"There aren't a lot of elite closers in baseball, but Francisco Rodriguez is one of them.

Sure, he's lost a few miles on the ol' heater, but K-Rod's off-speed stuff is still top-notch, and he just flat-out knows how to pitch, how to fool batters. He may not have the raw stuff of 22-year-old K-Rod anymore, but outside of Mariano Rivera and perhaps Brian Wilson, is there a better, more reliable closer in Major League Baseball?

Yeah, he seems to always make it interesting, but the man gets work done, and unlike other closers, K-Rod actually gets better the more you use him. It's uncanny and also totally awesome, and it makes him a fantastic weapon in any manager's arsenal. Since coming back from his injury and anger management, K-Rod has been a better man and remains a terrific pitcher. Oh, and he's still only 29 years old, far from the twilight of his career.

I think we've collectively been looking at the issue of his option the wrong way -- it's all been either what we're going to trade him for or how we're going to stop the 55-game mark from arriving and kicking in that ridiculous $17.5 million salary. Trying to save that money to re-sign Jose Reyes and keep David Wright is well and good, but who's going to close games for this team next year? Bobby Parnell? Do they sell Rolaids by the crate?"