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Francisco Rodriguez walked through the lobby at the Bellagio hotel after meeting with the New York Mets on Monday and didn’t give the impression that he’d been bowled over by an offer.

Asked by reporters if he was meeting with anyone else, he responded as he kept walking, “I’m open to anything.”

It was the sound of a market softening.

The Mets’ offer, according to sources, was for two years and $25 million, with an option for a third year. With every step through the opulent lobby, it seemed as if K-Rod was coming to grips with the fact that he is unlikely to get the five-year, $75 million contract he envisioned after setting the single-season saves record of 62 with the Angels last season.

There are several less expensive closers without jobs and there is a prevailing opinion among team executives that grooming a ninth-inning reliever from within is an appealing alternative to doling out a multi-year contract worth more than $10 million a year.

The Mets desperately need a closer with Billy Wagner out for the 2009 season with an injury and the painful memory of blowing game after game in the late innings last season. But rather than overpay in a soft market, it appears GM Omar Minaya is using the glut of free-agent closers to his advantage and keeping his options open.

The New York Mets are reportedly closing in on a three-year deal for free-agent reliever Francisco Rodriguez.

Sports Illustrated, the New York Post and Newsday reported that the team has offered K-Rod a three-year deal. It is a one-year increase over the two years and $24 million the team is said to have initially offered Rodriguez, who broke the major league single-season saves record last season with 62.

Sports Illustrated and Newsday reported that the deal is worth about $37 million. "It's going to get done,'' a person familiar with the talks said, according to SI.com.

Rodriguez's agent, Paul Kinzer, said, "I am more optimistic than I have ever been" about finalizing a deal between K-Rod and the Mets, according to the Post. "We will know more in the next 24 hours, but so far everything has been positive."

FoxSports.com previously had reported that the Mets had offered Rodriguez a third year.

The Mets, whose bullpen was a major culprit in the team's September collapse, are in need of a front-line closer to replace the injured Billy Wagner, who likely will miss all of 2009 following elbow surgery.

The contract would pay Rodriguez about $3 million more than he was offered by the Los Angeles Angels in spring training and $6 million less than Wagner's deal with the Mets, according to SI.com.