I’m at Target Field, and it was the Sunday before the all-star break. We were already losing to the Tampa Bay Rays, and it was a high leverage spot in the 5th inning. Suddenly, my friend and I hear the infamous Lil Jon song start to heat up. Fernando Rodney is coming in? I think, “wow, Molitor is finally getting out of his comfort zone with preassigned inning roles for relievers!” I also don’t judge any of Molitor’s decisions to bring Rodney in because of how fun that walk-up song is at Target Field for the fans. We later find out that no, Molitor isn’t breaking his habits, and Rodney came in that day early to catch a flight to his U.S. citizenship ceremony in Florida.

I enjoyed watching Rodney pitch in Minnesota. For all the hype of how frustrating he would be to watch, I didn’t experience as much of that as advertised. I saw a veteran pitcher who knew his approach better than anybody else, and didn’t give in to hitters trying to mess that up. I also love watching any pitcher with a great changeup. He ended his time this season with the Twins with a 3.79 FIP, 10.31 K/9, and 25 saves.

Now the Oakland A’s get to experience the FRE. I hope they make the postseason and we get to watch Rodney provide some value to that team. With his fastball still topping out at 97 mph this season, there’s no reason we don’t get treated to 2-3 more years of this fantastic personality.

-Miles