Three becoming the number for the Phillies

by Eric Schwartz

Monday January 25, 2010 

Three becoming the number for the Phillies thumbnail

For the third time in a week the Phillies locked up one of their starters with a three year deal.

It is being reported that Carlos Ruiz and the team have agreed to an $8.85 million, three-year contract that avoids salary arbitration.

Ruiz joins Joe Balnton and Shane Victorino as members who have joined the three-year club last last few days.

Three has indeed been a magical number for the organization. When the team acquired ace Roy Halladay from the Blue Jays, they singed him to an extension that guaranteed to keep him in town for the next three years. The team then worked quickly to lock up Balnton, Victorino and Ruiz for what they hope will be three more years of success, including this year where they look to make their third trip to the World Series in — you guessed it — three years.

This is great news for Phillies fans as almost all of the starters will be in place until at least 2011 and most until 2012. Given the age of the core there is no reason to expect decline from the majority of the players and improvements are still possible. The one player who has yet to be locked up is Jayson Werth, who could taste the free agent market after the upcoming season. With the payroll already set to pass $140 million and not much coming off the books next season outside of Jamie Moyer’s $7 million it may be difficult to keep Werth, who appears on the verge of stardom.

Baseball is a business and it is impossible to keep all of the pieces together, but Ruben Amaro Jr. has done an excellent job of keeping the large majority of things the same.

Now all that is left is making sure the level of play remains the same.

The signing of Ruiz basically closes the book on the Phillies’ offseason. Last week the team added veteran — and I mean veteran — pitcher Jose Contreras, so the bullpen is pretty much set. I wouldn’t mind seeing another starter added to compete for the fifth spot in the rotation, but with the Phils maxed out on funds, anyone they bring in would be a long-shot at best.

With that said it would be hard to grade this offseason anything lower than a B+ with the only flaw being the decision not to roll the dice on keeping Cliff Lee for one more season and giving the team the best rotation in the game.

Filed Under Phillies

Comments

2 Responses to “Three becoming the number for the Phillies”

  1. BigGreek24 on January 26th, 2010 1:20 pm

    Before we tag Werth with the “on the verge of stardum” tag, let’s see if he can put together two solid everyday seasons. That is the one thing I hate about baseball – a guy can suck for years but if he has that one great season, maybe the only one of his career, at the right time he makes ridiculous money.

  2. BigGreek24 on January 26th, 2010 1:23 pm

    I’d give the Phils an A – Cliff Lee has had one great season and a couple very good seasons, and he wanted more than a three year extension which the Phillies weren’t going to give him, and I can’t say I blame them.

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