The Phillies have officially signed Shane Victorino to a three-year, $22MM deal. The contract, which buys out Victorino's two remaining arbitration years and one free agent year, will keep Victorino in Philly through 2012. Craig Calcaterra of Circling The Bases first reported the agreement.
Victorino earned $3.125MM in 2009, when he hit .292/.358/.445 with 10 HRs. In the field, the Flyin' Hawaiian posted a slightly below average UZR/150 of -4.2. Calcaterra writes that if Joe Blanton's deal is any indication, Victorino's contract will likely be backloaded.
With Victorino back in the fold, catcher Carlos Ruiz is the only remaining arbitration-eligible Phillie. However, Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com writes that GM Ruben Amaro expressed optimism that a multi-year deal could be reached with him as well. Assistant GM Scott Proefrock believes that the team will come to an agreement on a one-year or multi-year deal with Ruiz within the week.
Solid signing.
good defensive player, hits for a nice average, got some speed. Pretty solid ballplayer, cant go wrong with this.
He was actually below average defensively in center last year.
Right, but for his career his numbers are positive in center (and right). His UZR from one year isn’t the final story on his defense.
Correct. It’s always something to note, however.
He was shown as extremely good for the 100+ games he played in RF, though. Something to keep in the back of Ruben’s mind if they let Werth walk after next year and it’s easier to find a CF instead of another RF.
Well I imagine the Phillies 2011 outfield really all hinges on Brown’s development. Werth is gone, which is going to be a huge hole to fill. Ibanez is only getting older. I could be wrong, but I thought Brown projected more as a corner outfielder. If not, it’s him or Victorino in center for 2011, and then after Ibanez is done, Brown will slide over to left, Victorino to right, and maybe a FA center fielder? Who knows now though.
Good point about Victorino being solid in right–at least they won’t take a hit defensively if Werth leaves and Victorino is shifted over.
Below average in CF? LOL– Since when does below average win 2 consecutive Gpld Gloves or make 2 consecutive all star teams.
LOL at you thinking GGs or All Star appearances mean anything
As Wolfbane said-GGs are not indicative of a player’s ability to play defense. I am a diehard Yankee fan, and I will tell you that Derek Jeter needs to give back all of his Gold Gloves, except for the one he won this year.
haha, remember Andruw Jones has 10
I would firstly say that with the sensitivity of 1-year UZR, +/- 4 is really more like “average.” I would be hard pressed to say for sure he had a below average CF season based upon that value. Secondly, considering having to shade over to help out Ibanez it seems like he had an average level CF year to me.
Eh, he was teetering between average and below average-but I didn’t think about that. Sadly UZR can’t take those things into account.
I’d just like to be clear that I’m not implying he is a bad defender. Just that, statistically, he wasn’t loved last year.
If you honestly think that Victorino was below average in center you are a bigger douche than the Situation. Enough with the B.S. plus minus UZR douchebaggery. You sound like a bunch of retarded wannabe Bill James.
The guy gets to every ball and has a cannon for a right arm. If you have eyes and actually watch the game yourself instead of reading some manufactured stats sheet you can see this.
The game is played on the field not in the box score or the pages of your fairytale baseball almanacs.
Its honestly hilarious to read all the comments where you guys sound like you are in a laboratory analyzing scientific data.
Even the Mets fan commented and I quote, “Which is why I don’t put so much stock into UZR because anyone can tell Victorino is well above average defensively.”
Wow. Calm down there, buddy. Being an italian, I take quite a bit of offense to be compared to another italian that can’t figure his way out of a straight hallway with a door at the end and a giant sign saying “THIS IS THE WAY OUT.”
I simply said that, last year, he was not that great in Center. The proper point was made, though, that this could easily be attributed for having to pick up some of the slack for Ibanez, thus killing his range to the right.
You, sir, need to think and read before you speak.
Where will he bat this year, behind Werth?
Most likely, but I’d honestly like to see him lead off. Rollins hits for more power and would be a solid hitter out of the 7 hole. I can’t see Vic being as productive or beneficial down there.
I’m guessing the lineup will look something like this…
1. Rollins
2. Polanco
3. Utley
4. Howard
5. Werth
6. Ibanez?
7. Victorino?
8. Ruiz
9. Pitcher
So either 6th or 7th in my opinion.
Rollins and his OBP need to move to the bottom of the line up.
Not a single phillies fan will disagree with that. We have all been saying it for years.
Good stuff!
Manuel said its going to be 1.Rollins 2. Polanco 3. Utley 4. Howard 5. Werth 6. Ibanez 7. Victorino 8. Ruiz
Yeah that’s what the lineup is probably going to be for the majority of the year. That’s one heck of a lineup…
Good Signing…pretty much signals the end of Werth in Philly after 2010 though.
I thought it was when he wanted “Bay” money next year. Have you seen the players in the FA market? He’d be a great pick-up for many teams, but he isn’t worth Bay money. At least he can play the field. Phils could’ve used his RHed bat.
Was Bay worth “Bay money”? Because I Werth is more valuable than Bay when you factor in defense.
Not my point. Bay got a lot for being one-of-a-kind on the FA market. Werth will go out being the opposite, one-in-a-million. If he wants “Bay money” he will have to be far better than Bay, not just better. Werth does deserve a lot. Great player.
I don’t quite see this because when I look at the FA market next year for out fielders, the only name other than Werth’s that really stands out is Carl Crawford’s. I think he’ll get a huge payday, especially if he puts up big numbers again this year. But who knows, we’ll see.
Assume he bats 2nd again with Rollins still leading off.
What about Polanco? I thought he was a great 2-hole hitter.
Right, right…yeah, he’ll bat 6th clearly. Brainfart on my part.
What’s with Phillie Fans trying to get Rid of Werth? If anything Ibanez is the odd man out next year k.
Werth hits FA and wants money Phils don’t have to give him.
I’m not so sure that Werth actually suggested that, because I heard one of the analyst on MLB Network say that that was what he though Werth was… worth. So who knows, he may be back, but how much longer do we want to keep Domonic Brown down on the farm? Haha.
a part of me hopes that Ibanez has some trade value at the end of the year to deal him and re-sign werth, but realistically that’s not going to happen.
believe me all Phillies fans dont want werth goin anywhere ibanez im fine with cuz we got dom brown
Can not believe he’s getting less than Blanton. I see Victorino being worth far more for the duration of his contract. Good signing.
It’s not really all that much of a difference. I’m not too surprised, as it’s becoming a bit more normal for teams to value pitching a bit more now.
Victorino is buying out 2 arb years and 1 free agent Blanton is buying out 1 arb year and 2 free agent. That is why he is making less.
Very true Utley4God
Exactly.
Both are good fair deals for both sides.
Great signing Victorino is very valuable to the Phillies and possibly is the heart of the team next to Utley. Werth probably will be looking for a contract similair to bay and the Phillies can’t touch that with the contracts that they’ll be facing. Nice move locking up Victorino though for 3 years.
Dominic Brown does look to be Werths replacement and has been compared to coc crisp with more pop by some scouts.
I really hope domonic brown ends up being much better than coco crisp + pop after the hype he has received (only true untouchable for roy halladay).
Really? Name someone credible who’s made the Crisp comp.
Victorino is not a lead off hitter. He’s as much of a free swinger as Rollins is. During the ’08 playoffs Victorino batted 6th. We all know how that turned out, Phillies won the world series and Victorino had a club record of 13 RBI’s in the post season.
Going by stats alone, Victorino is more of a leadoff hitter than Rollins. Victorino’s OBPs as in his 4 seasons starting are all higher than all but one of Rollins’ season OBP in his career. Victorino’s OBP has improved every year since he’s started (from .346 to .359 last year). Rollins only has 3 out of 9 years above .340 and none above .349. Victorino hits for a better average. Rollins has more power. Victorino is also faster. Victorino strikes out a bit more often than Rollins, but overall, while still not a perfect leadoff guy, all indications say he’s better than Rollins, and that’s not even considering that Rollins is coming off the second worst year of his career. Wouldn’t you rather see Jimmy’s first swing fly balls lead to sac flys instead of leadoff outs?
Phillies batting order should be:
RHP
Victorino
Polanco
Utley
Howard
Ibanez
Werth
Rollins
Ruiz
LHP
Victorino
Polanco
Utley
Werth
Ibanez
Howard
Rollins
Ruiz
Ideally, Howard and Werth need to share the clean up spot by LHP and RHP starter. Howard’s OPS is the worst of the 8 starters against LHP. I don’t know how this can be ignored. Werth still mashes against RHP, but his consistency falls way off. I know baseball is old school, especially how Chuck manages, but a tweak here and there for match ups and the Phillies could have much more success with mid-game rallies as they’d be playing towards each players’ strengths instead of seeing Howard and Werth strike out constantly against LHP and RHP respectively.
to whoever said they are hoping ibanez might have trade value, thats not very realistic. i like the victorino signing and I think he will bat 7th. hopefully we work out a way for brown taking ibanez’s spot and then letting brown step up for 2011 tho. brown, victorino, werth in the same outfield? NASTY. now i just wanna see one more reliever signed tho this off season, sheets preferably and then the 5th starter we can work with in the beginning of the season and see who fits best…itd be nice to see Kendrick succeed at it and stay consistent
in order to keep werth, ibanez and his 11 mm would have to go. That was my point, I doubt it too, not hoping for prospects just someone to take the salary, long shot, but just hoping. Also you said you want one more relieve preferably sheets. Am I missing something? If we signed him it’d be as a starter and he’d be too expensive even for that. Think more like John Smoltz.
I love Vic and his enthusiasm. Glad to see him locked up.
Centerfielders look better than they are in that ballpark (see: Rowand, Aaron), and Victorino always looks better than he is because he has to run so hard to cover ground. He’s a good player overall, but he’s no better than average-ish defensively in center, he’s not getting any younger, and that bat isn’t worth that money in a corner.
Victarion and Blanton contracts are backloaded. Can’t imagine the Phillies are planning on having the revenue go up much more than it is now given their recent success. My guess is that they’re planning on payroll going down in the future instead, or at least not rising. That likely means Jimmy Rollins isn’t coming back. Rollins, for as good as he is, hasn’t really hit well since his MVP year. Hard to say he’s overrated but at this point he’s probably not going to be worth what he wants. Phillies are going to have to make sacrifices somewhere unless they plan to continue raising payroll indefinitely.
Wish we had him in Atlanta
this is good to see, victorino one of the best in our lineup locked up for the next couple of years and a championship or two