K-Rod is looking to pitch in the same town as A-Rod.
The Mets will have a new closer next season, and Francisco “K-Rod” Rodriguez wants to be the guy who fills their most pressing need when free agency starts at midnight tonight.
Fresh off a record-setting 62 saves for the Angels, the 26-year-old All-Star right- hander will vie with the Rockies’ Brian Fuentes for the attention of general manager Omar Minaya as the Mets look to replace Billy Wagner, who will miss the entire 2009 season because of Tommy John surgery.
Minaya is keeping his plans close to the vest, but a person familiar with the team’s thinking said the Mets will pursue a closer right out of the gate in free agency, with starting pitching, corner outfield help, second base and possibly catcher lower on the list of priorities.
K-Rod’s agent told The Post yesterday that Rodriguez is excited about the Mets and considers them “a good fit” among the four teams supposedly hottest in pursuit of the strikeout artist.
“K-Rod’s pitched in high-pressure games, he’s been in a pretty big market since he was 19 years old and thrives on it,” said agent Paul Kinzer, who wouldn’t name the other three clubs interested in his client. “New York and the Mets are very attractive to him.”
Kinzer met with Minaya at the GM Meetings last week in Dana Point, Calif., and came away convinced that the Mets will open discussions about Rodriguez as soon as tomorrow.
Other sources say the 33-year-old Fuentes is higher on the Mets’ list of favorites to replace Wagner, in part because of initial reports of Rodriguez looking for a five-year deal worth as much as $15 million per season.
The Angels are prepared to let Rodriguez walk at that price, and owner Arte Moreno told the Los Angeles Times that, “We’re turning the page on this one.”
But Kinzer said yesterday that Rodriguez “isn’t wedded” to those contract demands. “We’d like a five-year deal, but we don’t have any lines drawn,” Kinzer said. “As for the ($15 million-a-year figure), that didn’t come from me. You’ve got to be open in a negotiation, and we will.”
Other closer possibilities in free agency for the Mets are the Cubs’ Kerry Wood, all-time save leader Trevor Hoffman of the Padres and the Nationals’ Chad Cordero, although all three are well down Minaya’s list.
In fact, if the Mets don’t land Rodriguez or Fuentes, they are more likely to then consider a trade for the Rockies’ newly acquired Huston Street or Bobby Jenks of the White Sox.
bhubbuch@nypost.com