Mets rumors: Francisco Rodriguez hopes to return

Former Mets closer and current free agent Francisco Rodriguez told Andy Martino of The New York Daily News that he "definitely" wants to rejoin New York in order to "redeem himself."

While the Mets won't "totally rule out" the potential of bringing Rodriguez back, Martino doesn't consider it to be a "front burner issue" for the club.

The Mets signed Rodriguez to a hefty free agent contract in December of 2008. At the time, K-Rod was considered one of the best closers in the game. In three seasons with New York, the right-hander maintained an ERA of 3.05 while totaling 83 saves.

In his third year with the Mets, Rodriguez was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers along with cash for players to be named later. These PTNLs turned into Adrian Rosario and Danny Herrera.

Rodriguez did well during his time with the Brewers in 2011, and the team elected to re-sign him last offseason. Things didn't go quite as well in 2012, as he only mustered an ERA of 4.38 over 78 appearances.

Rodriguez has only been seriously tied to the Mets this offseason, but he did say in October that he would love to return to the Brewers. Over 11 seasons in the majors, the 31-year-old owns a career ERA of 2.70 with a 2.80 strikeout-to-walk ratio.