The Phillies added one $100MM player this offseason in Cliff Lee, but they lost another in Jayson Werth. The former Phillies outfielder told Paul Hagen of The Philadephia Daily News that he believes the team could have had both he and Lee if they'd planned things out better…
"I think if they would have played it right they would have had us both," said Werth. "I mean, they traded Cliff away for prospects and then realized that was probably not what they should have done. They ended up paying him a lot more than they would have if they'd signed him the year before. Then we would have had him. Chances are if they had signed him before they traded him, it probably would have made it a little easier to sign me."
Werth said that there are no hard feelings and he understands that the game is a business. Once he learned of Philadelphia's interest in Lee, he concluded that he wasn't coming back. "[It] kind of made it seem like they were playing us against each other a little bit," he added.
The 31-year-old Werth signed with the Nationals about ten days before the Phillies brought Lee back.
Move on.
Sincerely,
A Braves Fan.
Sending the wrong message to your NEW team. Stop focusing on the past(phillies) focus are the team your on and help them win.
Shortly after he signed with the Nationals, Werth realized that his best days are behind him, back there with the ’07-’10 Phillies.
Those Phillies were easily the best team in baseball over the past four seasons: Four straight NL East titles, three straight NLCS appearances, two World Series appearances, one World Series win.
Now he’s playing for a team that will be lucky to win 70 games. And that teams’ future depends on a pitcher recovering from Tommy John surgery and a prospect who hasn’t even played a professional game yet.
If you were Werth, you’d probably be wishing you could use that $126MM to build a time machine as well.
what the hell is this man talking about? played them against each other? Werth jumped at the first mega deal he saw, months before the Phillies were even interested in Lee. They just didn’t want to pay you buddy, sorry. You’re a glorified 4th outfielder with 2 good years under your belt and a lot of luck. Have fun for the next 7 years…
Maybe you should learn to read a little better – “The 31-year-old Werth signed with the Nationals about ten days before the Phillies brought Lee back.”
Ten days is not “months” – It’s ten days. Obviously Werth knew they were going after Lee by then. Shut up.
actually, Ruben Amaro has said that the reality of getting Lee hit only about four days before they signed him. It’s still not months, but I doubt that Amaro would have called up Werth — a free agent — and said “Hey, I’m going to swoop in to get Lee in a few days.”
that would have been pretty badass if he had, though
Werth is a little shortsighted here. If the Phillies didn’t trade Lee, they wouldn’t have gotten Halliday. They might not have gotten Oswalt. Would you rather have Holliday, Lee, and Oswalt, or Lee and Werth?
I think young Dominic Brown and others can at least cover close to Werth’s production and the other guys in the lineup can surely pick up the slack. Not to mention the runs saved with the pitching trio above.
HALLADAY
um… Werth’s not a 100 M dollar player. At least, he shouldn’t be.
I doubt he would have put up the numbers he has over the past few years if he didn’t play his home games in Citizens Bank Park.
You do realize Werth’s last home run with the Phillies was an opposite way homerun in AT&T’s right field? As a team in 2009 they hit more hr’s on the road than at home.
I looked up his splits and it’s weird — last year he was WAY better at home. struck out a ton more on the road. had a .999 OPS at home vs. .838 on the road.
In 2009 he still had more power at home, but otherwise had decent road numbers. is OPS+ was nearly identical for road/home. (His BABIP at home was below average, so that may explain something).
In 2008, he was better on the road, including in power numbers. but his OPS at home was simply lower than in 09 & 10 — it’s not like he ever lights it up on the road.
I suspect he made adjustments to hitting at CBP to take advantage. Wonder how long it will take for him to adjust to DC.
CBP was actually pretty much middle of the pack last year as far as overall park factors are concerned (16th). 12th in 2009. 15th in 2008.
While it looks like it should be a hitters park, it really doesn’t play that way.
For what stat(s) are those?
ESPN Park Factors which compares overall runs by the home team and away team versus their stats on the road. I replied with some more detail earlier but I included the link so I guess it has to be approved. Long story short, based on that ranking, CBP is middle of the pack in runs and a bit above average in HR’s. Not commenting on the validiaty of the formula as a good gauge or not. But thats what ESPN uses at least.
What’d you do Jayson, steal copies of their bank records? They clearly weren’t willing to overpay for a guy with 2 good years out of 8. Focus on willing this season and the 6 thereafter with Washington, be proud to do so, and move on.
Na they rather spend more on a player who has 3 good years out of 9 and whose skills and ability will deplete faster.
If you’re a baseball player and you have an interest in remaining with your team and taking loyality & integrity over a bank heist pay day on a horrible team…….why the hell would you choose Scott Boras as your agent??!!?? Jayson has his ring and couldn’t care less about anything that isn’t green. Its called saving face and Werth just did the lamest attempt at it.
And the Phillies were never going to give a late bloomer silly money like Werth got from the Nats in the first place. Be happy Jayson, the Nats will be competitive in a couples of seasons and your contract will be the anchor that drags them back from adding some needed pieces to get into playoff contention.
I’d say Cliff Lee was a relatively late bloomer as well
but could they have kept werth, lee and halladay? that’s the big question. you can only have so many players making 20mil+ a year on one team…
he’s delusional.
Jayson Werth, just shut up.
Seconded. The guy seems to have buyer’s remorse and is clearly annoyed that he is no longer in red pinstripes. Phillies and Werth made their decisions. Time to move on.
I seem to remember a question being asked about giving the Phillies a “hometown discount” and the answer being “I’m from Illinois.” Enjoy D.C.
Nats fans must be thrilled that their club paid all this money out to a guy that wishes he was still on his old team…3 days into Spring Training.
Werth was a nice player for the Phils. Excellent defender and good protection for Howard. But he’s not worth nearly what the Nats are paying him, because imo, he’s not a guy that’s going to carry an offense for long stretches.
He’s a good supporting actor…just not “The Man”.
They could have. All he had to do was turn down six years and about $113 million and accept arbitration.
Of course, I’m kidding. But I said it yesterday and I’ll say it again—Jayson Werth is going to talk himself right out of being a fan favorite here in Philly. He’s being paid to be a mentor on a young team, and all he’s doing is running his mouth and setting a bad example. Nyger Morgan 2.0.
Apparently $126M doesn’t buy you loyalty or any sort of tact with the media.
Werth’s exposing himself as a big wiener.
Not sure splitting hairs over the decisions of your former team is really Werth it. And….I just punched myself for typing that. But it’s true.
I wonder if Werth saw the cartoon you tube video and just got really mad… He obviously is still bitter see you in April Jayson!
a little bit of wishful thinking, werth needs to focus on hitting doc and the 1-2-3 inning boys.
Actually I think Werth may not be that far off. If Philly had offered Raul Ibanez, Joe Blanton, and Dominic Brown in a trade for a low-cost LF or reliever, they could have afforded Werth if they really wanted to. But why add ANOTHER 20MM dollar player longterm when you can have 2 players making 20MM combined short term and one that can match Werth’s production making league minimum for 3 years? If he were the face of the franchise, perhaps. But he’s only the face of the Geico commercials.
Could have had Werth and Lee or Lee, Oswalt and Halladay. Ill take the aces.
Hate to tell ya this Mr. Werth, but the Phillies didn’t want you back. Dominique Brown has much more upside and he can hit right handed pitching. They were willing to keep you only if you accepted his salary.
Domonic Brown has a sister named Dominique? And she can hit too?!?
Come on Ruben. Get her signed.
He’s actually pronouncing his name correctly. Just spelling it wrong. His name is “Domonic” Brown, but is pronounced “Domonique.” I know, I was stunned when I found out too.
So…. I think the Phillies would prefer Halladay and Lee to Werth, Lee and the prospects but 0 Halladays. And the lack of Lee might’ve necessitated the Oswalt move…. so Lee, Halladay, Oswalt… no need for Werth.
And didn’t he just come out yesterday and say it was his responsibility to his fellow players to break the bank? Phillies just simple wouldn’t match the Nationals spend…itude.
Werth is a product of citizens bank ballpark. He is a mediocre ballplayer who played on a good team last year. Have fun with this Nats: an Aaron Rowand-type outfielder with a Barry Zito-esque contract…YIKES! good bullet dodging there Brian Sabean.
I find this hilarious. Werth can’t help, but comment about the Phillies no stop because he knows he will be on a losing team for the remainder of his career and the Phillies will be competing for World Series Rings the next few years. And what does he mean when he found out the Phillies were interested in Lee. No one knew the Phillies were interested in Lee except Rueben. I mean no one the Phillies roster knew before the deal was done except Halladay because they talked to him about it.
Also if the Lee deal was never made, we would not have Roy Oswalt on the roster because they would not have felt inclined to go get another arm this past season.
If he really wanted to go back to Philly, and wasn’t trying to break the bank on a new deal, he wouldn’t have hired Scott Boras, as his agent.