2k12 Offseason: Philadelphia Phillies

[Erik]

Burning questions for 2012:

1. Will Jimmy Rollins be re-signed? If so, for how much and how long? If not, who replaces him?
2. Will Ryan Madson be re-signed? If not, who will close?
3. Who will play left field?
4. How much time do you expect Ryan Howard to miss? Who plays 1B when he is out? To what extent can they fill the power void?
5. Will Cole Hamels get an extension? If so, how much is warranted?
6. What will be done about third base? Polanco is breaking down and may not play every day next year.

[heyelander]

1) I hope so. 4 years 36-40M. Else they get O. Cabrera or Furcal or something for 1-2 years and pray Galvis' '11 season wasn't a mirage.
2) I hope not, but only because of Q1. Free agent VeteranCloser(TM) closes for a year or part of it and hopefully Bastardo/Aumont/DeFratus/Schwimmer/someone takes over.
3) Mayberry, Veteran Free agent. I wouldn't be surprised to see Ibanez back in a smaller/cheaper roll
4) 1 month. Mayberry plays 1st or Utley plays first, polanco plays 2nd and new third baseman plays 3rd.
5) Yes. I'd think they would like 4 years 80M, but might have to go 5 years - 100m
6) Polanco had a decent WAR when his defense was factored in. David Wright's name keeps popping up though.

[Erik]

The Wigginton acquisition means they are done pursuing Cuddyer, who wants $10 mil a year. Wigginton will play the same role for $4 million, and could walk after 2012 ($4 million club option/$500K buyout for 2013).

Presumably the savings will go toward SS.

[Moonlight J]

I hate this Wigginton signing. Brutal defender and he stopped raking lefties in 2008

[Erik]

a) It's a trade, not a signing. And the Rockies are paying half his salary.

b) Cuddyer would have been a bigger waste of money at his asking price.

[Moonlight J]

You're still talking about $2.5M (Phillies half plus the buyout) for a guy that has produced $1.5M total over the last 3 seasons. He is Raul Ibanez defensively on the infield bad as well

[Erik]

I'd be more worried if he was going to play every day, like Ibanez did.

[Erik]

You're still talking about $2.5M (Phillies half plus the buyout)

Rockies would pay half the buyout as well. So that's $2.25 million, which is pocket change for this franchise.

[Hornsby]

The Wigginton acquisition means they are done pursuing Cuddyer, who wants $10 mil a year. Wigginton will play the same role for $4 million, and could walk after 2012 ($4 million club option/$500K buyout for 2013).

Presumably the savings will go toward SS.

Cuddyer is a much better player than Wiggy is...as Jason pointed out, Wiggy is a brutal defender, and not that much of a bat anymore. Although I can see not wanting to pay Cuddy 10 million a year either...

I think that they could have found someone to be a utility for a lot less, but WTH, it's no my money.

[heyelander]

I think they were more concerned about the years with Cuddyer than they were the money. As Eric said, Wiggy is 1 year only with the 500k buyout.

[Erik]

Jim Salisbury of CSN Philly says Phils want Rollins back but are waiting for Reyes to set the market.

http://www.csnphilly.com/blog/phillies-talk/post/Whats-Phillies-next-off-season-move?blockID=599304&feedID=704