Mets almost brought Francisco Rodriguez back during offseason

Francisco Rodriguez nearly rejoined the Mets over the offseason. The 32-year-old veteran is in town with the Milwaukee Brewers and says he and the team discussed a contract during the offseason. According to Rodriguez, the Mets didn't offer much money, and shortly after the sides spoke, the Mets signed Kyle Farnsworth. Shortly thereafter, the Brewers offered Rodriguez $3.25 million plus another potential half-million dollars in incentives, and he chose to sign with them.

Farnsworth joined the Mets for a while but was released in the middle of May. Fellow veteran relief winter signing Jose Valverde stuck with the Mets a bit longer, but he's also been jettisoned. And Rodriguez has had an excellent season with the Brewers, as he has a 2.08 ERA and 3.01 FIP with 19 saves in 30.1 innings of work.

In his time with the Mets—who Rodriguez hopes to rejoin at some point in the future to prove something to himself—the righty was actually pretty good on the mound. But his contract's vesting option for a fourth year at $17.5 million and his infamous arrest at Citi Field for punching his father-in-law did him no favors, as the Mets traded him to the Brewers midway through the following season.

Perhaps the arrest still looms large for Rodriguez, who struggled when the Brewers retained his services via arbitration in 2012. Following that season, he did not sign a contract for the 2013 season until the Brewers gave him a minor league deal in the middle of April last year. But he produced once he got back to the big leagues, posting a 2.70 ERA with 10.41 strikeouts and 2.70 walks per nine innings. He was a bit prone to home runs, but he reestablished himself as a pitcher. Rodriguez was not exactly a hot commodity this winter, either, as he did not re-sign with the Brewers until early February.

As far as a potential reunion with the Mets over the offseason, here's a snippet from our profile of Rodriguez from the middle of December:

It's pretty hard to imagine the Mets bringing Rodriguez back, but perhaps he could be had on a reasonable deal to pitch in setup situations and step in as the team's closer if Bobby Parnell isn't healthy.