him 3 yr at $36 Mill….see ya jackass

I bet he is glad he held out for that extra 4 million.

At the end of the day he has given up two game winning homeruns in the last two years. I am sad to see him go, but from a financial perspective I am not sure he is the guy I want to spend 12.3 mil a year on.

Who closes? I’m definitely not jumping up and down now that he’s gone. This hurts our pen’s depth, and don’t tell me that Jepsen or Bulger can just jump in and we’ll be fine. I’m not sad, because Frankie made it easy for me to not like him, but I am worried about our pen moving forward. If we don’t get any offense this off-season, it’ll more more 1-2 run games for us to get through.

way to ride that market to an extra 2 million, ass.

GIVE ME THEM METS DRAFT PICKS MKAY

it just became painfully obvious that he couldn’t care less about staying here, no matter what we offered. to leave the Halos over $3MM is ridiculous… if he really did want to return and stay an Angel like he said, $3MM wouldn’t have pried him away.

see ya, BB-Rod. Let’s see what happens to you in NY.

But, he was going to walk and I’m glad we at least were able to pick up a second-round pick. do we still get a supplemental draft pick?

So if Garland also signs with the Mets do we get those picks as well?

If Teixera signs with Nationals/Orioles what do we pick up?

I would like to see Weaver move into the closer role. I think he would be a stud in this position. Sign a FA starting pitcher and put the 5th spot up for competition.

That might be a little strong.

For me he’s been a great Angel. I watch sports to be entertained and, for better or for worse, he’s never been less than entertaining. Perhaps it hasn’t all gone his way (or ours) some of the time, but hey, that’s sports.

Maybe he’s had a rather higher opinion of himself that some of us have but he’s a closer, he needs a bit of ego, a bit of attitude to do his job and I won’t begrudge him that.

Thanks Frank – it was fun while it lasted. Best of luck on the dark side.

I am sad to see the guy go. I will always have fond memories of him. He is one of my favorite Angels ever.

That being said I would not pay him $12 million a year.

K-Rod is overrated but still solid. He helped us win the World freaking Series in 2002 but also choked big-time this year. He’s obviously going the prima donna route by spurning the Angels and Orange County and moving over to the Big Apple. That’s his right and he’s earned it, I’m thankful for the World Chapmionship, but I do agree it was time to move on. Shields will be good enough, Arredondo can pick up eventually, and as some have mentioned, Escobar did it before. If he’s healthy, there’s no reason to try him out there to get him a place with less stress on his frame in a position he’s handled well before.

With his surgery anyone considered he might be prime to be a closer again?

My biggest fear was him being on an American League team. Let’s face it: Frankie verses Monkey – who would succeed more often?

There’s no doubt I’m going to miss him, and his antics, and even the pants-crapping melodrama he turned the 9th inning into. And if he comes charging out of the bullpen at the Big A next year, I’m going to stand up and clap. I was right there next to that bullpen on September 13th, and when he walked down those steps I screamed and hollered as loud as anyone. You can’t take that away.

I’m okay with his going because I believe we got the best years out of him. As I said in an earlier post, I was re-watching game 7 of 2002 and was stunned at his precision – totally different animal. That was the guy who earned the name K-Rod. The Frankie of 2008 I liked forcing friends to watch because after I would explain who he was and what he did, they’d watch as his first two pitches went in the dirt, and ask “wait – isn’t he supposed to be the best closer in baseball?” And I’d say “wait, just watch.”

Oh well. I’m looking forward to seeing what Dondo does.

It may not be $75 million, but it’s still a shitload of money.

It didn’t appear that the Angels made any effort to retain Frankie, as they have more pressing concerns. I suspect the Angels must have had discussions about Frankie’s loss of velocity. Frankie had an unbelievable run of four consecutive seasons (2004-2007) with a K/9 rate greater then 12, which is sensational. But that fell to 10.1 in 2008, which is very good but a fair decline. His control got worse in 2008 too, as his K/BB ratio was a career worst 2.26.

I actually noticed back in August 2007 that Frankie was losing something on his pitches.

Something is Wrong with Frankie

Check out the video link in the above post. Frankie’s fastball back in 2006 had serious zip and the slider was really something.

Hopefully the addition of the change-up will offset a fastball that’s lost a few clicks and a slider that isn’t as hellacious as it was in the past. The move to the NL will help was well.

All the best Frankie! It’s been awesome!

There are still a few FA closers out there on the market that could get signed I think.

First of all, losing KRod is a major blow to anything we want to accomplish next year. People undervalue the closer role all the time, but it takes a special pitcher to be successful night in and night out. We will miss his 40 saves and anyone who voted different is an idiot.

The bullpen has been a strength of the Angels for quite a while. It is a huge part of our success and we will all feel the pain this year. We still have time to correct this with a few closers on the market.

Brian Fuentes should be on the Angel’s radar immediately. Even if he doesn’t pan out as a closer for us (which he would) it would signficantly strengthen our pen and give Sosh a lot of flexibility. Two leftys would be great in the pen!

I hate to be the one to break the news to everyone, but TEX is NOT going to be an Angel. I repeat… TEX will NOT be an Angel. He is out for the money and prefers the East coast to the West Coast.

CC also will not be an Angel and that may be a good thing. His numbers were not as dominant in the AL. He also doesn’t project out well over a long contract.

So what next for the Angels…

Pursue a 3 year deal for Manny and Fuentes.
Trade Weaver and a prospect for another bat (1B or LF)
Sign Randy Johnson as our 5th starter as a bridge to Adenhart

Reading through all these posts is kinda funny. First and foremost Im glad he’s gone. I personally didn’t like watching him pitch but Im sure there are boston fans that don’t like watching youkilis in the box. Bottom line: they both get the job done. I agree with joe that we got the best years out of him, If he continues to close ball games the way he has in recent years….. he will be dissected in new york. Anyone who believes this isnt a huge hit to our bullpen is crazy though. Im with Rev on this one, only because I believe this should be a time to appreciate what he brought to the team we a love and move on. No need to hate him now, he’s gone. Everyone is pissed about the fact that he left for very little more…… News Flash: There is no loyalty in sports. Maybe he just wanted a change? I thought it was very classless when he announced he was going to test the free agent waters mid season. I always think that is lame for a player to do. But the feeling was obviously mutual between franky and the FO. Which is fine, Im just going to take this time to remember the good, stay positive and wish him well. Thanks for the memories Franky.

after tough losses will play in NY.

The L.A./O.C. media always seemed to give him a free pass on that one.