:
What does this mean for John Axford? My take: Nothing. John Axford is and will be the closer. Again, the Brewers will not let Rodriguez’s option vest, so he can’t close games. Milwaukee hasn’t had any of their other bullpen options closing ahead of Axford. So I see no reason to believe that John isn’t the closer still. The only way he might be taken out of that role is if he has a very large fall from grace. With how great he has been this year, I don’t see that happening, do you? Rodriguez has publicly stated that he is willing to be a set-up man on a contending team. I think that’s exactly why the Brewers went out and got him.
There’s plenty more at Brew Crew Ball. But they like it.
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