Rodriguez Done as an Angel?

TEMPE, ARIZ. – Aside from their pending arbitration case, set for Thursday in St. Petersburg, Fla., Francisco Rodriguez and the Angels are trapped in a game of chicken and neither side is prepared to move.
Asked on Sunday, his first day in camp, if Rodriguez is viewing this season as his last with the Angels, the closer responded affirmatively and took a swipe at the team in the process.
“Yeah, probably. Probably,” said Rodriguez, eligible for free agency at the end of this one. “If they wanted me here, they would have done something a long time ago, but in the meantime, I have to put that out of my head. I can’t be thinking they don’t want me here, anything like that. Just do my job.”
Thing is, the Angels do want Rodriguez. The majors’ saves leader over the previous three seasons and his agent have turned down numerous multi-year offers in each of the past three offseasons, including one made this winter by new Angels general manager Tony Reagins. That offer was believed to be for three years and $34 million but Rodriguez is looking for something comparable to the three-year, $45 million deal Mariano Rivera received.
Reagins said that the offer is no longer on the table but “if the agent approaches us, we’ll talk,” indicating the club has made its final proposal.
“We’ve presented a position to them and at that point it was declined,” Reagins said. “We made an offer that we thought was fair and it wasn’t accepted. At that time it was suggested they would probably go year to year, which to me, meant they were exploring their options.”
Knowing that this is likely Rodriguez’s final season with the team, Reagins said he isn’t exploring their options, i.e. trading the two-time All-Star to receive something more worthwhile than a draft pick as compensation if Rodriguez signs elsewhere in the winter.
“Our plan is to have him here the whole season,” Reagins said.
Currently the two sides are stuck on their respective offers – Rodriguez asking for $12.5 million and the team offering $10 million – and it’s highly doubtful that a resolution will come about once the season begins.
“I don’t like to worry about contract during the season; I don’t want to put any stress on me. I want to pitch,” said Rodriguez, who converted 40 of his 46 save opportunities last season and posted a 2.81 ERA. “Right now, I want to go through my regular year, then we’ll see what happens. There’s still a long way until the season starts. By then, maybe I’ll have a decision.”