A day removed from turning the baseball world upside down, and eight days removed from his last start, Eduardo Rodriguez took the mound Wednesday and pitched the Tigers to a 6-3 win over the Pirates. It may be the start of the rest of his Tigers career.
"What happens outside the lines is something I can’t control," Rodriguez told reporters in Pittsburgh the day after blocking a trade to the Dodgers. "The only thing I was able to control (today) was go out there and make the start with the Tigers, which I’m still here and I’m going to be here for long now."
Rodriguez will be here for at least the next two months. But the contract that allowed him to shut down a move to the Dodgers will soon come back into focus. With a career-low 2.96 ERA, he's likely to exercise his opt-out after this season. Rodriguez has three years and $49 million remaining on his deal with the Tigers, and the chance to double his take by returning to free agency this winter.
"If I had a magic ball and could tell you what’s going to happen in the future, I would probably tell you right away," Rodriguez said. "Right now, I’m here. I’m with this organization and I signed here for a long time to stay here. I feel happy, my family feels happy in Detroit, I feel happy with my teammates and everything with the organization. I’d really love to stay here, and that’s why I made that decision."
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The decision was to invoke his 10-team no-trade clause, which includes the Dodgers, and nix a trade to a World Series contender out West. Rodriguez, who spent about two months away from the Tigers last season tending to a reported marital issue, said he killed the move to LA because it "wasn't what I wanted for me and my family," who are based in Miami.
"It’s nothing against the Dodgers," Rodriguez said. "They have a really good team over there and everything. I was just thinking about my future and my family and I took the decision to stay here."
Rodriguez's decision may have caught Tigers' front-office chief Scott Harris by surprise, who said he learned "in the last hour" before Tuesday's 6 p.m. trade deadline that the deal wouldn't go through -- despite having been in "constant communication" with Rodriguez about "possible destinations." By then, it was too late for Harris to find another suitor for his most valuable trade chip.
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Asked if he and the Tigers were on the same page, Rodriguez said, "We went through all the conversations and everything, we discussed a couple teams. Everyone was really good about it. They talked to me, I talked to them, but at the end of the day, my decision was to stay here."
Question is, for how much longer? Is Rodriguez's time in Detroit coming to a close or beginning anew? Harris and the Tigers can try to rework his contract before the opt-out comes into play, but an extension won't come cheap. Are they willing to offer, say, five years and $100 million to a pitcher who will be 31 next season? If not, are they willing to let him walk for nothing?
Rodriguez, for his part, sounds interested in sticking around. Whether he intends to honor his original contract is another matter. Free agency beckons, but everyone has their price.
"I love the guys here and I feel like they love me, too. I’m really happy to stay here in this organization and help the young guys and go out there every five days and do my part to win games," Rodriguez said. "I know we have a really good future here with all the young guys, so I want to be part of it. And that’s why I decided to stay here, too."
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