Another arbitration hurdle cleared, and another Phillies extended today as the Phillies have re-signed Ryan Madson to a 3 year, $12 million contract. Madson was eligible to be a free agent after this season.
Like the Hamels signing, this is a great deal for both sides. Madson seems to have finally found his niche as the 8th inning bridge to Lidge, and was the breakout star of the playoffs. He was smart to take this deal while his value was at it’s highest.
Hopefully having a defined role and knowing it going into the season (rather than moving around as a starter and various parts of the bullpen) will help Madson focus and have a superb all-around, injury free season.
Whether you like the Burrell/Ibanez situation or not, you have to like the way Amaro has started off these arbitration cases, giving Dobbs, Hamels and Madson multi-year deals at reasonable cost.
Howard, Werth, Victorino, Blanton and Durbin are still on the arbitration table. I would love to see a long term deal for Victorino, but the Phillies can still wait until next year to get that done.
A very important side note of Howard. I read in the Inquirer today that Howard, because of the Super-2 rule, isn’t eligible for free agency until after the 2011 season. This doesn’t make sense to me, because the basic rule is that a player becomes a FA after 6 years of service. Howard has had 4, but I guess they aren’t counting his rookie season? As recently as a couple month ago, rotoworld.com had Howard as arbitration eligible through 2010, now it says 2011. That’s 3 more full seasons before he can leave. I don’t know what changed, but I’m happy it did.
Well the Phils have left very little ambiguity regarding their approach with this championship winning group they’ve assembled.
“Over the next 3 years, this organization has a chance to compete, just like it did this year, for the World Series,” Proefrock said. “To have that cost certainty that we have, it helps us be able to determine down the road, do we have the finances available to be able to add a particular piece that we need at a particular time to get us over the hump?”
Keeping this group together and having cost certainty in the process are the priorities. Apparently we aren’t the only ones who see a window of opportunity with our current group, nor are we the only ones who value what we currently have. Feels good for a change, doesn’t it?
bski..I also like the fact that the possibility of a mid-season trade is out there and acknowledged. Blanton trade last year seemed minuscule after the Sabathia/Harden deals, but what an important part of the winning chemistry he became. If they can lock up their current roster and still have a little cash on the backend to spend on a trade deadline move to solidify the team, that is great.
A bit of a side note: Has anyone else found themselves watching the new MLB network more than any other channel? They are playing the Ken Burns documentary “Baseball” in parts (9 innings as they call them), every tuesday night. Highly recommend for any baseball fan for a true account of the game. Tomorrow will be the 3rd inning of 9.
J DUBBZ….Yes, I like the Phillies approach very much. I especially like the fact that they are confident enough in it to be very open and upfront with everything. I think it has a positive effect on everyone, players as well as fans, and builds trust. Rather than being suspicious of hidden machinations, everyone can have a better understanding of what they are doing.
I haven’t watched the MLB network at all as of yet. I keep forgetting that it actually exists. I did watch Ken Burns’ Baseball in it’s entirety about 8 years ago.
When it first came out, it was broadcast on PBS. I taped every “inning”. The tapes sat in my closet for a few years until one time when I had a wicked sinus/respiratory infection. I was home from work for a few days, immobile on the couch. I watched all 9 innings (I think it’s around 27 hours total run time) in 2 days. Absolutely fantastic. Worth every minute if you can devote the time.
We don’t have a VCR anymore, so I threw out the tapes when we moved a few years ago. I have been tempted to buy the DVD set but have not as yet. I think I’ll put it on my birthday wish list. I’d love to watch it again, this time with my sons.
I just read that Howard asked for 18m (10m more than Prince Fielder asked for) while we offered 14m….should be interesting to see how this ends up….
here’s the link to the AP article
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jJrNRA6LuFQm_vW7thGol4wBvE7AD95R4B580
Jesse – Pete is about to post something on that in a little bit.