Rodriguez asking for $12.5 million

Francisco Rodriguez on Friday asked the Angels to pay him $12.5 million this year, in what could be his final season with the club.

The Angels offered their All-Star closer $10 million.

If Rodriguez wins in an arbitration hearing next month -- or even if he and the Angels settle beforehand by splitting the difference -- he would become the second highest-paid relief pitcher in the major leagues this season, trailing only Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees.

Rodriguez, who made $7 million in 2007, can file for free agency after the season. His agent, Paul Kinzer, said Friday the Angels have not offered a long-term contract during this off-season and that Rodriguez has not directed him to inquire about one.

“We’re always open to it,” Kinzer said. “I know they like Frankie, and he likes Anaheim.

“They have a new general manager. He’s got to decide how he wants to go. I don’t know what his interests are yet. We’ve just been focused on a one-year deal.”

Tony Reagins, the Angels’ new general manager, declined to say whether he would pursue a long-term deal.

“We think our best-case scenario is we have Francisco pitching for us in ‘08,” Reagins said.

Rodriguez is contractually bound to the Angels this year. Reagins deflected the question of whether that “best-case scenario” involved Rodriguez pitching elsewhere beyond this year.

“We aren’t going to talk about contract extensions for any player in the media,” Reagins said.

Rodriguez, 26, leads all major league relievers with 132 saves over the past three seasons. Angels owner Arte Moreno has said he would like to sign Rodriguez to an extension.

However, as Kinzer noted, the market value for closers has escalated this winter. The Yankees signed Rivera to a three-year contract at $15 million a year, and the Cincinnati Reds signed Francisco Cordero to a four-year contract that averages $11.5 million a year, although he will make $8.5 million this year.

Rivera will make $15 million, followed by Billy Wagner of the New York Mets at $10.5 million.

Kinzer said the Angels offered Rodriguez a long-term contract last year, but the two sides failed to reach agreement. The club subsequently signed setup man Scot Shields to a four-year, $18-million contract, with up to $4.3 million in bonuses for games finished to protect him should he become a closer, in Anaheim or elsewhere.

The Angels have another setup man and potential closer, Justin Speier, under contract through 2010.

“Everyone’s dream is to have a multiyear contract,” Rodriguez said last March, on the day Shields signed. “You want to secure your family. If it’s not going to be this ballclub, it’s going to be another ballclub.”

Are the Angels his first choice?

“Hard to say,” he said. “This is a business. One day you could be here, the next day you could not.”

The Angels avoided salary arbitration with their other eligible players, signing outfielder Juan Rivera ($2.025 million), first baseman Casey Kotchman ($1.45 million) and infielder Maicer Izturis ($1.2 million).

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com