The Phillies announced that they have officially declined the 2012 options for right-handers Brad Lidge and Roy Oswalt. Lidge obtains a $1.5MM buyout instead of a $12.5MM salary and Oswalt obtains a $2MM buyout instead of a $16MM salary. The team hasn't ruled out a new deal with either Lidge or Oswalt.
"We will remain in contact with representatives for both players about the possibility of bringing them back for the 2012 season,” GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said in a statement.
Lidge, 34, appeared in just 25 games in 2011 because of a rotator cuff injury. He posted a 1.40 ERA with 10.7 K/9 and 6.1 BB/9 in 19 1/3 regular season innings before pitching two scoreless frames in the Division Series. Though he's a Type B free agent, an offer of arbitration seems highly unlikely given his extended DL stint and 2011 salary of $12MM. For fantasy analysis on Lidge, check out Dan Mennella's latest at CloserNews.
Oswalt, also 34, posted a 3.69 ERA with 6.0 K/9 and 2.1 BB/9 in 139 innings in 2011. He made just 23 starts, as lower back issues landed him on the DL twice. A Type A free agent, Oswalt almost certainly won't receive an offer of arbitration.
Well, what about the Jays? Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos only makes moves which “represent real baseball value”. That’s a post-Industrial Age euphemism for “throwing nickels around like manhole covers”.
His #3, #4 and #5 starters going into Spring Training are Henderson Alvarez, Brett Cecil and Dustin McGowan, who were paid a combined salary of less than $1.5 million this past season.
Roy Oswalt at $10 million+ as a Blue Jay? Thanks, but no. We’d rather acquire several retreads, has-beens and used-to-wuzzes on two-way contracts for the Major League minimum. Now that represents real baseball value.
Don’t laugh. The brilliant eclat of our Blue Jays’ inherent greatness renders our golden heroes by far the best mediocre .500 team in baseball history.
Mr. Rogers: Children, can you say “cheap?”
Children: CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!
Mr. Rogers: I knew ya could.
And Zeus looked down from the clouds above Mount Olympus and was heard to utter, “Yes, there does appear to be something not quite right with the American League East, but I just can’t seem to put my finger on it.”
Gotta hate that moniker, “Scrabble.” Athough I’m from the lowest peasant-class Irish, I can actually spell “Rzepczynski”. But a lot of good Anglo-Saxons can’t. So in a mean-spirited way, “Scrabble” makes fun of the hard-to-spell names of Polish people everywhere.
The nickname was coined by a redneck from Calgary, Alberta, who contributes regularly to the Bluebird Banter blog.
Best post of the day! Gave ya a “Like,” too. Nobody can argue with your perfect logic. Love it!