K-Rod boast Mets 2009 winning season

NEW YORK Francisco Rodriguez has a message for the Philadelphia Phillies and the rest of the NL East.

Despite back-to-back September collapses, Francisco Rodriguez is confident the Mets will win the NL East in 2009. Here's how the division stacked up
"Of course, we're going to try to win the division. Of course, we're going to be the front-runner. Of course, we're going to be the team to beat," he said Saturday.

Four days after agreeing to a $37 million, three-year contract, K-Rod was confident the Mets will put consecutive September collapses behind them and overtake the World Series champion Phillies in ruling the NL East.

"I don't want there to be a controversy or the other ballclubs in that division to take it personally or take it in a bad way," he said. "If they ask me, 'Oh, which ballclub is going to win the National League East?' It's going to be the Mets. Easy question."

In 2007 and 2008, the Mets treated their fans much the same way Lucy dealt with Charlie Brown trying to kick a football: They promised everything would be different this time only to yank the ball away at the end. September leads evaporated, and they were eliminated on the last day of the regular season.

On Thursday, Phillies ace Cole Hamels took a shot at the Mets.

"For the past two years they've been choke artists," he said on WFAN radio.

Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins began the verbal sparring before the 2007 season when he said the Phillies were the team to beat in the division -- even though the Mets came within one win of reaching the World Series the previous year.

"Everybody knows what happened, unfortunately. They didn't get the job done. Unfortunately, you know, it happens," Rodriguez said Saturday from Venezuela during a conference call. "We cannot be living with the past. We've just have to get that behind us and get focused."

In a span of four days, the Mets reached a $37 million, three-year deal with K-Rod, acquired J.J. Putz from Seattle and exiled three of the guilty, trading Aaron Heilman, Joe Smith and Scott Schoeneweis. The Mets want to forget a season in which they blew 29 of 72 save chances.

Rodriguez saved a major league record 62 games for the Los Angeles Angels last season and says he's ready for a changed atmosphere at Citi Field. He was animated with the Angels, and is looking forward to the energy of the Mets' fans. He wants to earn their respect.

"New York's atmosphere is totally different. The fans are really passionate," he said. "A lot of players like to be on that stage. I'm the kind of guy that likes to be on the big stage."

He's not used to charged-up fans at home.

"In Anaheim, they're more calm," he said. "They're really relaxed when they're watching the game."

Already a three-time All-Star, Rodriguez turns 27 next month. He claimed his drop in velocity last season was caused by his development of a changeup. He tried to throw all his pitches at the same arm speed.

K-Rod thinks his velocity will be back up next year.

"People, they're looking at velocity and not worried about what I've done," he said. "To me it's not a concern. It's not something that I really worry about right now."

He joins fellow Venezuelan Johan Santana on the Mets, and can sense the excitement when "walking the street, going to the mall, doing groceries."

At a dinner with the Mets last Sunday night, he spoke with Santana, who had called team executive Tony Bernazard.

"They told me all the best things of New York and some of the bad things, too," he said. "Like I say, he gave me a little advice."

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press


LOS ANGELES The Los Angeles Angels made an eight-year offer to first baseman Mark Teixeira during winter meetings in Las Vegas.

Team spokesman Tim Mead said Friday that no financial details are being revealed about the offer to the free agent, who is being sought by numerous teams.

Boston, Washington and Baltimore all have expressed interest in the 28-year-old Maryland native, who also met with the New York Yankees ahead of the winter meetings.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

Updated: December 13, 2008, 6:03 PM ET

Kerry Wood Signs Two-Year Deal With IndiansCLEVELAND -- Kerry Wood wasn't concerned the Cleveland Indians would find a red flag in his massive medical records.

He was certain the elbow X-rays, MRI exam results on his shoulder and confidential documents would meet approval, clearing him to sign his first free-agent contract.

"With what I've gone through and what I've come back from, there was no doubt in my mind," Wood said. "I was just worried they would need a dolly or two to get it over to them.

"You play for 10 years and a lot can happen."

Wood would know.

The former Cubs right-hander, who has revived his injury-riddled career as a reliever, finalized a $20.5 million, two-year deal on Saturday with the Indians, whose high expectations in 2008 crashed in a succession of early-season blown saves by an underachieving and unpredictable bullpen.

In 10 years, Wood, who saved 34 games in his first season finishing for Chicago, has gone from rising star to a question mark, from the front of the rotation to the back of the bullpen, and now from one league to the other.

The closer is starting over.

The 31-year-old gets $10 million next year and $10.5 million in 2010. An $11 million option kicks in if Wood has 55 games finished in either of the next two years.

Cleveland's investment is being viewed by some as risky. After all, Wood has been on the disabled list 12 times. But his only visit last season was for a blister on his right index finger, and the Indians are confident they're making a sound move after scouting Wood and giving him a physical.


Kerry Wood RP Chicago Cubs

"Not only did he hold up for the season, but he was able to pitch three days in a row multiple times," Indians general manager Mark Shapiro said. "He was dominant as he as ever been in his career."

After pitching in 22 games as a setup man in 2007, Wood went to spring training and won the closer's job -- vacated when the Cubs made Ryan Dempster a starter -- over Carlos Marmol and Bob Howry. He went 5-4 with a 3.26 ERA and made the All-Star team.

But he fell out of Chicago's plans this winter, when the Cubs acquired reliever Kevin Gregg from Florida as a setup man and moved Marmol to closer. Wood has no resentment toward the team that gave him his pro start by drafting the 6-foot-5 Texan in 1995.

"I understand it," Wood said. "That's part of the game and it's time to move on."

Moving into the closer's role seemed to suit the hard-throwing Wood, who can still pump his fastball into the mid-90s. He now has a nasty curve to go with it. He said the adjustment to closing took him only three weeks, a transition made easier because of his background as a power pitcher.

"I could come in and let it go," he said from his home in Arizona . "The thing I impressed myself with was the walks and command. My command was a lot better coming in for a short time."

Wood's statistics back that up. He struck out 84 batters and walked just 18 in 66 1/3 innings over 65 appearances.

More importantly, Wood felt as if his arm had been reborn.

"I've talked to relievers who said they felt better the morning after they throw," Wood said. "I could never understand that, as a starter. Because it would take me every bit of four days to be able to go again. After making the transition and coming out of the bullpen, I saw there's a lot of validity to it. The more I threw, the better I felt and the better I did."

Wood also relished the opportunity to take the mound several days in a row instead of just once per week.

"I enjoy coming to the park every day with a chance to get in the game," he said.

The Indians went into the offseason with a closer as their top priority. The market was deep and included Francisco Rodriguez, Brian Fuentes and Trevor Hoffman, the career saves leader.

In Wood, though, Cleveland saw more than a big arm. The Indians coveted Wood because of his experience and a presence that can be felt in the middle of the diamond and clubhouse.

"Kerry was our No. 1 choice," Shapiro said. "I'm not sure there was anyone available who we would want to pitch the ninth inning for us. He fits our culture perfectly. We get the best of both worlds with Kerry."

The Indians haven't had a right-handed closer with stuff similar to Wood's since Jose Mesa in the 1990s.

"We've had some guys who have been unconventional, but still effective," Shapiro said. "What Kerry does is give us that prototypical closer, as well as the temperament that Joe Borowski and Bob Wickman brought."

Wood is not the same pitcher who struck out 20 Houston Astros in his fifth major league start in 1998, but the Indians don't need him to do anything more than get the last three outs.

Cleveland's courtship of Wood was helped by the club's recent opening of a new year-round training facility in Goodyear, Ariz. The Indians' new spring home is not far from Wood's in Scottsdale.

But what mattered most to Wood was the Indians, more than the other teams he and his agent talked to recently, made it clear that they wanted him.

"They came at me hard from Day 1," he said. "That was something I looked at. I looked at the records of the teams, and they had one of the best records in the second half. The talent is there. It's a great city, a great town, solid fans and a beautiful stadium."

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press