The Atlanta Braves Non-Tender Richard Rodríguez

The Atlanta Braves announced that they have non-tendered Richard Rodríguez.

The Atlanta Braves officially non-tender trade deadline acquisition Richard Rodríguez. Rodríguez was acquired at the deadline to bolster a bullpen that was struggling at the time.

Overall, in 2021, Rodríguez pitched in 64 games, pitching 64.1 innings with a 2.94 ERA, 4.36 xERA, 4.04 FIP, a 5.36 xFIP, 4.66 SIERA and a 148 ERA+. He struck out 16.7% of batters with a 5.88 K/9.

He split time between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Braves finishing with a 0.8 fWAR and 2.0 bWAR. He accounted for 14 saves, all with the Pirates before being traded to the Braves.

For the Braves, he appeared in 27 games, pitching 26 innings tossing a 3.12 ERA, 6.17 FIP, 6.29 xFIP, 5.81 SIERA, and a 144 ERA+. His strikeout rate dropped to 8.5% with a 3.12 K/9.

Rodríguez’s splits between his two months in Atlanta:

• July 31st-August 31st: 14 IP, 1.29 ERA, 4.24 FIP, 5.46 xFIP, 3.21 K/9
• September 1st-October 2nd: 12 IP, 5.25 ERA, 8.42 FIP, 7.27 xFIP, 3.00 K/9

There was a time in August when fans wanted Rich Rod to take over the closer roles in Atlanta. However, his peripherals and inability to miss bats suggested heavy regression was coming soon.

After a smoke and mirrors filled successful August, it hit him hard in September. Rodríguez lost his place to the point of being left off the postseason roster entirely.

Rodríguez’s regression arguably started before the trade. After the sticky stuff memo went out on June 15th, his season numbers were 3.69 ERA, 5.40 FIP, 5.81 xFIP, and a 5.08 K/9.

This led many to believe he was using sticky stuff for extra spin on his pitches. After the memo came down, his peripherals suggested a hard regression would hit soon.

The One Flaw at the Deadline

Alex Anthopolous put together one of the greatest trade deadlines of all time. Most will be willing to overlook the deal for Rodríguez not working out.

The Braves traded away Bryse Wilson and Ricky DeVito to the Pirates in exchange for Rodríguez. Not a heavy price for the reliever at the time of the deal.

Wilson was the name everyone knew, as a former top prospect who had bounced between Atlanta and Gwinnett a few times. He is also a folk legend from the 2020 postseason due to his remarkable outing against the Dodgers.

He had lost his place among the Braves rotation due to struggles and other pitching prospects emerging. Being traded to Pittsburgh was good for Wilson as he would be allowed to pitch every 5th day.

In 8 starts for the Pirates, he pitched to a 4.91 ERA, 5.35 FIP, 4.96 xFIP, 5.28 SIERA, and an 86 ERA+. He struck out 13.6% of batters (5.13 K/9) and walked 5.9% (2.23 BB/9).

Rodríguez was projected to make $3M or more in arbitration, so he was seen as a non-tender candidate this winter. The signing of Kirby Yates yesterday arguably sealed the deal for Rodríguez.