Cliff Lee Signs with the Philadelphia Phillies: Happiness Over Money

In today’s age of professional sports, it’s not too often that you find superstar-caliber players that truly value winning championships over the biggest, most lucrative contract one can get his hands on when testing the free agent waters.

Every pro athlete in every sport claims that their No. 1 goal is to win a championship. They claim that it’s what they come to the ball park every day for, why they practice, why they play the game, however in most cases, it’s not really why they’re in the game.

It’s all about money in today’s generation.

With money taking over as the top priority of all in both sports and reality, it’s rare to find a player or the average folk who would take less money to ensure happiness for their family. Nine times out of 10, the player is going to go where the money is at.

Not Cliff Lee.

Lee turned down about $20 million from the New York Yankees to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies because he loved his short time in Philly, and felt that they gave him the best chance to win a World Series over New York and Texas.

The Yankees reportedly offered the 32-year-old lefty a seven-year, $148 million contract to play in the Bronx. New York’s contract would have guaranteed Lee $132 million. He signed a five-year, $120 million deal with the Phillies.

Another major factor in Lee signing in Philly was that’s where his family would be the most happy. The Phillies fan base embraced Lee, and he became an instant favorite when they acquired him from Cleveland at the trade deadline in 2009.

Lee was 7-4 with a 3.39 earned run average in 12 starts with three complete games for the Phils. He wrote his legacy in Philly during the postseason when he was 4-0 in five games with a 1.56 ERA. He threw 40.1 innings with two complete games.

The name Cliff Lee reached legendary status in the city of brotherly love.

For the Phillies, it’s not the first time a superstar turned down more money to come to Philadelphia. In fact, it’s the second straight winter the top prize took considerably less money to play for the Phightens.

Last offseason, Roy Halladay agreed to waive his no-trade clause to come to Philly and signed a three-year, $60 million extension. It’s a little bit of a different animal in Halladay’s case because he was acquire in a trade, but it’s still the same principal.

Halladay made a name for himself as the game’s top pitcher for more than half a decade. Had he reached free agency, he would have been heavily rewarded with a huge contract. Let’s just say, he would have made at least $60 more million than he did when he signed his extension with Philadelphia.

Doc cited that the reason he wanted to play in Philly was that he made enough money in his career, and at this point in his career, it was more important for him to have an opportunity to win a World Series.

The irony here is that Ruben Amaro Jr. traded Lee to Seattle when he acquired Halladay to replenish the farm system that lost seven players in obtaining Halladay and Lee at the deadline. It was not fully about the money.

That enraged Phillies fans even though they were getting the league’s best arm. The reason was if it wasn’t broke, why fix it?

Lee is the game’s best southpaw, no question. His dominance the last couple years proves the point, and his play in the last two playoffs makes it even stronger. When you had a chance to go into a season with Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee atop your rotation, you’re going to be the favorites.

Amaro opted not to do that because he didn’t think he could resign Lee last winter, and wanted to get more prospects lost in getting both pitchers.

In trading Lee, Amaro acquired Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Cliff Lee.

Sounds like one heck of a master plan.

Visit the Broad Street Scoop for more of Tom’s coverage of the Philadelphia Flyers, Phillies, and the NHL and MLB. Follow Tom on Twitter: @Tom_Dougherty. E-mail him at: todougherty@gmail.com

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Philadelphia Phillies Interested in Ben Sheets, Chien-Ming Wang

David Murphy tweets that the Philadelphia Phillies have contacted the agents of free agent starting pitchers Ben Sheets and Chien-Ming Wang, though he says that there aren’t any indications that something will happen on either front.

With Jamie Moyer’s status for the start of the regular season being an unknown, Sheets may become an intriguing option as a fifth starter for the Phillies. Opting for surgery to repair a torn flexor tendon in his elbow last February, Sheets decided against signing with a team last year.

Sheets, 31, has build an impressive résumé in his eight year career with the Milwaukee Brewers. He has a career record of 86-83 with a 3.72 ERA, making four All-Star teams and finishing eighth in the 2004 N.L. Cy Young award voting.

The Baton Rouge, Louisiana native went 13-9 with a 3.09 ERA in his last season with the Brewers in 2008. He started 31 games, struckout 158 hitters while walking 46 batters in 198.1 innings. He had five complete games, three of which were shutouts.

In his last start with Milwaukee, Sheets left after two innings because of tightness in throwing forearm, which forced the Brewers to shut him down for the rest of the season.

Sheets had three straight seasons with 200 innings or more before taking a step back in his career. Between 2005 and 2007, Sheets made five trips to the disabled list with various arm injuries and an inner ear infection that led to vertigo.

Before choosing surgery last off-season, Sheets was believed to be closing in on an incentive laden contract with the Texas Rangers. At the end of the day, he decided that getting his elbow repaired was the best step for his career.

According to reports, Sheets and his agent Casey Close is asking for $12 million, a similar figure he made in his last year with the Brew Crew. It’s believed that Close is playing hardball with teams, trying to get his client the best deal he can.

The Phillies are looking to add another starting pitcher to solidify the back end of the rotation, and they’re looking for someone at a reasonable price. With Sheets current asking price, you can likely count the Phils out of his sweepstakes.

ESPN.com proposed the idea that Sheets could be a fit with the Phillies if they can find payroll relief. They suggested trading Joe Blanton could free up enough cash to sign Sheets, and a rotation with Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels, and Sheets can compete with any other in the game.

The question is: Do you trade Blanton, who is a known commodity, to clear up payroll space to sign Sheets, a pitcher with dominant stuff but has a scary injury history? Is it worth the risk to add a significant upgrade in Sheets, if healthy?

Well, is it?

For more Philadelphia sports coverage, please go to my blog: The Broad Street Scoop.

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Philadelphia Phillies Notes: Baez Signing Announced, Eyre Talks Finished

The Philadelphia Phillies have announced that they have signed Danys Baez to a two-year, $5.25 million contract. He jumped the final hurdle, which was a physical examination.

Baez, 32, went 4-6 with a 4.02 ERA in 59 appearances last season with the Baltimore Orioles. He held right-handed hitters to a .197 average and opposing hitters to a .222 average in 71.2 innings.

In his 10-year career in the majors, Baez has played for six teams, including the Phillies. He broke into the league with the Cleveland Indians when Charlie Manuel managed the Tribe.

Baez will wear No. 55 in Philadelphia.

 

Eyre talks likely finished

It appears as Scott Eyre’s career with the Phillies is over as Ruben Amaro Jr. implied that talks with Eyre have been put to bed. Amaro offered him a minor league contract, but Eyre declined as he’ll play ball elsewhere in 2010.

Eyre posted a 1-2 record with a 1.50 ERA in 42 relief appearances last season with the Phillies. Taking over as the left-handed specialist since J.C. Romero missed the majority of the season due to injury and suspension, Eyre allowed only five runs in 30 innings.

Amaro said that he wants to sign another left-handed reliever for the bullpen, but there aren’t many options remaining on the open market. Ron Mahay and Will Ohman head the list of free agent lefties.

For more Philadelphia sports coverage, please go to my blog: The Broad Street Scoop.

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Philadelphia Phillies, Danys Baez Agree to Two-Year Contract

The Philadelphia Phillies have signed Danys Baez to a two-year contract pending his physical, which is expected to take place next week.

Baez, 32, went 4-6 with a 4.02 earned run average in 59 relief appearances with the Baltimore Orioles last year.

The addition of Baez means that the Phillies will not re-sign Chan Ho Park as the right-handed Cuban will replace Park as a late inning reliever for Philadelphia.

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Report: Phillies Sign Tagg Bozied

According to MLBTR , the Phillies have signed first baseman and corner outfielder Tagg Bozied.

Bozied batted .288/.360/.447 while hitting five home run and driving in 18 runs in 240 plate appearances last season playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates‘ Triple A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians, after starting the year in Taiwan.

The 30-year-old will likely be added as minor league depth on a minor league contract. The details of this deal haven’t been known to public, but you have to assume it’s not a Major League pact.

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Philadelphia Phillies, Mystery Reliever Agree To Terms Pending Physical

With Christmas a couple of days away, Ruben Amaro Jr. has finished the majority of his shopping.

He signed Placido Polanco as his new third baseman, retooled the bench with Juan Castro, Ross Gload and Brian Schneider, and traded for Roy Halladay.

The only item left on Amaro’s to-do list is to solidify a bullpen that blew 22 saves and had a 3.91 earned run average last year, which ranked ninth in the National League.

Salisbury says a person with knowledge told him that the Phils have an agreement in place with a relief pitcher pending a physical, which will take place in the first week of January. His source could not give him who the reliever is, but another source pointed to Danys Baez.

Baez appeared in 59 games with the Baltimore Orioles, rebounding after a 2008 season lost to elbow surgery. He posted a 4.02 earned run average and held opposing hitters to a .222 batting average in 71.2 innings.

The 32-year-old right-hander has experience in the eighth and ninth innings, something the Phillies are desperately looking for.

In his 10-year career, he has compiled 114 saves, including 96 as Cleveland and Tampa Bay‘s closer from 2003-05.

He broke into the majors with the Indians in 2001 when current Phillies skipper Charlie Manuel managed the Tribe. He has spent time with five teams in his career, including the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers.

Baez made $5.5 million dollars with the O’s last year.

While Baez appears to be the player that the Phils are going to sign, it could be another reliever.

What we do know is that it is not Fernando Rodney, who signed with the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday. ESPN.com reported yesterday the Phils were interested in him.

Amaro hasn’t commented on any players he has been pursuing in the bullpen market, but recent reports have tied Mike MacDougal, Miguel Batista, Bob Howry, and Matt Capps. For all we know, it could very well be one of those arms.

MacDougal has been a name that has been linked to the Phillies quite a few times recently, but Salisbury claims it doesn’t appear as if Philadelphia is seriously considering his services.

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Report: Phillies Interested in Fernando Rodney, Offer Two-Year Deal

According to an ESPN.com report, the Philadelphia Phillies have expressed interest in signing free agent closer Fernando Rodney to a two-year contract at $12 million as a setup man and safety net to Brad Lidge.

Rodney, 32, converted on 37 saves in 38 opportunities last season with the Detroit Tigers while posing a 4.40 earned run average, the highest ERA among American League relievers with more than 20 save opportunities (Per ESPN).

The Los Angeles Angels are also closing in on a deal with Rodney, according to ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark. Like the Phillies, the Angels see him as a setup guy who can pose as a fall back guy in case Brian Fuentes falters like he did in the second half last year.

Aside from his high ERA, Rodney performed well under pressure in 2009. In save situations, Rodney sported a 2.79 ERA while in nonsave situations he posted a 6.08 ERA. He held hitters to a .206 average with two outs and runners in scoring position.

Rodney owned a free agent closer market leading 1.40 groundball to fly ball ratio, which would work well with Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies are in need of late inning relievers, and Rodney fits the bill. Whether he’s the best option for the Fightins, we don’t know, but he could certainly help a bullpen that struggled to close games out in ’09.

Other names linked to the Phils: John Smoltz, Bob Howry, Miguel Batista and Kiko Calero.

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Why Jayson Werth Should Learn from Jason Bay’s Mistake

Jayson Werth will hit the open market next winter as one of the premier free agent outfielders. All we know right now is that he’ll be asking for a pretty hefty raise from the Philadelphia Phillies, or he’ll pack his bags for someone who’s willing to give him the top dollar.

There is a very comparable situation happening right now in the baseball universe as Jason Bay has allowed his agent to price himself out of a good situation in Boston and into a situation that will not be very promising in terms of competing for a World Series.

With the Red Sox, Bay had a chance to win a championship every year as the Sox are one of the powerhouses in Major League Baseball. Like their division rival New York Yankees, they’re in contention every year; winning is key for these organizations.

Now, a return to Boston will not happen since they opted to sign Mike Cameron to replace Bay as its everyday left fielder. Therefore, Bay will be playing somewhere else next season.

As it appears right now, the New York Mets are the only team interested in signing him.

According to reports, the Mets are offering him four years worth $64 million to patrol the left side of the outfield at Citi Field for the next few seasons.

For Bay, leaving Boston to head to New York’s second team, will not be a great baseball decision.

Considering he played the better part of his first five years in the pros with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he’ll head to a team that has a lot of turmoil and doesn’t have a bright future.

Of course, you can’t blame Bay for pricing himself out of Boston as his agent, Joe Urbon, has handled the negotiations.

Urbon believes Bay is worth more than he really is and is trying to get his client the best possible deal he can. I can respect that, it’s his job.

What I don’t understand is why Bay rejected the Sox’ last offer, which is believed to be for four years in the $60-million range. The Mets are believed to have offered him $64 million over four years, which would be a few more than Boston.

In hind sight, I’m sure Bay wishes he had accept the Sox’ offer because a few more million to play for a non-playoff team instead of playing for a World Series competitor, is nonsense.

The problem with Bay is, he’s asking for five or six years and no team is willing to go that far. It’ll be a game of chicken until either Bay or a team budges on their stance.

With some background information about the Bay situation out of the way, let’s get back to Werth.

In all likelihood, he’ll be using what Bay will get as a starting point in negotiations next winter. By doing this, he could find himself in the same shoes Bay’s wearing right now.

Werth and Bay are very similar players. In fact, they had almost identical stats last year. Werth batted .268/.373/.506 while Bay hit .267/.384/.537. For Boston, Bay had 119 RBI compared to Werth’s 99 RBI with the Phillies. They each had 36 home runs.

Both don’t ground into many double plays, they hit a fair amount of doubles, and they post similar strikeout and walk numbers.

Since the two are the same player in different uniforms, they’ll be getting similar contracts.

Werth will ask for what Bay gets at the very least.

The only difference is Werth could have a better year in 2010, which would get him more.

My advice to Werth is: Learn from Bay, don’t let your agent blow your chance at winning titles. At the end of the day, you’ll appreciate the rings on your finger rather than the millions more you could get playing for an average squad.

For more Philadelphia sports coverage, please go to my blog: The Broad Street Scoop.

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Could Phillippe Aumont Help the Phillies in 2010?

As part of the complicated historic trade that officially took place earlier today, Phillippe Aumont came over from the Seattle Mariners in a package of prospects that sent Cliff Lee to the state of Washington and landed Roy Halladay in Philadelphia.

For the Phillies, Halladay was the cornerstone of the blockbuster as he’ll anchor the starting rotation for the next four years at the very minimum. While parting ways with Lee was a difficult pill to swallow, it was a move that will benefit the Fightins in a couple of years.

To acquire Doc from Toronto, the Phils had to give up highly touted prospects Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis d’Arnaud. In giving up Drabek and Taylor, Philadelphia traded away two of their top three prospects.

On top of saying goodbye to three solid prospects in this mega deal, Ruben Amaro Jr. dealt four prospects in July to acquire Lee from the Cleveland Indians; Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, Jason Donald, and Lou Marson.

If you do the math, that’s seven players out of the farm system which was ranked fourth best in the league by Baseball America. And while four of those players likely won’t cement to anything, it doesn’t help the team’s depth for years down the line.

By trading Lee, who had one year left on his contract and there was no guarantee that he would have re-signed, the Phillies restocked their farm system by acquiring Aumont, J.C. Ramirez, and Tyson Gillies from Seattle.

Aumont was drafted by the Mariners with the 11th overall pick in the 2007 MLB draft as a starting pitcher out of Gatineau, QC; however Seattle began to groom him into a reliever after injury concerns in 2008.

He was placed on the disabled list twice in the 08 season, and remained on the D.L. from August 21st to the end of the season. The 6’7″, 220-pound right-hander posted a 2.75 earned run average in 55.2 innings with 50 strikeouts compared to 19 walks.

Last year, the Mariners had him played for their Advanced A team, the High Desert Mavericks, to start the year as the team’s closer. In 29 appearances with the Mavericks, Aumont converted 12 saves while owning a 3.24 ERA while opponents hit .195 off him.

Seattle promoted him to their Double-A affiliate, West Teen Diamond Jaxx, where he had a 5.09 ERA in 15 games.

You may remember seeing Aumont pitch in the World Baseball Classic last spring for Team Canada, especially if you watched the United States-Canada game. He pitched the seventh inning, loading the bases before retiring David Wright, Kevin Youkilis and Curtis Granderson.

The scouting report on Aumont describes him as a power pitcher with a fastball that can be tough to pick up, which can reach 95 MPH, a hard breaking ball and an occasional changeup. He has pretty good command according to scouting reports.

With the Phils’ bullpen being one of their few weaknesses, Aumont could get a serious look in Spring Training as a long reliever this coming season, something no one expects him to accomplish this year.

It’s not that far-fetched that the Phillies are planning on him relieving in 2010. Clay Condrey has been let go, Chan Ho Park has been offered a contract but wants to start again, and Scott Eyre hasn’t re-signed as of yet either.

And with the payroll around $131 million already, that leaves Amaro about nine million to spend on relievers for the rest of the off-season. Philadelphia has been linked to Fernando Rodney and John Smoltz as possible bullpen arms.

Last year, the Phils struggled closing games out. Brad Lidge had a miserable season while Ryan Madson had a decent year when he was in the eighth inning role, but when he had closer duties, he wasn’t very good.

Bringing Rodney or Smoltz in to replace Park or Eyre as a late-inning reliever would help shore up the bullpen, but it would still leave holes elsewhere in the ‘pen.

To sign Rodney, it’ll probably require closer money unless he gets a chance to close. I don’t believe Amaro would promise him a chance to replace Lidge as the closer so he’ll have to pay top dollar for him, which would bring him right up to the $140 million budget.

Let’s say Rodney or Smoltz is brought into the fold as a late innings reliever, there’s still a long relieving role up in arms. Pitchers like Antonio Bastardo, Sergio Escalona and Drew Carpenter will be looked at in the Spring, but Aumont shouldn’t be ruled out.

This kid has a live arm with movement on his pitches. He throws three pitches, and has a nasty curveball who can get Major League hitters out. I know it was just the WBC, but he did strikeout Youkilis and Granderson, two MLB All-Stars.

Aumont could be a pleasant surprise for the Phillies this season, or he could stay in the minors and never be heard from again. Who knows.

For more Philadelphia sports coverage, please go to my blog: The Broad Street Scoop.

Read more Philadelphia Phillies news on BleacherReport.com

Could Phillippe Aumont Help the Phillies in 2010?

As part of the complicated historic trade that officially took place earlier today, Phillippe Aumont came over from the Seattle Mariners in a package of prospects that sent Cliff Lee to the state of Washington and landed Roy Halladay in Philadelphia.

For the Phillies, Halladay was the cornerstone of the blockbuster as he’ll anchor the starting rotation for the next four years at the very minimum. While parting ways with Lee was a difficult pill to swallow, it was a move that will benefit the Fightins in a couple of years.

To acquire Doc from Toronto, the Phils had to give up highly touted prospects Kyle Drabek, Michael Taylor, and Travis d’Arnaud. In giving up Drabek and Taylor, Philadelphia traded away two of their top three prospects.

On top of saying goodbye to three solid prospects in this mega deal, Ruben Amaro Jr. dealt four prospects in July to acquire Lee from the Cleveland Indians; Carlos Carrasco, Jason Knapp, Jason Donald, and Lou Marson.

If you do the math, that’s seven players out of the farm system which was ranked fourth best in the league by Baseball America. And while four of those players likely won’t cement to anything, it doesn’t help the team’s depth for years down the line.

By trading Lee, who had one year left on his contract and there was no guarantee that he would have re-signed, the Phillies restocked their farm system by acquiring Aumont, J.C. Ramirez, and Tyson Gillies from Seattle.

Aumont was drafted by the Mariners with the 11th overall pick in the 2007 MLB draft as a starting pitcher out of Gatineau, QC; however Seattle began to groom him into a reliever after injury concerns in 2008.

He was placed on the disabled list twice in the 08 season, and remained on the D.L. from August 21st to the end of the season. The 6’7″, 220-pound right-hander posted a 2.75 earned run average in 55.2 innings with 50 strikeouts compared to 19 walks.

Last year, the Mariners had him played for their Advanced A team, the High Desert Mavericks, to start the year as the team’s closer. In 29 appearances with the Mavericks, Aumont converted 12 saves while owning a 3.24 ERA while opponents hit .195 off him.

Seattle promoted him to their Double-A affiliate, West Teen Diamond Jaxx, where he had a 5.09 ERA in 15 games.

You may remember seeing Aumont pitch in the World Baseball Classic last spring for Team Canada, especially if you watched the United States-Canada game. He pitched the seventh inning, loading the bases before retiring David Wright, Kevin Youkilis and Curtis Granderson.

The scouting report on Aumont describes him as a power pitcher with a fastball that can be tough to pick up, which can reach 95 MPH, a hard breaking ball and an occasional changeup. He has pretty good command according to scouting reports.

With the Phils’ bullpen being one of their few weaknesses, Aumont could get a serious look in Spring Training as a long reliever this coming season, something no one expects him to accomplish this year.

It’s not that far-fetched that the Phillies are planning on him relieving in 2010. Clay Condrey has been let go, Chan Ho Park has been offered a contract but wants to start again, and Scott Eyre hasn’t re-signed as of yet either.

And with the payroll around $131 million already, that leaves Amaro about nine million to spend on relievers for the rest of the off-season. Philadelphia has been linked to Fernando Rodney and John Smoltz as possible bullpen arms.

Last year, the Phils struggled closing games out. Brad Lidge had a miserable season while Ryan Madson had a decent year when he was in the eighth inning role, but when he had closer duties, he wasn’t very good.

Bringing Rodney or Smoltz in to replace Park or Eyre as a late-inning reliever would help shore up the bullpen, but it would still leave holes elsewhere in the ‘pen.

To sign Rodney, it’ll probably require closer money unless he gets a chance to close. I don’t believe Amaro would promise him a chance to replace Lidge as the closer so he’ll have to pay top dollar for him, which would bring him right up to the $140 million budget.

Let’s say Rodney or Smoltz is brought into the fold as a late innings reliever, there’s still a long relieving role up in arms. Pitchers like Antonio Bastardo, Sergio Escalona and Drew Carpenter will be looked at in the Spring, but Aumont shouldn’t be ruled out.

This kid has a live arm with movement on his pitches. He throws three pitches, and has a nasty curveball who can get Major League hitters out. I know it was just the WBC, but he did strikeout Youkilis and Granderson, two MLB All-Stars.

Aumont could be a pleasant surprise for the Phillies this season, or he could stay in the minors and never be heard from again. Who knows.

For more Philadelphia sports coverage, please go to my blog: The Broad Street Scoop.

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