MLB Free Agency 2013: Phillies Have Not Offered Josh Hamilton 3-Year, $80M Deal
******UPDATE (2:38 p.m.):*********
According to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News, their story on Josh Hamilton being offered a contract by the Phillies was based on a fake source.
The Hamilton/Philly reports all sprung out of a fake Jon Heyman account (my fake account is much cooler). Our website was duped. Apologies.
— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) December 12, 2012
The fake Jon Heyman Twitter account strikes again.
If you go to the link for the story on the Dallas Morning News site, it has been taken down.
My apologies to any Philly fan who might have gotten their hopes up based off the story or the other one that was published earlier this morning.
And so, we wait some more on where Hamilton signs this winter.
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For the second time in three years, the Rangers may lose a top player to the City of Brotherly Love.
According to Gerry Fraley of The Dallas Morning News, the Phillies have offered free agent slugger Josh Hamilton a three-year deal for $80 million.
CBS Sports in Philly also confirmed the offer, basing it off the story from The Dallas Morning News.
Hamilton hit .285 with 43 home runs and 128 RBI in 2012 with the Texas Rangers.
He won the 2010 AL Most Valuable Player Award and finished fifth in the 2012 AL MVP Award voting.
The Phillies just acquired Hamilton’s former teammate Michael Young, plus the Phillies have another one of his former Texas teammates in Cliff Lee, who was on the Rangers in 2010.
This would be the second winter in three years where the Phillies quietly crept into free agent negotiations and snagged the top player on the market.
Back in December 2010, the Phillies got Cliff Lee after the Yankees and Rangers were negotiating with him all winter.
In fact, it’s almost two years to the day in which the Phillies made the five-year deal with Lee.
The Phillies also recently acquired Twins center fielder Ben Revere, so Philly could put Hamilton in left or right field along with Domonic Brown.
A lot of teams have been skeptical on signing Hamilton because of his past with drugs and alcohol, plus the fact that he is 31 years old, but a three-year offer would only lock Hamilton up until age 34.
The story from the Dallas newspaper said the deal could be done as soon as Wednesday night, so Philadelphia might actually land Hamilton within the next few hours.
Stay tuned, fans.
Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com
Case Closed: Trevor Hoffman to Philadelphia Phillies Bullpen Just Makes Sense
Citizens Bank Park could be hearing “Hells Bells” before the end of August.
On MLB Trade Rumors website, NBC Sports Bob Harkins reported that Trevor Hoffman was placed on waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers and that the Philadelphia Phillies would be a good fit for Hoffman.
Hoffman is 41 years old and the current all-time saves leader with 581. After spending 16 years with the Padres, 2009 is Hoffman’s first year with the Brewers, and it has been a good one. He’s 1-1 with a 1.89 ERA and has 27 saves, plus he appeared in the 2009 All-Star Game.
However, the Brewers are 61-65, 12 games behind the Cardinals in the NL Central division, and don’t appear to be headed back to the postseason, which is why they put Hoffman on waivers.
The Phillies are on top of the NL East division at 73-51 and seven games in front of the Marlins. The Phillies have had a great offense and good starting pitching, but their bullpen has been a mess all season.
J.C. Romero, Clay Condrey and Antonio Bastardo are all on the disabled list.
Brett Myers was a starter but needed surgery, which only allowed him to make 10 starts.
Jamie Moyer was demoted to the bullpen after posting a 5.22 ERA.
The Phillies traded for Cliff Lee and signed Pedro Martinez, both moves that have worked out for Philadelphia.
But the worst of their problems has been closer Brad Lidge.
Lidge is 0-6 with a 7.33 ERA and 25 saves, but has blown nine saves for the Phillies. After a dominant 2008 where he was 41-for-41 in saves, Lidge has been awful and has cost the Phillies a lot of games in 2009.
If this trend continues for Lidge, the Phillies could find themselves bounced out of the postseason.
The Phillies will more than likely need help before September to ensure their spot in the postseason and make their bullpen stronger.
Hoffman could be the experienced veteran the Phillies need.
Now, Hoffman hasn’t had the greatest success in big games in his past (in 1998, Scott Brosius of the Yankees hit the game-winning home run off Hoffman in the top of the ninth inning in the World Series). But the Phillies can’t keep giving the ball to Lidge and play roulette with his control.
If the Phillies are able to make a claim for Hoffman, they should get him off waivers and straighten out their mess of a bullpen.
Their October plans for baseball might depend on it.
Phillies Come up Huge in Trade for Cliff Lee
Everyone knew the Phillies were in talks to add a big-time starting pitcher.
On Wednesday, they finally got one.
They got Cliff Lee and outfielder Ben Francisco from the Cleveland Indians for minor leaguers Jason Knapp, Carlos Carrasco, Jason Donald and Lou Marson.
They got the 2008 American League Cy Young Award Winner and did not have to give up Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor or J.A. Happ.
For the Phillies, this is a blockbuster of a trade that just improved their chances of not only making the postseason, but potentially repeating as National League Champions and World Series Champions.
This is also the first big trade made by first-year General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., and he made a great deal.
Most of the baseball world knew Amaro was in negotiations with the Blue Jays to get Roy Halladay. Toronto General Manager J.P Ricciardi wanted Drabek and Happ as the starting offer, but Amaro didn’t want to part with either one of them.
His counter-offer was similar to the package the Indians got, but Ricciardi rejected it. He did so, hoping to get the Phillies to up their offer and include Drabek and Happ.
But now that the Phillies have gotten Lee, and didn’t surrender Drabek or Happ, Ricciardi lost his leverage in those negotiations.
The Phillies are adding Lee to a rotation with Cole Hamels, the 2008 World Series MVP who has been pitching better of late; Joe Blanton, who also is pitching better; Happ, who is 7-1; and Rodrigo Lopez, who has surprisingly given the Phillies quality starts.
The Phillies could add Pedro Martinez to the mix. He is currently pitching in the minor leagues to get his arm ready for major league hitters.
So now, the defending champions just got stronger and better in the one area that was considered their weakness.
What makes this an even smarter deal? Lee has an $8 million dollar club option that is easily affordable to the Phillies. If Lee is dominant, I easily see the Phillies picking up his option and keeping him in the rotation for at least 2010.
Lee is 7-9 with a 3.14 ERA in 152 innings pitched with 107 strikeouts and just 33 walks. Those numbers on a dismal Indians team are phenomenal. The 7-9 record is due to Lee not getting any run support from Cleveland whatsoever. In Philadelphia, that won’t be the case, especially in hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park. Lee will get plenty of run support from Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez, Shane Victorino and Jayson Werth.
The Phillies have gotten hot since the All Star Break. They were on a 10-game winning streak and currently have won eight of their last ten games. They are now seven games in front in the N.L. East race after at one point being only a half game up on the Florida Marlins. The Phillies are getting stronger as this season is progressing and now adding Lee only helps their winning surge.
Kudos to the Phillies and Amaro for pulling this deal off and for not backing down in the Halladay negotiations. Ricciardi made himself look really bad there and Amaro looked really smart.
Can anyone stop the Phillies now?
Roy Halladay Getting Closer To Being Traded To Phillies
This was from FOXSports.com’s Ken Rosenthal:
“The Blue Jays and Phillies have made progress toward a deal that would send ace Roy Halladay to Philadelphia, major league sources told FOXSports.com.
Halladay has a no-trade clause, but sources said he would approve a trade to the defending World Series champions.
In conversations between the Phillies and Blue Jays, the sources said, Philadelphia officials have indicated a willingness to include one or more of their best prospects in the deal. Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro hasn’t ruled out any player in the talks, raising the possibility that right-hander Kyle Drabek might ultimately be included.
A deal is not imminent, as evidenced by the fact that Halladay made his start against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday, as scheduled. But there were strong indications Friday that Toronto GM J.P. Ricciardi is talking more seriously with Philadelphia than any other team. Ricciardi declined comment when approached by reporters Friday afternoon.
The Dodgers and Rangers, who both have spoken with the Blue Jays about Halladay, didn’t have any contact with Ricciardi on Friday. The Yankees initially expressed interest, but Ricciardi has yet to engage them in talks.
One source did indicate that the Angels, who are very involved in the market for pitching, have improved their offer. But it’s doubtful that they could match a package from the Phillies if Amaro is willing to part with Drabek and at least one other premium player, such as left-hander J.A. Happ, or outfielders Dominic Brown or Michael Taylor.
There is a substantially smaller group of scouts in attendance for Halladay’s start Friday at Rogers Centre than were in Toronto on Sunday, when he pitched a complete game against Boston. Many scouts in town during the week—including those representing the Red Sox and Dodgers—have left.
The Phillies, though, still have a representative at the game. And by next week, they may have a new ace.”
If the Phillies are able to deal some of their top prospects to land Roy Halladay, that would change the power in the National League dramatically.
Adding Halladay to a staff with Cole Hamels, Jamie Moyer, J.A. Happ, Joe Blanton and eventually Pedro Martinez, plus Brett Myers next season would only increase the Phillies chances of being a World Series contender for the next two seasons.
The Phillies have already shown they can overtake the Dodgers as they did so last season in the playoffs. If the Phillies beat out the Dodgers to get Halladay’s services, this would easily make the Phillies the odds on favorite in the 2009 playoffs for the National League.
It’s also looking like the Phillies are now more willing to part with some of their top prospects than they once were, which may turn out to be a positive, especially for a dominant ace like Halladay.
The only questions will be, will Halladay approve a trade to the Phillies? And will the Phillies want to sign Halladay to a long-term contract and keep him for the rest of his career?
If this is the first major trade for general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., then he has pulled off a blockbuster of a deal for the Phillies.