2020 salary terms still need to be hammered out. But what about what’s owed to players beyond that point? The near-term economic picture remains questionable at best. That’ll make teams all the more cautious with guaranteed future salaries.
Every organization has some amount of future cash committed to players, all of it done before the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe. There are several different ways to look at salaries; for instance, for purposes of calculating the luxury tax, the average annual value is the touchstone, with up-front bonuses spread over the life of the deal. For this exercise, we’ll focus on actual cash outlays that still have yet to be paid.
We’ll run through every team, with a big assist from the Cot’s Baseball Contracts database. Prior entries can be found here. Next up is the Phillies:
*Includes buyouts of club options over Aaron Nola, Jean Segura, Andrew McCutchen, Scott Kingery, Odubel Herrera and David Robertson
13Morgs13
I like what the Phillies did in rd1. HS arms are tricky but the farm system is bare of talent.
Brixton
I don’t think their player development is good enough for a HS arm. Garrett Mitchel hits the Klentak model a lot better, but hopefully Abel ends up a solid mid rotation arm.
13Morgs13
I agree. I like Mitchell a lot but this kid is polished and might not need a lot of development. O’Dowd who I think can be a little too bullish on young talent but he knows what he is talking about for the most part. Either way I really like Mitchell a lot myself. His ceiling is very high for a college bat
DarkSide830
not good enough? youe suggesting they flat out cant develop HS guys? i could say they arent good at it, but that they are simply unable to is a bit extreme.
Brixton
Trade Segura, wait out Odubel/Drob.
None of the other deals are really horrible
Phiilies2020
Segura at least gives them a capable middle infielder in case Didi or Scottie gets hurt. Bohm can DH and eventually take over at 3B or remain a DH if they implement one in the NL permanently.
xlovesbaseball
not sure that he doesn’t steal Kingery’s job. 1000Abs and it isn’t looking like a good investment all ready. I know Phillie fans will get super upset because they seem to want him to be Pedrioa but he just doesn’t appear to be much more than an average at best hitter that plays multiple positions decently. solid but not worth long term investment.
ham77
Bouncing him around defensively hasn’t helped him. Hopefully he will get better if they keep him at one position.
DarkSide830
Segura isnt a bad deal for the money. even in a down year last year he was still quite good and he isnt old by any means. he’s probably 2021’s starting SS.
Phiilies2020
Love Abel. Great pick, great kid, great arm, great value at #15
thebaseballfanatic
WHY ARE THEY FILLING UP THIS SITE WITH UNNECESSARY INFORMATION WHEN THEY COULD BE TALKING ABOUT AUSTIN MARTIN GOING TO THE BLUE JAYS WHOOOOOOOOOOOO
pinkerton
Calm down there, Sparky!
thebaseballfanatic
xD
RunDMC
Save your reaction for the moment he puts pen to paper. He will sign, but for how much (of other people’s money)?
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
I remember my first beer…
sam00991
they exaggerate the contracts a bit like if they were terrible. they have quality performers on that list for the most part.
xlovesbaseball
quality performer is not really what they paid for, they want stud production and to be a contender at this cost and they are far from it. That is what makes a contract terrible.
bucketbrew35
Considering the financial clout this team has the longterm outlook is fine. With regards to the contracts hopefully we will be factoring in Realmuto and a second Nola extension down the line. The only current ‘bad value’contracts are D-Rob and Odubel.
The one thing that bothers me about this organization is its scouting and development. They have the money to hire people away from teams like the Rays yet they don’t act on it. It honestly makes no sense to me.
Phiilies2020
The Phillies are loyal to a fault. They hold on to scouts and and other player personnel way too long. If you played there or coached there and the city loved you, you have a job in the front office for life. Perfect examples, Larry Bowa, Charlie Manuel, Mike Schimdt, Ruben Amaro jr, Mickey Morandini, Juan Samuel, John Vukovich rest his soul and others. And putting guys like Matt Stairs is brutal!
Pat Burrell will be the hitting coach in three years
Phiilies2020
In the broadcast booth I meant about Stairs*
DarkSide830
the coaches arent the issue. all the “new” guys they’ve brought in are the problems on that side. the real issue is the scouts.
homerheins
I agree if the scouts helped them sign Jake Arrieta, an aging pitcher that the larger payroll Cubs wouldn’t resign.
homerheins
Harper was glad to become a Philly because now he has a very rowdy fan base on his side (most of the time). I love my AZ sports, but Philly is the model sports town for me in terms of the passionate fans. It was so cool to see this in person the one time I visited and went to Citizen’s Bank, where they were so passionate on the day they set the record for most losses as a franchise. I recall that they were half celebrating it, half mocking it, using some sort of sophisticated burn of sarcasm. There is no reason a team with that loyal and that passionate of a fan base shouldn’t be competitive every year. Tampa Bay does it with a pathetic fan base, where they’re looking to play games in another city (Montreal).
wild bill tetley
You forgot the words “zero fan base” before you typed Montreal. Expos fans live outside of Montreal. In Montreal nobody cared or cares for the Expos.
homerheins
That makes the Tampa Bay decision make their fans look even more pathetic.
AndyMeyer
Montreal has an interesting, rich history when it comes to baseball. The last ten years were a nightmare. That nightmare’s name was Jeffrey Loria. Tons of blame on Loria, Bud Selig and MLB. When you basically tell a city that they have no interest in keeping baseball in your city, you probably wouldn’t care either. It’s a shame. Good article was written by Farid Rushdi on bleacher report some years back that is worth checking out
bigstein09
Remove gridlines and the active cell indicator before taking screen shot you filthy animal.
Iknowmorebaseball
Angel’s are loving the fact that they are not throwing away another roll of millions to Pujols. Harper’s contract is going to be far worse. He is a poor outfielder and is not a good hitter. He is like an Adam Dunn but with less homers. I can see this being by far hands down the all time worse contract.Good luck Phillies!!
VonPurpleHayes
this old song and dance. you clearly know less baseball.
Philliesfan4life
If I am the phillies , I would offer whatever Realmuto wanted , Sign Stroman • Ray • Bauer , one of those three guys , and a reliever.