Phillies contracts

[Cedrique]

Ok, I wanted to post something about the Phillies front office other than "what a bunch of idiots" or "another bad move" . I think the thing that hurts the Phillies most is the length of the contracts being signed, and the incentives, for free agents and also, (especially) for the players that came up through the system. It seems like they always sign deals that are at least one year too long. I think they might actually do better if they would pay the players even more for shorter contracts.

The Rollins deal is a good example. As it stands, if he makes 434 plate appearances next year the option kicks in for 2015 so it will be a 4 year $44 million contract total. So next year the manager is kind of stuck because his job is to put out the best lineup every day so if there is no one better at SS on the roster then he should play him, but by doing so he is ensuring that Rollins will be there next year as well, and most likely his production will decline even more. I think the Phillies would be better off if they would have given him $15-16 million a year for two years. They are overpaying in the short term, but then after 2 years (which would be this year) they can re-evaluate his value.

Now going in to this year it is pretty obvious that his value has gone down so they can offer him a couple million to stay with the team. At this point they have already overpaid him to reward his past performance so if he thinks he can squeeze out a little more that is up to him but if he wants to be a Phillie for life he'll have to do it for a lot less money and maybe in a backup role if someone else is better. The same with guys like Utley, probably Ruiz and even free agents. Instead of giving that mid 30's outfielder a 3 year 39 million dollar deal give him a 2 year 29 million dollar deal. It may seem like you're overpaying up front but if you worked that way on all veteran contracts it would work itself out because you'd have some cases where the guy didn't perform in year two so you let him go (or if he wanted to stay with the team resigned him for much less) and replaced him with a rookie making the league minimum. They'd save money in the long run and give guys in the farm system a real chance to win a job.

 

[Cedrique]

Continuing with this thinking, if they are going to sign Ruiz, they should determine his value and instead of doing what they would normally do and giving him a contract for 7 million with a couple more years where it renews itself after he has 400 plate appearances or a certain number of innings caught, just give him 11 million for next year. Then if his performance is sub par or if Rupp overtakes him let him decide if he wants to come back the next year as the backup for backup catcher money.

 

[Retroram52]

Cedrique. You should send your resume to the FO and the owner and apply for the GM job. I know you'd do way better than you know who!!