On the Mets beat

It seems that the lobby of the Bellagio is no longer the place to be for stakeout duty here. Now the crush of reporters, as well as curious passersby, are clogging the area around the elevator banks on the fringe of the casino.

Moving through that wall of humanity minutes ago was Francisco Rodriguez, his family in tow, holding a large stuffed animal. After dropping them off, K-Rod was back downstairs again, this time chatting with Mets' VP of player development, Tony Bernazard.

When approached by reporters, K-Rod said the Mets told him not to talk about their discussions, so that was that. With various reports surfacing that the team had offered him a three-year deal, SI.com knocked that down to two with an option, which is crazy.

It's incredible to think that K-Rod's agent, Paul Kinzer, actually began this offseason thinking of a five-year contract for his client. With a very limited market, however, and the Mets having no one to really bid against, they're going to get him at a bargain rate, no matter what it ends up being by the time it's finished.