Phils re-sign Hamels 6 yrs $140m

[Riff Raff]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8197964/sources-philadelphia-phillies-pitcher-cole-hamels-reach-6-year-140m-deal

[Erik]

Huzzah!

[joncarlos]

Making them the first team ever with 4 players whose AAV is over 20mil.

(Until the Yankees re-sign Cano)

Either the Phillies have a lot more money than we thought, or they're going to be doing some extreme stars-and-scrubs without a lot in the farm system to provide bench/role players.

[Erik]

They are one of the highest-revenue teams, and their ownership group is more in it for the prestige than anything else, so they've been willing to take less of a year-to-year profit to keep the payroll close to the luxury tax.

They will continue to model themselves after the 2010 Giants.

[joncarlos]

Or they could trade Cliff Lee to Texas. You never know.

[Erik]

I think Victorino or Pence is more likely to go than Lee, but with Amaro anything is possible.

[heyelander]

I think they are willing to go over tax next season so long as they get back under in 2014. Halladay will be off the books then (hopefully Biddle is ready) and their TV contract expires in 2015. I think they want to still be crazy relevant when that comes along.

[jackb]

Cole Hammels

Hamels signs six-year, $144 million extension

[heyelander]

Either the Phillies have a lot more money than we thought, or they're going to be doing some extreme stars-and-scrubs without a lot in the farm system to provide bench/role players.

Dave Montgomery (president) was on the radio today and was asked about the luxury cap. He said they were mindful of it, you don't want to pay money that doesn't actually get your anything, but certainly seems to have backed off from the attitude that it was a hard cap for them (which they were saying last year). I think they would like to avoid paying a penalty, but I don't think it is going to dictate their moves for next year.

[Erik]

Dave Montgomery (president) was on the radio today and was asked about the luxury cap. He said they were mindful of it, you don't want to pay money that doesn't actually get your anything, but certainly seems to have backed off from the attitude that it was a hard cap for them (which they were saying last year). I think they would like to avoid paying a penalty, but I don't think it is going to dictate their moves for next year.

That's gotta mean that John Middleton is calling more of the shots now.