2010 MLB Season Discussion

[Cephius]

5/125 for Howard. That's a lot of cash. Philly's payroll be risin

[Akiyama]

IMO, he'd (Werth) need to go to a team with an already established lineup (like the Yankees, Phillies) so it'd probably be one of those two I'm sure. I don't think he'd be able to support a line-up batting from cleanup or anything like that. He's good.. but I really do think the line-up helps him out immensely. Thoughts?

[*Shinzon*]

I haven't heard anything that suggests that the Yankees are interested in anyone, people just like to naturally assume that if a player is a FA-to-be, and the Yankees have an opening, it's an automatic that the Yankees are interested. Not always the case Especially if Gardner extrapolates his current numbers, he's on pace to steal about 90 bases and score over 100 runs. If they get that from him there's no need to sign a LF with the rest of the team they have. I'd rather see them pursue another pitcher, since Vazquez is going to be gone after this year.

There are members of Yankee management that are close personal friends with family members of Werth. I can't remember where I heard or read it, but there were articles suggesting that the MLB was going to take a look and make sure the yankees weren't influencing Werth before his contract was over to accept the Yankees offer.

[Cephius]

I dunno... I don't think he's a Melky (sorry) who hits 300 with the Yankees and 150 with the Braves. He has great pitch recognition, I've seen him pull a Manny and hit curveballs off his cleats and dump them 10 rows deep. Last year his Ks were up but so were his walks, he had a pretty good OBP for a power hitter. You could argue that the park helps him, but he did hit 15 homers on the road and his average/OBP were actually slightly higher. I think he'd do fine pretty much anywhere.

[Cephius]

There are members of Yankee management that are close personal friends with family members of Werth. I can't remember where I heard or read it, but there were articles suggesting that the MLB was going to take a look and make sure the yankees weren't influencing Werth before his contract was over to accept the Yankees offer.

I haven't heard anything like that, do you have any links? I know his stepfather played on the Yankees but other than that nothing.

[*Shinzon*]

Might have been an ESPN or SI article, I'll take a look and see. On Werth though, he's an above average defensive fielder with good pop and an above average, but not jeff francouer arm. He'll fetch a good salary should be become a FA.

[*Shinzon*]

Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard signed a five-year, $125MM extension

I'm sorry but there's no way Ryan Howard is worth 23m a year with the kind of defense he offers and the risk that he is pure power hitter. There's just no way this qualifies as a good move for the phils. The first time he gets hurt this contract is gonna kill them.

[Cephius]

His defense is actually much improved, I guess he worked on it a lot because his range is a lot better and he is receiving a lot better. And yeah he could get hurt... but so could anyone.

[Cephius]

Also Werth cannot be a Yankee because they'd make him shave his beard/goatee and I doubt that would fly with him!

[*Shinzon*]

It's not that it's not improved but he's no Mark Teixiera and no Adrian Gonzalez who are both gold glove caliber players on top of excellent and dangerous hitters. The reason they can get the kind of salaries they get is because they aren't just hitters, but have excellent range at first. He's also older than both players, Howard. Howard has become a much more reliable player and fielder but you just can group with a guy like Gonz which is what this contract extension essentially does.

While Howard is a really good player, he's not on the same level as Gonz defensively, and the padres are also now fucked because this is only going to further Adrian Gonzalez asking for the same money as Mark.

[Cephius]

Nah, you know who it really fucks? The Cards. Pujols is gonna want 40m a year, he's twice the player Howard is lol

[*Shinzon*]

I still believe the Cards wont be capable of resigning Pujols. If they do they essentially cripple themselves and will have nothing but 2nd rate pitching and the rest of their lineup will be crap for as long as those players are on the team. I really don't know what they were thinking.

[Bozo]

Howard is playing as good defense at 1st as anyone lately. Just check out highlights from the past week or two.

Wouldn't be surprised if Werth stays too. Most "experts" said Howard would be a FA too.

[Akiyama]

Lol at saying he's playing good defense and to back the claim, you say check the highlights >.>

Anyway, he is playing some awesome defense, no doubt.

[*Shinzon*]

Ryan Howard despite being 30 years old proved last year that and part of this year that he was capable of improving his defense and show that he has the potential to become a complete player. The problem with this contract is that it assumes he will continue to improve and not become complacent now that he has his money. The Phils had him under full team control for another 2 years. 2 years that they could use to evaluate his true worth.

In terms of timing it's really a terrible decision when you look at the contract. It'll be very interesting to see what happens over the course of the year. As mentioned above though, this really screws the Cards and Padres so hard because they are going to have difficulty explaining how they can't justify giving their first basemen what they want. As far as Werth goes, I think he becomes a FA and at least entertains a Yankee offer considering his family ties with the organization.

[Trichocyst]

I like the Ryan Howard risk. He's on a historic pace offensively and I want to see him have a shot to continue it in a Phillies uniform. Nobody knows more about his limitations than Phillies fans. There are a lot of times watching him when you wonder how this guy ever won an MVP award. Then suddenly he's hit another 40 HR and 130 RBI in a season. The fact that he's been mindful for upgrading his defense is a bonus. I'm into it.

[Soa]

Part of me wishes they would have waited till Pujols signed first so they could have signed him cheaper, but the other part is happy he's locked up now for what he probably would have gotten anyway.

The 1B market after 2011 is gonna be heavy on talent (Pujols, Howard, Prince, etc) so we might have been able to get him cheaper. Its just an odd situation since the top guy usually signs first, which he will in the offseason, then everyone else falls in place. On the other hand the Phillies tend to jump the gun on the market so I guess its not much of a shock.

[Akiyama]

HE SURE AIN'T NO TROY GLAUS!

(Please someone make Glaus retire or take some more PEDs or something..)

[Alderaan]

(Please someone make Glaus retire or take some more PEDs or something..)

On it.

[Gregorio]

Werth is the man, I'd love for the Phillies to hold onto him for a long time. Aside from the obvious bonuses like being great in the outfield and puts up pretty damn good numbers, it seems like he almost always works a pitcher for 5+ pitches. Even if he strikes out a few times at least there's the bonus of upping a pitchers pitch count.