December 24, 200322 yr http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1692586 OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Oakland Athletics finalized a $9.2 million, three-year contract with free agent reliever Arthur Rhodes on Monday, a deal that had been in the works for more than a week. Performance bonuses could boost the agreement to about $10 million. A's general manager Billy Beane said the low-budget A's may have been able to sign him for a lower price than others because he will become Oakland's closer. Rhodes, 34, replaces Keith Foulke, who led the AL with 43 saves and left for a $24 million, three-year contract with Boston. Atlanta and the Chicago White Sox also pursued the left-handed Rhodes. Each club proposed two-year deals: The Braves saw him as a setup man, the White Sox wanted him to finish games. The hard-throwing Rhodes has never been a full-time closer. His season-high for saves is four in 1998. Rhodes was 3-3 with three saves and a 4.17 ERA in 67 games for Seattle last season, serving mostly as a setup man for Kazuhiro Sasaki and Shigetoshi Hasegawa. "I don't know if he was underused," Beane said. "He was in a talented bullpen that had a lot of options. Given Arthur's experience in Seattle and the fact he's been in more critical situations in his role than a closer in his role, we feel he has that intestinal fortitude to finish a game." Rhodes is 69-51 with 17 saves and a 4.33 ERA in a big league career that started in 1991 with Baltimore. He was strictly a starter with the Orioles until 1995, and his last start in the majors came in 1996. Before the 2000 season, Rhodes signed as a free agent with the Mariners. With Seattle, he averaged 69 appearances per year and more than a strikeout per inning. Rhodes' teams have reached the AL championship series four times but never made it to the World Series.
December 24, 200322 yr Rhodes will probably have 85 IP, 3.2 era, 44 saves, and will be traded to the mets where he will blow out his arm and oakland gets yet another closer...
December 24, 200322 yr What is this there sixth closer in six years? :lol pretty much. they keep getting awesome trades and or draft picks for them!
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