OAKLAND — It's never easy to admit you made a mistake. The A's did that Saturday when they designated 42-year-old reliever Fernando Rodney for assignment.
This past offseason, Oakland elected to pick up Rodney's $5.25 million option rather than buying him out for just $250K. That decision turned out to be a mistake and the A's were forced to cut their losses.
"Obviously, some performance comes into play," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "I will say he's not used to pitching in a role like that. He's used to getting regular work and we weren't giving that to him, for some obvious reasons, but at some point in time, you have a guy like that who's basically a one-inning guy that's used to working late in games and he's not getting consistent work.
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Rodney went 0-2 with a 9.42 ERA and 2.23 WHIP in 17 appearances. Despite those struggles, Melvin believes he will get another chance somewhere else in the majors.
"He's still throwing upwards of 95," Melvin said. "For a guy who's used to a lot of work and likes to work a lot, it was a difficult spot for him and it put us in a little bit of a difficult spot too. We wish him the best. My guess is he will hook on somewhere and hopefully, he gets to pitch a little bit more. I think there's still a little something left."
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Rodney's biggest issue has been his control. He issued 12 walks in just 14 1/3 innings and left a lot of pitches up and over the plate, allowing 20 hits, including two home runs. From the A's standpoint, it simply reached a point where they couldn't trust him in any situation.
"He was nice in his comments in leaving," Melvin said. "He enjoyed his time here. We've seen him across the way plenty of times and my guess is we probably will again."
