It has been a rather noteworthy day for the Phillies front office: the club announced its extension of Chase Utley, claimed Casper Wells on waivers, and saw Michael Young clear waivers. Let's look at a few links regarding the Fightin' Phils …
- Negotiations between the Phillies and Utley began in earnest a few weeks back, tweets Jim Salisbury of CSN Philadelphia, after the club approached its star second baseman with trade interest it had received. When Utley told the team his preference was to stay, says Salisbury, the sides set out to make a deal happen.
- The deal that Utley signed will effectively come with full no-trade protection, Salisbury notes (also via Twitter), as Utley will obtain ten and five rights on August 22.
- Utley expects to remain satisfied with his decision to sign an extension before reaching free agency, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer (via Sulia). "This is something that no matter what happens I'm not going to regret," said Utley. "I've talked to some guys that have played here and moved on to other organizations. The grass isn't always greener on the other side."
- With Utley pretty firmly entrenched as a Phillie-for-life, it remains to be seen what will happen to another stalwart from the club's 2007-2011 peak seasons. As MLB.com's Todd Zolecki writes, catcher Carlos Ruiz may have a guaranteed place in Philadelphia's history, but it is far less clear whether he will have a place on its roster over the coming seasons. For his part, the 34-year-old Ruiz says he hopes to remain with the only big league club he's every played for.
