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Werth Thinks Phillies Could Have Had Him & Lee

By Mike Axisa | February 23, 2011 at 10:51am CDT

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.

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79 Comments

  1. Kris Noble

    14 years ago

    Move on.

    Sincerely,

    A Braves Fan.

    Reply
    • They call me Murphy

      14 years ago

      Fans of irrelevant teams shouldn’t be making comments

      Sincerely,

      A Yankees fan

      Reply
      • Green_Monster

        14 years ago

        Fans of teams with dented starting rotations shouldn’t be making comments

        Sincerely,

        Brian Cashman

        Reply
        • LowcountryJoe

          14 years ago

          What do you mean by a “dented rotation”? Honestly, the Yankees have one of the better rotations in baseball!

          Respectfully,

          A.J. Burnett: #2 Starting Pitcher, New York Yankees.

          Reply
          • Green_Monster

            14 years ago

            Nicely played.

            Reply
        • MB923

          14 years ago

          Pwned

          Reply
        • East Coast Bias

          14 years ago

          Actually, anyone can make a comment.

          Sincerely,

          Freedom of Speech

          Reply
          • Green_Monster

            14 years ago

            Ok? Good for you.

            Reply
            • East Coast Bias

              14 years ago

              Ok. Thanks?

              Reply
      • bofarr

        14 years ago

        Fans of irrelevant teams that will be fighting it out with the Blue Jays for 3rd in the AL East shouldn’t be making comments
        Sincerely,
        The Sawx and Rays

        Reply
        • roomwithamoose

          14 years ago

          how do you know, can you see the future? Can people understand this is, plus/ minus a couple players,same team that went to the playoffs last year right? and a comment saying well if Red SOx weren’t injured, then fine, but that’s something someone from your top 2 could be saying at end of season as well. And irrelevant? If a loss to the blue jays knocks you out of contention I’ll laugh because that’s pretty relevant.

          Now, onto actual topic, this does seem like some sour grapes by Werth. You’re aNat focus on winning with them now.

          Reply
        • MB923

          14 years ago

          What makes the Rays better than the Yankees, aside from the rotation? And since when do the best rotations automatically make the playoffs and average rotations automatically miss the playoffs? Twins had a better rotation than the Yankees and got swept. Cardinals had a much better rotation than the Reds and missed the playoffs. A’s had a much better rotation than the Rangers and missed the playoffs. Phillies had the best rotation in the playoffs and didn’t even make it past the 2nd round.

          The Yankees have not had a top 10 or so rotation since 2003. They’ve made the playoffs every year since then except 2008.

          As I said, a good bullpen and good offense saves a shaky rotation. And possibly if lucky enough, could even win you a WS (See 2000 Yankees and 2006 Cardinals, arguably 2 of the worst teams to win a WS)

          Reply
          • Ryan William

            14 years ago

            Yankees rotations in previous years have been decent. This year it is down right bad after Sabathia.

            Reply
            • MB923

              14 years ago

              Hughes is FAR from “down right bad”. The key thing the Yankees need is AJ Burnett to bounce back. I certainly can’t expect him to do any Worse than he did last year.

              And you couldn’t be any more wrong about the Yankees having decent rotations in recent years

              2004- Mussina, Lieber, Brown, Vazquez (101 wins)

              2005- Mussina (below average), Randy Johnson (average), Kevin Brown (awful), Carl Pavano (awful), Jaret Wright (HAHA), Chieng-Ming Wang (rookie)

              2007- Wang (he did decent), Pettitte (did okay), Mussina (AWFUL), RODJA CLEMMONS (half year, decent), Hughes (rookie), Key Igawa (DO NOT get me started)

              Reply
              • Ryan William

                14 years ago

                Put Hughes on a team other than the Yankees and he has maybe 10 wins last season. And I don’t think the Rays Rotation is great either. Both Sox teams have better rotations, Tigers, A’s, Rangers, and Angels have better rotations for sure and maybe even the Blue Jays all have better Rotations than the Yankees and Tampa in the AL. And I would say the NL probably has the top 3-4 rotations in the league with the Phillies, Giants, Cardinals(iffy now with Wainwright) and the Braves.

                Reply
                • MB923

                  14 years ago

                  WOW. You really think I was going based solely on his win totals? The kid is 24 years old and you’re already calling a young pitcher garbage? I’m not saying he’s great or anything, but he is far from garbage.

                  Reply
            • MB923

              14 years ago

              Plus I can also say that the Rays rotation is nothing more than average after Price. Shields is terrible. Niemean is average, Davis going into his 2nd full year is decent. Hellickson is a rookie although I think he’s going to do good but lets wait and see

              Is it better than the Yankees? Of course. But I’d take other AL rotations over the A’s, including the Athletics (best in the AL), Red Sox (if healthy), and White Sox.

              Reply
        • MB923

          14 years ago

          By the way I’m not defending Murphy’s comment, I think he’s stupid for saying that. I’m just simply asking why you think the Rays will finish ahead of the Yankees.

          Reply
          • bofarr

            14 years ago

            Umm, cause they have much better SP and one of the best young lineups in baseball?

            Reply
            • MB923

              14 years ago

              Okay. Well I think the Yankees will still finish at least 5-6 games better than the Rays. Red Sox take the divisoin. But hey this is baseball and we know anything can happen, so let’s wait and see I suppose.

              Reply
      • Motor_City_Bombshell

        14 years ago

        How contradictory is this comment? You say an irrelevant teams’ fan shouldn’t make comments, and yet you do. Way to be dumb.

        Sincerely,

        Me.

        Reply
        • East Coast Bias

          14 years ago

          Riiiiiight, since he made a dumb comment by saying the Braves are irrelevant, you’re going to make an even dumber comment by saying the Yankees are irrelevant? C’mon man…

          Reply
          • Motor_City_Bombshell

            14 years ago

            Irrelevant to this post was what I was implying. I’m not stupid.

            Reply
      • putitontheboard

        14 years ago

        irrelevant? what are you smoking?

        Reply
  2. Kevin Chambers

    14 years ago

    Sending the wrong message to your NEW team. Stop focusing on the past(phillies) focus are the team your on and help them win.

    Reply
    • not_brooks

      14 years ago

      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.

      Reply
  3. bleachercreature

    14 years ago

    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…

    Reply
    • They call me Murphy

      14 years ago

      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.

      Reply
      • ejr

        14 years ago

        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.”

        Reply
        • notsureifsrs

          14 years ago

          that would have been pretty badass if he had, though

          Reply
  4. Jonny Dollar

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply
    • grownice

      14 years ago

      HALLADAY

      Reply
  5. FrankTheFunkasaurusRex

    14 years ago

    um… Werth’s not a 100 M dollar player. At least, he shouldn’t be.

    Reply
    • Chris H

      14 years ago

      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.

      Reply
      • Patricio

        14 years ago

        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.

        Reply
      • ejr

        14 years ago

        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.

        Reply
      • Bender44

        14 years ago

        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.

        Reply
        • MB923

          14 years ago

          For what stat(s) are those?

          Reply
          • Bender44

            14 years ago

            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.

            Reply
  6. WhenMattStairsIsKing

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply
    • JTT11

      14 years ago

      Na they rather spend more on a player who has 3 good years out of 9 and whose skills and ability will deplete faster.

      Reply
  7. Patricio

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply
  8. bofarr

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply
    • Hoosierdaddy92

      14 years ago

      I’d say Cliff Lee was a relatively late bloomer as well

      Reply
  9. phoenix2042

    14 years ago

    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…

    Reply
  10. Dwan

    14 years ago

    he’s delusional.

    Reply
  11. Tony Hui

    14 years ago

    Jayson Werth, just shut up.

    Reply
    • jasonk

      14 years ago

      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.

      Reply
  12. Average_Joseph

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply
  13. PairFace

    14 years ago

    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”.

    Reply
  14. myname_989

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply
  15. o971

    14 years ago

    Apparently $126M doesn’t buy you loyalty or any sort of tact with the media.

    Reply
  16. JohnKruksWaistline

    14 years ago

    Werth’s exposing himself as a big wiener.

    Reply
  17. David C. Ruckman

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply
  18. phillyphan26

    14 years ago

    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!

    Reply
  19. genius.gm.on.mlb.the.show

    14 years ago

    a little bit of wishful thinking, werth needs to focus on hitting doc and the 1-2-3 inning boys.

    Reply
  20. Hoosierdaddy92

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply
  21. piro18

    14 years ago

    Could have had Werth and Lee or Lee, Oswalt and Halladay. Ill take the aces.

    Reply
  22. Adam

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply
    • Bender44

      14 years ago

      Domonic Brown has a sister named Dominique? And she can hit too?!?

      Come on Ruben. Get her signed.

      Reply
      • myname_989

        14 years ago

        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.

        Reply
  23. Bonesaw McGraw 2

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply
  24. Lincecum

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply
  25. Ryan William

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply
  26. Ryan William

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply
  27. Bryan Ross

    14 years ago

    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.

    Reply

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