Background and career
Francisco José Rodríguez Sr. (born January 7, 1982), nicknamed "K-Rod", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Anaheim Angels / Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, New York Mets, Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers and Detroit Tigers. He is the pitching coach for the Senadores de Caracas of the Venezuelan Major League. Rodriguez pitched for the Angels from 2002 to 2008, and the Mets from 2009 to midway through the 2011 season. He served as the closer for both teams. Rodriguez then pitched for the Brewers until July 2013, mostly in a setup role, and for the Orioles for the rest of 2013 before returning to the Brewers for 2014 and 2015, this time as the team's closer. He was then traded to the Detroit Tigers in 2016, and became the Tigers' closer. In his rookie season, Rodríguez tied Randy Johnson for the record for most victories in a single postseason, recording five wins en route to the Angels winning the World Series; Stephen Strasburg (2019) and Nathan Eovaldi (2023) later accomplished this feat as well. Rodríguez holds the major league record for saves in a single season, with 62, set in 2008 while pitching for the Angels. He is a three-time league leader in saves (2005, 2006, and 2008) and a six-time All-Star. Rodríguez is one of only eight Major League pitchers to accumulate a total of 400 or more saves in his baseball career.
Rodríguez signed as an undrafted amateur free agent in 1998. Originally a starting pitcher, Rodríguez moved to relief pitching in 2002 after elbow and shoulder injuries shortened his 2001 minor league season with the Lake Elsinore Storm. In 2002, he made his major league debut. At the time, he was the youngest pitcher in the American League. Because of the multiple injuries to the Angels bullpen, the club brought him up during the middle of September. He emerged as a postseason relief hero, winning five postseason games despite never having won a Major League game before. Although he threw a lively fastball, his sharp-breaking curveball was his most effective pitch, made even better in 2002 by his late season emergence and hitters lack of experience seeing such a huge 12 to 6 late break from a pitch with fastball velocity. The pitch was almost unstoppable in the 2002 postseason. Because Rodríguez had played very little in the major leagues, hitters in the postseason had very little idea what to expect from him, a situation that often favors the pitcher. The combination of high 90's fastball, the previously unseen high velocity late breaking curve, and the very occasional change up was too much. In the 2002 American League Division Series against the New York Yankees, he got two victories (with 1 win resulting from a blown save). The Angels won the division series against the Yankees in 4 games. During the 2002 American League Championship Series vs the Minnesota Twins, he went 2–0 with seven strikeouts in 4+1⁄3 innings. The Angels won the series in 5 games. During the 2002 World Series against the San Francisco Giants, he had a 1–1 record with 13 strikeouts in 8+2⁄3 innings. At 20 years, 286 days old, he became the youngest pitcher ever to win a World Series game. The Angels won the World Series in 7 games due in large part to a rookie set up man that was scheduled for and delivered 3-6 high pressure outs a game. Rodríguez's nickname of "K-Rod" became popular during the 2002 playoffs. It is a play on "A-Rod", the nickname of former third baseman Alex Rodriguez, with "K" representing the common abbreviation for strikeout. In 2003, Rodríguez became a setup man. He gave up an earned run in 9 of his first 15 games, but rebounded to only allow 9 in his last 44 appearances. For the 2003 year, Rodriguez made 59 appearances going 8–3 with a 3.03 ERA. In 2004, Rodríguez was selected for the All-Star Game. On August 24, 2004, he became the sixth pitcher in the Angels' 44-year history to strike out at least 100 batters in a season without starting a game — joining Mark Clear (105 in 1980), DeWayne Buice (109, 1987), Bryan Harvey (101, 1991), Troy Percival (100, 1996), and Scot Shields (109, also in 2004). He finished the 2004 year 4–1 with 123 strikeouts and a 1.82 ERA in 69 relief appearances. During the 2004 American League Division Series, Francisco Rodriguez had two losses as the Angels lost the division series to the Boston Red Sox in three games.
Entering the 2005 season, veteran Angels closer Troy Percival departed as a free agent which allowed Rodriguez to become the Angels' full-time closer. Rodríguez ended the season 2–5 with a 2.67 ERA in 66 relief appearances and tied the American League lead in saves with 45. Rodriguez got his first two 2 career postseason saves during the 2005 American League Division Series as the Angels won the division series against the Yankees in 5 games. He got one save in the 2005 American League Championship Series, which the Angels lost to the Chicago White Sox in 5 games. Rodriguez improved on his share of the 2005 American League saves title by leading the Majors in 2006 with 47 saves, one more than the National League leader Trevor Hoffman and six more than American League runner-up Bobby Jenks. On September 10 against the Toronto Blue Jays, he became the youngest closer in Major League Baseball history, at the age 24 years and 246 days, to accumulate 100 career saves. He accomplished this feat a year younger than the previous record holder, Gregg Olson. Rodriguez held this record until April 10, 2018, when Toronto Blue Jays closer Roberto Osuna acquired his 100th career save. Osuna, at the age of 23 years and 62 days, accomplished the feat about a year and a half younger than Rodriguez.
At the 2007 All-Star Game in San Francisco, Rodriguez was named as one of three Angels to represent the club, along with teammates Vladimir Guerrero and John Lackey. Rodriguez recorded the save as the American League defeated the National League, 5–4. Rodriguez finished the 2007 season 5–2 with a 1.73 ERA and 40 saves in 64 relief appearances. In the 2007 American League Division Series against the Boston Red Sox, Rodriguez pitched only 1⁄3 of an inning with an ERA accumulating 54.00. In Game 2 Rodriguez gave up a three-run walk-off home run to Manny Ramirez as the Red Sox won the game 6–3. The Angels eventually lost the division series to the Red Sox in just 3 games.
Rodríguez received his second career Delivery Man of the Month Award after posting 11 saves in 12 appearances during the month of June. Rodríguez set a major league record by recording his 35th save before the All-Star Break, breaking the previous record of 34 set by John Smoltz in 2003. He was a member of the American League All-Star Team for the third time and made a brief appearance in the game, facing two batters while walking one. On August 20, 2008, he set both his and the Angels single season record with his 48th save. With his 50th save on August 24, 2008, Rodríguez became the first relief pitcher to reach that number since Mariano Rivera in 2004 and the ninth overall. He was also the youngest pitcher to ever reach that number at 26 years, 7 months, and 17 days. In addition, he reached that milestone in 129 team games, faster than any pitcher in history. With three saves during the week of August 18–24, including the milestone of number 50, Rodríguez was awarded the American League Player of the Week for the first time in his career. On September 2, 2008, Rodríguez saved his 200th career game (54th of the season), becoming the youngest player in history to reach that number. On September 10, 2008, while facing the New York Yankees, Rodríguez saved his 56th game of the season and clinched the American League Western Division title for the Angels. On September 11, 2008, while facing the Seattle Mariners, Rodríguez saved his 57th game of the season, tying Bobby Thigpen's 1990 major league record. On September 13, 2008, while again facing the Mariners, Rodríguez recorded his 58th save of the season, setting a new MLB record. On September 20, 2008, Rodríguez became the first pitcher to reach 60 saves in a season when he closed out a 7–3 victory against the Texas Rangers. Rodríguez finished his record-setting 2008 regular season performance with 62 saves in 69 opportunities, appearing in an AL-leading 76 games. It was his fourth consecutive season of recording at least 40 saves. He finished third in AL Cy Young Award voting and sixth in AL Most Valuable Player Award voting. The Angels again faced the Red Sox in the 2008 American League Division Series. Rodriguez lost a game and the Angels would lose the series to the Red Sox in four games.
On December 10, 2008, Rodríguez signed a three-year, $37 million contract with the New York Mets. Rodríguez, who had worn number 57 for his entire career, switched to number 75, as Mets ace Johan Santana wore number 57 at the time. On April 6, 2009, Rodríguez recorded his first save as a Met against the Cincinnati Reds. On May 24, 2009, Rodríguez suffered a back injury and was taken to a local Boston hospital where he was given medication for the pain. He returned to the team the next day. On June 13, 2009, New York Yankees reliever Brian Bruney criticized Rodríguez, calling his antics on the mound "unbelievable" and saying that Rodriguez has "got a tired act". During batting practice, the following day Rodríguez confronted Bruney on the field, pointing and shouting at him before teammates from both sides separated the two. He was selected to play in the 2009 All-Star game and pitched a scoreless 9th inning. On September 30, 2009, Rodríguez surrendered a walk-off grand slam to Justin Maxwell to cap a five-run ninth inning that lifted the Washington Nationals to a 7–4 victory over the Mets. This made him the first pitcher to allow two walk-off grand slams in one season since Lee Smith did in 1995 (on August 7, Rodriguez surrendered a grand slam to Everth Cabrera with no outs to cap another five-run ninth inning that gave the San Diego Padres a 6–2 win over the Mets). Rodríguez finished the 2009 season 3–6 with a 3.71 ERA and 35 saves converted out of 42 opportunities. It was his fifth consecutive season of 30 or more saves. In August 2010, the Mets suspended Rodriguez following an altercation that led to an arrest. The team placed him on the team's restricted list for two days, which meant he would forfeit two games' salary. Rodríguez required season-ending surgery for a torn ligament in his right thumb; the injury may have been sustained during the altercation. The Mets suspended Rodríguez indefinitely, preventing him from attending or performing any activity with the team, as well as having his pay suspended until he was physically able to perform again. During his suspension-shortened 2010 season, Rodriguez appeared in 53 games going 4–2 with a 2.20 ERA and 25 saves.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
