Just kicking in this year.

Never gets old.

Or started old, depending on where you're sitting.

Eh, I think the Phillies' next five years are going to look a lot like the Mets' last five years, considering they're going to be paying Howard $25 million a year for each of them.

I agree with Chuck. The only era in Mets history that compares in any way to the Phillies' 2007 through 2011 is the mid-to-late 1980s. And those Mets teams had a lot of second-place finishes.

I totally agree with Chuck too but they could've had the last 5 years and not given Howard his extension.

This. They were a very well constructed team, they didn't have a lot of old money, and they proceeded to dig themselves a nice little hole.

sustained winning will raise the cost/value of all of your players. If you want an awesome stretch for your team, you better be prepared to pay people at some point. The idea of letting a Ryan Howard just walk just isn't realistic. His value to that team in recognition, jersey sales, long term value in terms of nostalgia etc goes beyond his production.

Sure the extension will suck. But making Howard an extended part of phillies history has its benefits. I mean, look at how much $ the Mets are STILL making off of the 86 team.


Fact is, if we want to win with wheeler and Harvey and Nimmo and gorski, they'll have to be paid at some point. Even post market peak. And it doesn't make sense to just let everyone who turns 29 and a half walk, just because it was a good idea in some simulated GM computer game.

There is a gulf between "letting everyone who turns 29 walk" and giving Howard the extension he got.

Again, I agreed with your intial point. You tell me I get at least 5 yrs of playoff fun and I will end up in the exact situation the Phillies are in, I sign up. And I don't think they're doomed by any means. Like you said, they've created the knd of revenue that allows crazy payrolls.

Still I don't like the Howard signing.

Howard was declining and signed to an extension two years before he hit free agency. They'd have been better off spending the money on Hamels if they wanted to go in the dynasty direction. Instead, Hamels is going to walk and they're going to be stuck with a first baseman who might end up being really bad but who they will never be able to bench, for the same reasons you mentioned.

They are 26-25. 2.5 out of the WC and 4.0 back in the division. I am not ready to throw dirt on them yet.

They have some bad contracts going forward and the team is not the juggernaut it was a couple years ago, but it is still a good team that will remain in the hunt. And maybe they get hot at the end and sneak in the playoffs as the 2nd wild card.

Their decline, when and if it happens, will be glorious. I know I, for one, will be hoping they lose 145 games every season and just totally and utterly suck. I've NEVER hated a franchise more. Ever. They can rot in baseball hell for the next decade and it wouldn't satisfy me.

Yeah this. Halladay is a huge loss, but as bad as things have gone for them, they are still over .500 and right within grasp of the division. They are an old team so they could fall apart soon, but its way too early and they haven't been nearly bad enough to assume they are buried

As for the contracts....the Howard one was bad...didn't he still have several years left on his deal at the time (and its not like signing early gave the Phils a discount), but teams should want to keep their own players. I don't think the Halladay deal should be ripped at all....compared to what other pitchers have gotten that deal is very reasonable