Major League Baseball

Brewers free to use K-Rod as closer

Published Jul. 15, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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Ken Rosenthal

Looks like the Brewers can breathe easier.

According to sources, newly acquired closer Francisco Rodriguez has freed Milwaukee from the burden of paying a possible vesting option of $17.5 million, which would have come into effect had K-Rod finished 55 games in 2011.

With Rodriguez needing just 21 more to reach that plateau, the Brewers would have been reticent in letting him close.

Rodriguez, who will be a free agent at the end of the season, has waived the option in exchange for additional compensation, which according to one source is "not a significant amount."

K-Rod's vesting option is now a mutual option that kicks in with same 55 games finished threshold. It's meaningless, as he would decline and become a free agent. His buyout increases from $3.5M to $4M, which was the inducement. The Mets are paying the original buyout, while the Brewers will pay the additional amount.

The players' union typically frowns upon such action but granted Rodriguez's request because free agency represents "value" in and of itself. It's quite possible that K-Rod will sign for a total guarantee that exceeds $17.5 million (over multiple seasons) as a free agent this winter.

The development is a victory for Rodriguez's new agent, Scott Boras, who only began representing the reliever earlier this month. Had the option vested, the commission on next year's salary would have belonged to Rodriguez's former agents at Wasserman Media Group. Instead, now that Rodriguez will be a free agent, Boras will apparently lay claim to the commission on K-Rod's 2012 earnings.

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