The Tigers Have No Idea Where Eduardo Rodriguez Is
The Detroit Tigers gave Eduardo Rodriguez $77 million this past offseason in hopes that he would anchor the pitching staff for the foreseeable future. If Al Avilla had a reset button on that contract, he might hit it already three months in.
Is it too soon to hit the panic button? Maybe. However, I’m not sure it gets a lot worse than not knowing where your very expensive pitcher is. Apparently, since ERod stepped away from the team, he’s been totally AWOL.
VIA MLive’s Evan Woodbery reports:
“We reached out, but he hasn’t reached out back,” Tiger’s general manager Al Avila said. “We’re just kind of waiting it out … It is unusual. But we have no choice but to wait and see what develops as we move forward.”
“I’m not going to get into that at this point,” Avila said. “It’s a private situation on his part, so I won’t get into any of those legalities.”
Rodriguez, 29, is having marital issues which is the reason why he stepped away from the team. I’m not going to get into all that. However, I think it’s safe to say ghosting the team is the wrong move. ERod has also been awful since joining the Tigers, for what it’s worth. In eight starts, ERod has an ERA of 4.38 and has a career worst 89 ERA+.
The Tigers want answers. You don’t leak this if the situation isn’t dire. At this point, is it fair to question if Rodriguez ever pitches for the Tigers again? Maybe that’s being too reactionary but this is just flat out weird at this point.
Letting ERod go was always the right call for the Sox. Especially with the number of young arms coming through the system like Brayan Bello making his debut tonight (check out that post here). Boston will also receive the 79th pick in the upcoming draft for letting Rodriguez walk during free agency. For fans that were upset about ERod leaving, it’s early but we may have dodged a serious bullet.
