Finding a Measure of Payroll Relief

For roughly the same price as a premier veteran set-up man, the Angels will get an entire bullpen, a six-pack of pitchers that is expected to be one of the game’s best relief corps this season.

Closer Francisco Rodriguez agreed to terms Monday on a 2005 contract that will pay him $440,000, set-up man Brendan Donnelly agreed to terms on a $420,000 deal Monday night and Kevin Gregg will sign for about $360,000.

Throw in Esteban Yan ($1 million), Scot Shields ($925,000) and either Matt Hensley or Scott Dunn, who will make something near the major league minimum of $316,000, and the Angels will commit roughly $3.5 million -- a little less than New York Yankee set-up man Tom Gordon ($3.75 million) will make in 2005 -- to their bullpen.

“Holy cow, is there a lower-paid bullpen in baseball?” pitcher Jarrod Washburn said. “No question, the Angels are getting a heck of a deal there. Those guys deserve every penny.”

How’s this for funny money: Veteran outfielder Tim Salmon will make $9.75 million while he sits out most of this season recovering from knee and shoulder surgery, and a bullpen that will play an integral part in the Angels’ pursuit of the American League West championship will make about a third of that.

Credit timing. Yan is the only Angel reliever eligible for free agency, but because he’s not an elite set-up man or closer, he can’t command a huge salary.

Shields is in his first year of arbitration, Donnelly and Rodriguez won’t be eligible for arbitration until 2006, and Gregg, Hensley and Dunn won’t be eligible for arbitration until 2007 at the earliest, so the Angels, who have a payroll of about $95 million, can contain costs in the bullpen for now.

Several teams, such as Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Washington, Pittsburgh and Milwaukee, will spend less on their bullpens than the Angels, but Minnesota is the only division contender with comparable relief costs. The Yankees will spend about $24 million on their bullpen this season.

“You can joke about it, but you’re right, we are one of the lowest-paid bullpens in baseball,” Rodriguez said. “But we’ll be one of the best.”

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Rodriguez could be baseball’s lowest-paid closer this season -- he’ll make about $10 million less than the Yankees’ Mariano Rivera -- but the 23-year-old right-hander is not about to complain, not when a potential lottery-sized jackpot could be just around the corner.

Dodger closer Eric Gagne jumped from $550,000 in 2002 to $5 million in 2003, his first year of arbitration. If Rodriguez, who was 4-1 with a 1.82 earned-run average, 123 strikeouts and 12 saves last season, has a similar 2005 and comes close to his goal of 40 saves, he’ll be due for a huge raise in 2006. By then, the Angels might want to sign Rodriguez to a multiyear contract.

“Of course, I would love to sign a three- or four-year deal, but this is not the right moment,” Rodriguez said. “I have to be patient. I can’t focus on money right now. I’ve got to be focused on my job. If I have a good year, the money will come.”

Rodriguez also dismissed an Internet report that claimed his velocity was down while pitching in the Venezuelan winter league.

“In the U.S., I’m a lot more pumped up -- I don’t need to throw in the mid-90s in Venezuela to strike out guys,” Rodriguez said. “I was working more on my breaking ball and my location, pitching inside. I wasn’t throwing 100%. I was going 90% at the most.”

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The Angels have adhered to a rigid pay scale for players with less than three years’ experience, but they have veered slightly from that this spring. Rodriguez and John Lackey, who will sign for $440,000, will make $20,000 more than Donnelly, even though Donnelly has the same amount of service time as Lackey and half a year more than Rodriguez.

“It’s a business, and they have you for three years at the salary they want to give,” said Donnelly, a 2003 All-Star who sat out the first 2 1/2 months of 2004 because of injuries. “Lackey is a starting pitcher, and Frankie pitched more games and had an exceptional year.... We joke about it. Lackey said he doesn’t think I can even run on the same field as him now. We make light of it, but we don’t bring egos into it.”

Rodriguez and the 25-year-old Lackey are young and can look forward to big paydays in the future. But Donnelly, who spent 10 1/2 years in the minor leagues, is 33 and has only a few more years to cash in on his baseball career.

“Percy said it best -- it’s not anyone else’s fault it took me 10 or 11 years to get to the big leagues,” Donnelly said, referring to former Angel closer Troy Percival. “I can’t compare myself to anybody. What the Angels are paying me is more than I ever thought I’d make, and it’s still a good living.”