Free agent left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez has been at the Winter Meetings in Nashville this week, where he’s held sitdowns with multiple interested clubs. It seems that slate of meetings will soon produce a deal, as Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports that Rodriguez has narrowed his possibilities to two teams and will decide between that pair of offers by tomorrow.
Beyond the fact that he’s known to have been in Nashville to meet with clubs, it’s been a relatively quiet offseason on the Rodriguez front. MLB Network’s Jon Morosi reported last month that any geographic preferences that may have been in place at the trade deadline are now out the window, as the left-hander has expressed an openness to pitching anywhere.
Logically speaking, teams that are deep into pursuits of Shohei Ohtani and/or Yoshinobu Yamamoto might not want to make a commitment of this size before either of those names comes off the board. That’s largely speculative, to be clear, although SNY’s Andy Martino reported this morning that the Mets haven’t even shown interest in Rodriguez at or prior to the Winter Meetings — largely for that specific reason; they’ve been focused squarely on Yamamoto to this point. That certainly seems to take them out of play as one of the two apparent finalists.
Rodriguez, 31 in April, opted out of the final three years and $49MM on his contract with the Tigers at the beginning of the offseason. There’s been no indication that a return is off the table, even after Detroit’s signing of veteran righty Kenta Maeda to a two-year contract. Tigers president of baseball ops Scott Harris was clear after that agreement that the Tigers remain in the market for starting pitching. Whether that includes putting forth a lengthier and larger commitment than the one from which Rodriguez just opted out isn’t clear, although it bears mentioning that Rodriguez was signed by Harris’ predecessor, Al Avila, and not the current Detroit front office regime.
The 2023 season was the second of a five-year, $77MM deal that had mixed results. Rodriguez was away from the Tigers for an extended period during year one of the contract, citing a marital issue, and posted a 4.05 ERA with diminished strikeout numbers when on the field. He bounced back early in 2023 and was one of the American League’s best pitchers for much of the first half. From April 12 through May 28, Rodriguez rattled off nine starts (57 1/3 innings) with a 1.40 ERA, 27.7% strikeout rate and 5.5% walk rate.
A ruptured pulley tendon in his pitching hand sent Rodriguez to the injured list from late May through early July, and he wasn’t as sharp upon his return. The lefty improved as the summer wore on, but his 4.24 ERA in 85 innings post-injury list was decidedly less intriguing than his pre-injury output.
Overall, Rodriguez still finished out the season with 152 2/3 innings of 3.30 ERA ball, adding in a 23% strikeout rate, 7.7% walk rate, 41% ground-ball rate and 0.88 HR/9. MLBTR ranked Rodriguez 11th on our annual Top 50 free agent rankings and predicted a four-year, $82MM deal for the veteran southpaw.
DarkSide830
Dodgers?
Mehmehmeh
Didn’t he just veto a trade to LAD last season?
D2323
Yes he hates the west coast he will not be signing with a west coast team.
ElysianPark
He didn’t say he hated the West Coast. He said he wanted to be able to keep his family where they were.
D2323
He had a no-trade clause with West Coast teams explicity listed. He doesn’t want to be there.
norcalblue
No, he actually just wanted money to waive his new trade contract, and when the Dodgers wouldn’t pay him, he declined the deal.
I’m not saying that he would come to the West Coast; but, he was willing to go he just wanted to be paid more to do it.
freeland1787
I wouldn’t say never, because money talks, but it’s less likely given his preference to stay on the East Coast.
Blue Baron
@freeland1787: He signed previously with Detroit, which is not and has never been on the east coast.
DarkSide830
Sorry:
Dodgers? /j
stymeedone
He didn’t want to move his family in July and then again in the off season. He had missed time due to marital issues, and did not want to be away from them, either. If LAD had given him an extension (they declined to), he likely would have accepted the trade. Still, HARRIS should have been talking to teams NOT on his no trade list.
Who else
But money talks, he said things have changed since the dead line. Called
99CaptainJudge99
Yankees? Lol
inkstainedscribe
This is the Braves’ SP addition.
brave from the woods
I wouldn’t be surprised.
dbdmack
I was thinking Braves, Phillies or Red Sox
Saint Nick
I hope not.
braveshomer
Why not St. Nick?…I’d take him in a heart beat. Lefty with good stuff, he was great 1st half of last year until he tore his ring finger or whatever.
Saint Nick
Too many injuries and inconsistent career when actually healthy. I think somebody is gonna overpay him. I’d much rather have Stroman or Wacha.
Baseball Babe
Yep
steelerbravenation
I would be fine with him as long as the price is right & the length is right
inkstainedscribe
That aged poorly.
just_thinkin
what’s the word on that tendon? that’s pretty worrying
maxmilna
My fingers hurt!
Dotnet22
Now your back’s gonna hurt. Cause you just pulled landscaping duty. Anyone else’s fingers hurt? No, I didn’t think so.
jungbongjovi
came here to post this
Pedro Cerrano's Voodoo
We just extended arts and crafts time by 3 hours!
Fraham_
Dodgers please for my free agent predictions
Blue Baron
Nobody cares about your free agent predictions.
Fraham_
I do
Blue Baron
But nobody else does.
Fraham_
Steven Adams does
o971
I do
Joel P
Diamondbacks maybe? Got to be a contending team. Probably one who needs a lefty who could start a playoff game.
Wagner>Cobb
He would be a good fit there. Gives them some stability going forward too since it looks unlikely that they’ll extend Gallen.
Joel P
Yeah they don’t have a ton of pitching prospects they could use some long term certainty.
Wagner>Cobb
They had some volume, but most of it hasn’t panned out. They are pretty much relying on Pfaadt being what he was in the playoffs over a whole season, Henry being league average and healthy, Nelson taking a big step forward, and Jameson staying healthy in the bullpen. Cecconi was ok last year but doesn’t look like his stuff will translate long term.
octavian8
If story is true I’m surprised he isn’t waiting for Ohtani and Yamamoto to sign to widen his market. Runners up to the aforementioned might be tempted to spend more than coming away empty.
Scott Kliesen
Make it happen Ben Cherington! ERod would love pitching in PNC for the next few years.
For Love of the Game
I’d be shocked!
edwardk64
Someday, the Pirates will be big players in the second tier free agency market. Someday. It’s a dream we all have, a lofty level worth aspiring to
Until then, I’m counting on Rich Hill coming back and leading the team to terminal mediocrity
Old York
Maybe we should televise the Free Agency on one night to include all the drama. They can run predictions, have commentary and marketing leading up to the televised event.
AlBundysFanClubPresident
Do it like the nfl draft. Each player is ranked, and teams listed most to least likely to sign each player have 15 minutes to announce a deal with that player or their next most likely target (until they actually sign one).
No team is allowed to sign 2 until every other team has, OR they work out a trade.
Blue Baron
@AlBundy: That wouldn’t be true free agency.
AlBundysFanClubPresident
Is it true free agency when player reps and association dictate every player sign for the most money, despite their preference of team, location, etc?
Or when a less sought after player’s preferred team passes on him and his only option to remain in the show is to take less money from a team he’d rather not suit up for..?
Blue Baron
Any system like you suggest that limits how many each team may sign is not true free agency.
If you have a problem with free agency, go complain to MLB.
AlBundysFanClubPresident
Where did I say I have a problem with it?
This one belongs to the Reds
They should put it on TNT.
braveshomer
and call it “The Decisions”
ASapsFables
It’s always fun to speculate on a mystery team. With Jon Heyman we get two! lol
This one belongs to the Reds
Hopefully Buffalo Bob frees up the cash for Po Boy to get it done.
BaseBall Bob
Terminal mediocrity would be an improvement. You might be asking for too much.
jumps
I’m guessing it’s not one of the teams going for Yamamoto.
My gut is saying Braves or Reds. Dark horse could be the O’s or Red Sox since he pitched there before and both could use a lefty in the top-mid of their rotations.
Wire to wire 2024
After seeing the ask for cease I’d rather see the reds sign this guy
ksoze
Agreed. The cost seems reasonable, and I don’t see a big difference between him or Cease. Neither are aces, but both profile as a 2.
Wire to wire 2024
Yeah I just feel like the team could afford a potentially bad signing more than giving away the future
This one belongs to the Reds
Both are an ace on the Reds pitching staff though.
Longtimecoming
Padres
Champ world champion Texas Rangers
Rangers?? That is so random
Blue Baron
How is it random for a Rangers fan to predict the Rangers?
Ma4170
Cubs?
DUCKFACE2345
Reds ?
Ma4170
Could see that too
Bobcastelliniscat
The Reds tried to trade for him at the deadline.
TheBoatmen
Boston if you can believe his twitter bio.
bobbers_mcgee
Giants 5/95. Reliable move
spooky
Nope
reno24
I predicted Phillies in the contest, but I also thought they would be losing Nola.
TrillionaireTeamOperator
Athletics 9 years/$585M
NashvilleJeff
Screen name checks out…………
Pkindaclub
if that’s the case there signing ohtani for around 3 bills
acoss13
I think I had him signing another deal with Detroit. Tigers are going to be sneaky competitive in a sucky AL Central, especially with all their pitchers coming back from surgeries.
stymeedone
I wouldn’t mind that, but I expect HARRIS to hold grudges. E-Rod exercising his no-trade provision made HARRIS the laughing stock of the trade deadline, as he should have been. To not have a backup plan was a serious failure on his part.
acoss13
Yeah, Harris should have had a contingency plan in place, he’s much smarter than that. Scott overplayed his hand on that one.
Motor City Beach Bum
Tigers should look elsewhere. He isn’t blameless for the trade deadline fiasco and he didnt look as good after the injury. If they won’t splurge for Yamamoto then maybe they’ll kick the tires on Imanaga or try to fix Flaherty.
DJSpeed
Feels like the close to the vest sort of deal the Reds might make. The rotation would have the potential of at least three lefties. It might bump somebody like Williamson to the pen.
Chaval0n
Snakes
Bill M
He’s on a plane
Rightout
He shafted the Tiger organization in 2022.. Then refused a trade this year…he will never be back with Tigers…they don’t want him back…they wanted him gone…long gone…I hear Cincinnati or Mets
Bobcastelliniscat
The Reds were interested in him at the trade dead line.
weaselpuppy
For sure. That guy is a ducking glassbowl.
Fallguy820
St Louis Cardinals are going to sneak in there and sign him.
DanielDannyDano
From the outside looking in, the Orioles make the best sense. The O’s need stable starting pitching, and coming full circle, this is Eduardo’s best chance to be successful. Win Win in my books.
sfjackcoke
He doesn’t have a QO attached, I think that brings in a lot of teams. At the same time what went done in 2022 behind the scenes must have been sorted to any teams content prior to signing him.
As for invoking the NTC, the agent, the team seem to have had a communication breakdown, LOSE LOSE but E Rod is the person who took the hit.. I am going to guess it’s a team that has spring training in FLA.
NashvilleJeff
Anywhere but Atlanta.
terry g
I can see the need for a LH starter for snakes but I don’t see them paying $20+M for one. Still that’s quickly becoming the average for middle rotation arms.
Rsox
O’s, Red Sox, Phillies, Yankees, Marlins, Reds, basically any team east of Missouri makes sense and is possible
ohyeadam
Best value on the market if he signs for close to what was predicted by mlbtr imo
Yazmyhero
I’d like him back in Boston…. But seriously doubt Breslow is looking at him.
Bobcastelliniscat
The Reds were linked with him at the trade deadline last summer. Haven’t read much about him and the Reds lately, but the are looking for a TOR starter.
Bromo 2
Are the Tigers seriously in on Yamamoto?
dkhits20
It seems they will sign another Japanese player because Harris said one of the purposes of signing Maeda was to become “serious players” in the Japanese market, but I think Imanaga is much more likely.
Bromo 2
You are probably right, but it’s fun thinking about the other.
Motor City Beach Bum
I agree and think Imanaga would be a good get as well.
mlbfan
Rangers?
steelerbravenation
If the Pirates are serious about contending soon they need to sign him or someone like him
If Davis is a catcher moving forward then they need a power bat in RF as well Hunter Renfroe would be my pick
How would Pirate fans feel bout an offseason of Renfroe, Tellez, Rodriguez & Stroman signings & Marco Gonzalez & Brandon Drury trades ???
I think all that should be doable payroll wise
detroitfan69
He will sign with the Tigers tomorrow
kingbum
I can see a Boston reunion, as a Boston fan I like the guy. He’s a 3.5 to 4 ERA guy who eats innings, exactly what the team needs. E-Rod is also familiar with fan expectations and seemed to handle that pretty well. It’s not like getting Zach Grienke just to find out he has an anxiety disorder and can’t perform in Boston. He’s a proven commodity in Boston and we need that certainty more than anything else right now.
bcjd
“Logically speaking, teams that are deep into pursuits of Shohei Ohtani and/or Yoshinobu Yamamoto might not want to make a commitment of this size.
Of what size? We have no idea what kind of offers he’s getting, at least not from this article. He opted out of $49m/3, which isn’t exactly a monster contract. I’m not seeing a commitment to E-Rod being a break the bank situation.
TribeFan88
Braves or Orioles?
Mickey Steverman
As long as it isn’t the Dodgers I don’t care where a player signs. I was so happy when he vetoed the trade there last year. Then their dirtbag fans cheered when he left the game against them with an injury. Spoiled pieces of garbage that support that team that tries to buy everyone they can. Hope it’s Arizona so he can get some revenge on the Dodgers.
Niekro floater
“Other team” is leverage to get more outa dbacks. Don’t negotiate against urselves. Agents R professional liars, it’s a skill.