Baseball > Mets Trade Francisco Rodriguez To Milwaukee, Could Beltran Be Next?

~ Francisco Rodriguez had to see the writing on the wall when he reported to camp this year. He had to know that he might be changing addresses sometime around the All-Star break. It’s the All-Star break, and Rodriguez is headed to a new city. The New York Mets have traded Rodriguez to the Milwaukee Brewers along with cash for two players to be named later.

 Make no mistake about it, this was a cash move for the Mets. The possibility of having to pay Rodriguez $17.5 million in 2012 was just too much for the cash-strapped Mets to handle. The longer they kept him on the team and letting him close games, the greater the chances would have become for that $17.5 million option to kick in. This would have put a major dent in the payroll for them and further reduced their chances of re-signing Jose Reyes in the off season.

 Rodriguez saved 23 games in 26 opportunities this season for the Mets and has had a bounce back year compared to the off the field issues he encountered in 2011. The Brewers clearly are looking to make a strong playoff push and now have an even deeper bullpen. They came out of this looking like winners. Milwaukee gets a top notch closer to pair with their other closer John Axford and the deal does not cost them much either.

 At 29 years old, Rodriguez is looking to pitch himself into another big money contract. He recently hired big time agent Scott Boras which may have added to the urgency for the Mets to move him out of town.

 Look for the Mets to begin to develop Bobby Parnell into their closer of the future. Parnell is young, has a strong arm and has shown flashes. He deserves to get a long look.

 The questions will now continue to circle the Mets as it involves Carlos Beltran. Beltran made the All-Star team and leads the team in home runs. If they decide to move him, it almost assures their fans that they have decided to mail in the rest of the season. New York currently is 11 games out of first place and 7.5 games out of the NL wild card spot.

 The spotlight is going to be on Mets general manager Sandy Alderson and what he does or does not do with the remaining big name players on his ballclub.