There are some red flags with Rodriguez that the switch in leagues won't fully obscure. Rodriguez's velocity has been in decline for several years now, and he's added a changeup while reducing his use of his best pitch, the sharp slider that was his out pitch in the early years of his career. The deprecation of his slider has led to a decline in his strikeout rate, from 33.1 percent of opposing hitters in 2006 to a career-worst 26.7 percent in 2008. The drop in velocity and concerns about the violence in his delivery make him a potential injury risk in spite of the health record, much as scouts and executives saw B.J. Ryan, who had never spent a day of his pro career on the DL prior to signing with the Blue Jays, as a breakdown risk when he was a free agent after 2005. Rodriguez was limited to a maximum of one inning in 2008, which both limits his value to the Mets and makes you wonder if the Angels were concerned about something specific in K-Rod's arm.
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Originally Posted by Swampdog
