Rodriguez Pitching Winter Ball Again

The Angels and Francisco Rodriguez butted heads over the young relief ace’s desire to play winter ball in his native Venezuela again, and for the third off-season in a row, the kid came out the winner. The Angels, concerned about their new closer’s heavy workload, can only cross their fingers and hope they don’t come out big losers.

“We talked to him toward the end of the season and recommended Francisco not play, but it was pretty obvious to the three of us this was important to him,” General Manager Bill Stoneman said, referring to a conversation that included Manager Mike Scioscia and pitching coach Bud Black. “We told him he has to know where the money is being made, and the big money is ahead of you, so don’t do anything stupid.”

The Angels were not especially thrilled about Rodriguez’s decision to play in Venezuela last winter, but the 22-year-old right-hander credits the 45 1/3 winter-ball innings he threw as the primary reason he came to camp in such good condition and went 4-1 with a 1.82 earned-run average and 12 saves in 2004, striking out 123 in 84 innings and making the American League All-Star team.

But Rodriguez was so gassed at the end of the season that Scioscia pulled him after a 2 2/3 -inning, 38-pitch stint against Boston in Game 3 of the division series for fear of risking a career-threatening injury. He was replaced by Jarrod Washburn, who gave up the walk-off home run to David Ortiz that won the series for the Red Sox.

Rodriguez, who will replace the departed Troy Percival as Angel closer in 2005, threw more than one inning in 24 of the 69 games he appeared in, with virtually all of his appearances coming in high-stress situations, the final three innings of close games.

Rodriguez, who threw 1,359 pitches last season, an average of 19.7 an appearance, also played for the all-star team that toured Japan after the World Series, throwing three innings in four games.

Add it all up, and it’s easy to see why the Angels preferred Rodriguez take a break this winter. But instead, Rodriguez returned from Japan and joined the La Guaira Tiburones of the Venezuelan Winter League in mid-November. He has appeared in five games so far, giving up no runs and three hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out 13 and walking two.

“We have to trust Francisco to monitor himself, and we’ll keep an eye on how he gets used,” Stoneman said. “If it’s like last winter, we won’t say anything. If not, if he’s throwing three days in a row or something, we’ll have to step in.”

Rodriguez made $375,000 last season, and if he has a successful 2005 season, he’ll be due for a huge raise through arbitration in 2006.

By then, it might be wise for the Angels to sign Rodriguez to a long-term contract, in which they can insert a clause preventing Rodriguez from playing winter-league ball.

“If we ever get to that point,” Stoneman said, “we’ll consider that.”