Phillies GM Ruben Amaro told reporters today that the club may not be able to retain Jayson Werth as they already have $130MM committed to just 14 players for 2011, writes Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer. His comments came after the press conference to announce the re-signing of Shane Victorino and were unsolicited by the media in attendance.
Amaro wondered aloud if the contracts given to Jason Bay and Matt Holliday would affect Werth's asking price. Recently, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com wrote that he isn't sure if the Phils could retain Werth for Bay-type money. Werth had his strongest offensive showing to date in 2009, hitting .268/.373./.506 with a career high 36 homers.
While his .879 OPS in '09 doesn't quite match Bay's walk year OPS of .921, Werth's solid defensive play (6.1 UZR/150) certainly trumps Bay's notoriously weak fielding (-11.2 UZR/150).
Bluntly, no, they can’t. But that’s nothing new. Blanton is getting $8.5MM in 2011, and would have likely earned that anyway — as would have any similarly situated FA SP. Victornio would have probably netted $5MM via arbitration. Once the Halladay extension came down, it was clear that Werth is as good as gone.
going to be a sad day. But it looks like he is gone. Save the money for Howard.
what is he werth?
Yes.
If by “Win Now” you mean the next 3-4 years then yes.
They will re-sign one of Howard or Werth.
It’s hard to believe they are going to let Werth go. He is their only right handed power bat, and Domonic Brown, the prospect who would replace him, is left handed.They backloaded Ibanez’s three year deal, as well as the 2 year contract Werth signed in 2009. The phillies have a lot of money coming off the books in 2012. If Werth comes out hitting again, I say they sign him something like 3 years 39 million with a salary of around 8 or 9 million for 2011. I have a hunch Werth is more likely to be a Phillie in 2012 than Howard is.
I agree. I think that Werth likes the Phillies enough to at least backload his contract so they can afford him.
Don’t ever agree with a Phillie fan
Ha! Well, it’s just common sense–not like I’m hoping it happens!
wow why are there so many mets fans on a Phillies article……….just wondering
Just because an article is about the Phillies doesn’t mean other fans can’t read/voice an opinion.
How dare any fan other than a Philly fan post on a Philly thread on this site. Your the same guy wanting to know why Cub fans are posting on the ‘Phillies To Sign Jose Contreras’ thread. Chill out. It’s a baseball rumor site.
Werth is worth at least twice that amount. Bay is older and can’t play an above average RF and he got 4/66 so I would expect Werth to push 6/100 easy.
I agree he is at least as good as Bay, and maybe that means the Phillies might have to give him a fourth or fifth year (which they don’t like to do.) But I don’t necessarily think he is going to demand an equal salary. He seems to really like Philadelphia, and the Phillies did resurrect his career. Also Bay got more than he was worth because there weren’t a lot of different making outfielders available. 13 million is nothing to sneeze at, especially for a guy who just became a full-time starter in the middle of 08.
Werth had a break out season last year with howard in the lineup, Bay has been a slugger since he got to the majors. Lets see what worth does this year. Does anyone think the phillies would give him 100 million dollar contract?
nothing is set yet, they have to do some small trades if they want room for him. i wouldnt be suprised on what might happen, trades or anything.
My prediction is he returns to the dodgers to replace manny after 2010.
I like this Prediction. He is RHed, so if Boston misses out on A-Gon, they can look at Werth.
I’d love to have him in LA.. but the only way that happens, IMO, is if McCourt isnt the owner. Otherwise, any money he has will go to signing Billz, Kemp, Ethier, Broxton, etc to long deals..
So, in a year, the Phillies will be werthless…
As a Pirate fan, that’s something to cheer me up!
ooh thats funny, atleast when we have a good player we dont go out and trade him for some cheap prospects and a worthless player like the bucs
ooh thats funny
Do me a favor and don’t be a Phillies fan. I’m guessing you never knew Curt Schilling at one time played here. He was dealt for, guess what, “some cheap prospects and a worthless player.” The economics of baseball are so screwed up right now
yea cuz he got old and started to lay eggs on the mound
Chill out it was a joke, you take stuff on here too personal!
You can afford Werth if you move Ibanez and the last year of his contract. Even if you eat 3-4 million of Ibanez, adding the 6-7 to the 7 Werth makes this year, might just be enough.
Yeah, I think that’s probably the only way they could keep Werth. I guess it will depend on the kind of year Ibanez has this season. He could be a nice DH option for an AL team. He’s proven he can hit AL pitching and he’s a good clubhouse guy.
Ibanez has a no trade clause.
where you gonna move him to? some fantasy world where they pay 11.5 million dollars for a 39 year old outfielder?
IMO, there is no way they retain Werth. The simple reason is where do you play Brown. I have heard he is MLB ready, or close to it, now, and if they feel that he is a top prospect, like they do, the Phils will give him a chance. They will have Brown replace Werth, with Victorino and Ibanez in the OF, barring any other prospect I am not aware of…
Werth’s fantastic, would love to keep him, but don’t see it happening for many of the reasons mentioned above.
Brown will replace him next year, with one of Gillies/Gose (if either are ready) replacing Ibanez after 2011.
I think comparing Werth to Holliday or even Bay is a little premature. I think Ryan Ludwick is more of a comparable, I don’t have much faith Werth will duplicate his success from ’09 and I don’t believe for a second he would do that well in any other lineup where he gets strikes in Philly due to the hitters he hits behind. If he wants a 6/100 contract like someone suggested I would be happy to let him go if I were RAJ. Werth isn’t worth more than 13mil a year imo at this point in time. I think anyone paying over 4/50 or 5/60 is going to seriously regret it.
Ibanez doesn’t have a no trade clause
Yes he does. Check Cot’s.
The Phillies are in an interesting spot. Their young talent is maturing and now starting to really cost them. Wouldn’t surprise me one bit if they have to move one or two more expensive pieces to get younger/cheaper talent. Just look around the diamond – every player is making serious money now.
Yep, exactly why it’s doubtful they brig back Werth.
I thought they had a chance to keep one of Werth or Victorino, with Vic being the obviously much cheaper option.
Hate to see him go just for prospects (a decent season should get him Type A), but everyone can’t be the Yanks. Hopefully they can send him off with another WS ring.
I understand because he’s cheaper, but I don’t like because of the Polanco deal. I guess having Shane means the Braves wont cause them any trouble. Worst thing ever to happen was when Ryan Howard learned how to play the field last off-season.
He just had a career year at age 30 and slugged under 500 on the road. If you’re the Phillies, you let him walk, you take the draft picks, and you high-five yourselves for getting his best years on the cheap while someone else vastly overpays him for his decline.
Werth is great but the hype is way too big.
Werth did not suddenly figure out how to play baseball at the age of 28. He won a starting job with the Dodgers in 2005. He was hit by a pitch in spring training 2006 which lingered the entire year resulting in the Dodgers cutting him. He was out of baseball in 2006 because of his injury and was not properly diagnosed until he took himself to the Mayo Clinic. He took him a little over a season to win a starting job with the Phillies after he was signed prior to the 2007 season. And, as they say, the rest his history. Any team able to sign Werth for less than what Bay is receiving from the Mets would be getting a real steal.
werth may lower his demands, because he really likes Philly idk how low he will go but ya never know………….and if ibanez does have a no trade clause, and he starts stinking like the second half of the season, trade clause wont matter