The latest on the Phillies…
- The Phillies are looking for a backup catcher, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. They're talking to Brian Schneider and others.
- Jonathan Papelbon explained how his deal with the Phillies came about: "One day, I finally told [my agent] – I said, 'I want to play for the Phillies and let's make it happen.'" Asked Sunday by Jeff Skversky of WPVI Philadelphia about becoming the richest reliever in baseball, Papelbon said, "That doesn't really play a role. The biggest thing that plays a role is the ability to come here and win."
- The Phillies still have the flexibility to sign Jimmy Rollins, said GM Ruben Amaro Jr. to reporters in response to a question about the shortstop.
- A Cole Hamels contract extension is "an agreement both sides want to forge," writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. He doesn't see Papelbon's contract affecting Hamels.
- Michael Cuddyer visited the Phillies last week. Manager Charlie Manuel explained to Jeff Janiczek of the Philadelphia Daily News that Cuddyer told him, "Charlie, I'm a baseball player. I'll play anywhere you want me to play, and I'll do a good enough job that it will pass."
- Ken Davidoff of Newsday places Amaro tenth among all GMs in his annual rankings.
Asked Sunday by Jeff Skversky of WPVI Philadelphia about becoming the richest reliever in baseball, Papelbon said:
“i’m all about the money. i want to set the market” – every year for 6 years prior to free agency
*sets the market with record-breaking contract*
“it wasn’t about the money”
What Papelbon said makes Amaro look stupid. A player wants to play for your team so you grossly overpay to sign him?
No idea why he can’t be honest, Papelbon said himself that he wanted to set the closer market this offseason, so once he realized that Boston wasn’t going to 4 years the Phillies were the only team out there willing to spend on him. It was never “I want to play for the Phillies,” it’s “I want to get paid.” Always has been. And that’s no slight on the Phillies, it’s just who Papelbon is. And you’re right, that is a very stupid comment, from a very stupid rich man lol
So when did Papelbon lie, was it when he said “I want to get paid.” or was it when he said “One day, I finally told [my agent] – I said, ‘I want to play for the Phillies and let’s make it happen.'”?
“So when did Papelbon lie”
“Asked Sunday by Jeff Skversky of WPVI Philadelphia about becoming the richest reliever in baseball, Papelbon said, “That doesn’t really play a role. The biggest thing that plays a role is the ability to come here and win.”
This is in direct contradiction of numerous previous statements about wanting to set the bar for closer contracts.
When did he lie? LOL Probably after he already accomplished the “I want to get paid” part.
Anyone that thinks he would take less money to play in Philly is beyond help.
You don’t really believe Paps now do you?
Not long before the Red Sox front office Paps smear campaign is in full swing.
No. Paps is running his own smear campaign. All the friends I have were sad to see him leave… until his press conference.
What smear campaign exactly? The one where non biased common sense people understand that he wanted to go to the highest bidder and it was about the money? If your RS hate is so deep that you can’t admit Papelbon followed the money you should seek medical treatment.
Papelbon clearly went to the highest bidder. He’s been quite open about that for the past several years!
My Pap-smear joke was a magnificent fail.
I thought it was brilliant. I just think the other commenters were clueless
Actually, I think (though a BIG contract), the Phils struck first before someone else set the market and then the overpaying REALLY starts. For 6m more, they got the best closer on the market (subject to argument of course).
I feel like he’s lying about the money part but, I feel like he’s not about the Phillies. He just put two and two together and is now going to be making bank roll. How I view what he said is: “I want to play for the Phillies — they have money to spend and they like to win”
HA-HA!
Hamals will be a Yankee in 2 years
Who is this Hamals you speak of, MrBaseball29?
why 2 years? Is someone going to sign him then trade him after a year? He is a free agent after this year.
And to clarify, its Hamels.
No chance. Foolish inference. To think such a thing is downright stupid. The Phillies WILL offer HamEls an extension. They’re going to sit him down and say “We’re going to make you the new Steve Carlton. Here’s 22.5 million dollars.”
Hamals? I think he meant, Halama, as in John Halama, he’d be a great long man, even a nice spot start for the yanks.
Maybe Hamals will but Hamels won’t.
It must be a cousin to the Ryan Braun that plays for KCR that everyone always throws out in the first round of auction fantasy baseball…
Papelbon wanting to be a Phillie? That’s a lie! The man was so patriotic about his Sox…
There is nothing “patriotic” about the Red Sox.
What’s more American than fried chicken and Budweiser?
Papelbon said on the Red Sox that he would test free agency for the best deal, so I don’t think winning was his only intention (as this reporter said). Papelbon said himself that he would be loyal to a team that is loyal to him, reinforcing the fact that money also played a role (aside from winning). I don’t see the Phillies signing too many large contracts without going bankrupt. I mean, they’ll be paying more than the Yankees for these guys; that just isn’t probable. I don’t think they’ll sign Hamels and you can thank them for overpaying Papelbon, as he will be one of the main reasons for it.
Don’t thank Papelbon, thank Howard ( worst contract of all time imo ). But, the Phillies do one thing the Yankees don’t, sell out every home game. We have loyal fans, unlike New York, even if some of us are d-bags and stupid. But, RAJ will make sure Hamels never leaves a Phillies uniform, he is just one season from being a great pitcher to an elite pitcher. Although, in recent past we have been trending to spend our money poorly, if Cuddyer gets a deal over 7 million there is going to be some pissed off fans, including myself.
Ok, I still like Paps, very happy about the time he put in in Boston. But dude, admit it. It’s about the money. You’ve said it for years and now when you get the money… it’s suddenly not about the money? What?
Whenever someone says it’s not about the money, it’s about the money.
Cliff Lee would be the exception to that. Ya he got paid a ton, but he took less to play somewhere he wanted to be.
He took slightly less.
agreed, but it was less haha. He didn’t Jayson Werth it. He didn’t go to the highest bidder.
Same can be said for Halladay.
Halladay wasn’t a free agent.
I know, I just meant the prevailing opinion is that if he had tested free agency he would’ve made more money.
But he reupped when he didn’t have to.
Depends on how you define less. He took less Total money, but his offer with the Phillies per AAV was higher than the Rangers and Yankees
5 year/$120 million (Phillies) – $24 mil a year
7 year/$148 million (Yankees) = $21.1 million a year
7 year/$155 million (Rangers) = $22.1 million a year
dont forget he has a buyout of $12.5 in 2016, so its a guaranteed $132.5 over 5 (26.5 Mil AAV)
My post got flagged for using a link…anyway, you’re incorrect on that. The $12.5m is already included in the $120m, for an AAV of $24m. If the 2016 Option is exercised, the AAV drops to $22.5m.
That’s true, and I should have noted that both the Yankees and Rangers guaranteed 6 years/$132 million. The Yankees then guaranteed a 7th year for $148 million whereas the Rangers wanted to make a 7th year a vesting option which would make it to $155 million. Correct me if I am wrong on that.
Slightly less overall money, but more per year, and, I believe, more overall money if his option vests.
Higher AAV, but less money and years. The contract currently (including buyout) is $24m AAV (5/120); if the Option is picked up ($27.5m for 2016, but subtracting the $12.5 buyout they’re really only paying $15m more for that last year) the contract becomes 6/135, or 22.5 AAV.
Did anyone know that Paps’ contract is actually for more than $50 million? Officially, it’s a four-year, $50,000,058 contract. The douchebag actually made them put his uniform number in the deal. Ugh.
He’s a good business man. He looted an extra $58 from the Phils!
Actually, the $58 is about what he is worth. He “looted” the $50 million.
I don’t know exactly what happened there but that’s happened a few times, teams put a couple of extra dollars on the end. Usually a player’s number or a record they set. It usually seems like a team putting an extra flourish at the end to say “see, we care.”
lol two quotes from Papelbon and both are crocks of shite…”I want to play for the Phillies now let’s make it happen…” “The money doesn’t play a role…”
LOL.
Everyone seems to miss Cuddyer’s quote in this article: “Charlie, I’m a baseball player. I’ll play anywhere you want me to play, and I’ll do a good enough job that it will pass.”
How’s that for a ballplayer? Baseball needs more guys like that
Oh so true, and as a Red Sox fan, it makes me slightly jealous of Philly because Cuddyer is one of the guys I’d like to see the Sox go after. It must be nice to have a team (and manager) that players so badly want to play for.
I agree, I love his attitude. But I hate his price tag. He is a solid player who can play many positions but I pray the Phillies dont give him 10-12 M+ for 3-4 years.
Where are you getting those numbers? Not that I don’t believe you, I’d just like to see it.
Im just going off what he made last year as an estimation. He made 10M last year. He will almost certainly get a raise in free agency.
Reasonable. I think he’ll get less, but thats a reasonable estimate. I’d (as a philly fan) sign him for 4/$36, 3/$30 or 2/$24. Those will probably be a bit low, but i don’t think any team is going to go anywhere near $13m a year, ESPECIALLY for more than 3 years. He ain’t no spring chicken. That being said, I think its bordering on crucial for this Phillips to get him.
Cuddyer is reportedly asking for a 4yr/52mil deal. Considering the fact that multiple teams are interested he will probably get that kind of money.
I just think that means multiple teams will all agree that that is a gross over payment for his talents.
It seems that is rarely what happens. Usually a team steps up and overpays.
“”Charlie, I’m a baseball player. I’ll play anywhere you want me to play, and I’ll do a poor job at all of them.”
Fixed.
I hate to nit-pick, but I would of preferred Cuddyer to refer to Charlie Manuel as “Chuck.” Sounds more ballplayer to me, I don’t know why.
Since when is doing a good enough job to “pass” a quality statement?
For what Cuddyer will be paid I would expect more than “pass” in terms of his contribution. Passing to me means league average. If you are paying $10m/year for league average you are overpaying.
Hamels isn’t going anywhere people. There is money off the books when he’s due and he’s far and away the #1 priority. If that comes to the detriment of the offense…that’s possible.
Money off the books, yes, but nothing remotely substantial. We’re half a month into the offseason and the Phillies already have over $100 million in obligations for 2013. And that’s not even counting club options on Ruiz and Contreras, neither of which will save them more than $5 million. Meanwhile, they have seven arbitration eligible players that offseason.
The only substantial contract coming off the books next offseason for the Phillies is Blanton (ETA: I forgot Victorino, but letting him walk would be a bad idea). This offseason, they have Rollins and Ibanez coming off of the books, but they’re already tied Ibanez’s salary up in a relief pitcher for the next four or five years and they currently don’t have a shortstop. Considering the wafer thin pitching market, Hamels could probably approach $18-20 million in free agency and, I’m sorry, but Philly fans need to get past this delusion they’ve developed that they suddenly have the Yankees revenue stream just because RAJ is throwing money around. If the Phillies keep handing out albatross deals like the Howard extension or the Papelbon signing, there’s no way in the world they will be able to afford Hamels.
Every year they have players coming off. They wisely let Burrell, Rowand and Werth go. They will let an injury prone Rollins go. They let Ibanez, Baez and Lidge go. Not to mention Madson. Lidge’s money went to Pap. JRoll missed a lot of games the past 2 years and they still won. They have Galvis to replace him. He’s just as good defensively. They will let Blanton, Polanco go next year. Signing Hamels and Pence is not a problem.
Actually what they did was take the money that was coming off the books from Lidge and give it to Papelbon, they are fine salary wise still.
100% agree Mr. Barshall. The Phils will trade away, let whoever walk, as long as it means you lock up Cole Hamels. You don’t cultivate home grown SPs and then let them walk.
Who are they going to trade or let walk when more than half of their payroll is tied up in five players, none of whom hit free agency before Hamels does?
The only way they could conceivably move any substantial salary is to trade Utley (Unless he has an NTC) or let Victorino (You know, your best position player last year) walk.
dont forget he has a buyout of $12.5 in 2016, so its a guaranteed $132.5 over 5 (26.5 Mil AAV)
Incorrect. The contract is 5/120 INCLUDING the $12.5m buyout, or $24m AAV. If they exercise the $27.5m Option year in 2016, the AAV drops to $22.5m.
Check Cot’s.
My bad, though it was 5/120 with 27.5 option/12.5 buyout.
Yeah it’s annoying how they word them sometimes.
dont forget he has a buyout of $12.5 in 2016, so its a guaranteed $132.5 over 5 (26.5 Mil AAV)
…about becoming the richest reliever in baseball, Papelbon said, “That doesn’t really play a role. The biggest thing that plays a role is the ability to come here and win.”I call BS. Pap’s always been about the money.
When pressed, athletes usually tell you it’s not about the money, it’s about respect. Of course, how do teams show their respect to a player? Money.
If that was the case, they should have paid him $25…………….
so funny. of course the phils, and hamels want to get a deal done. Only one side is hoping for probably 15 million a year, and the other is probably around 22 million a year. Good luck phillies…
How is that different from any negotiation? Good luck anyone who has ever negotiated anything…
Because both sides aren’t going to budge.