JFLNYC wrote:As the dust begins to settle, one thing in particular that's bothering me is the feeling that we treated Cliff Lee -- a class act -- pretty shabbily. Kind of like kicking your wife out of the house without notice because the hottie down the street who you've been lusting after just said she'd sleep with you. It just feels like bad karma to me.

Shore wrote:Personally, I'd have preferred to ship the kids off, and have a nice long weekend with my wife AND the hottie down the street.

Unfortunately, we shipped the wife off with the kids, and the hottie brought hers with her.

JFLNYC wrote:As the dust begins to settle, one thing in particular that's bothering me is the feeling that we treated Cliff Lee -- a class act -- pretty shabbily. Kind of like kicking your wife out of the house without notice because the hottie down the street who you've been lusting after just said she'd sleep with you. It just feels like bad karma to me.

BigEd76 wrote:

kimbatiste wrote:Is the full press conference available online anywhere? BigEd? Big F'n Ed?

Couldn't find the full thing but here's some clips, and more here and more here

dajafi wrote:The Lee situation says more to me about how the Phillies have changed than the man himself.

Previous cohorts of Phillies management would have been desperate to keep any "playoff hero." I'm old enough to remember well the contracts Giles gave Daulton and Dykstra after 1993; those guys were "part of the family," and they were paid for what they'd done rather than what they were likely to do going forward. Those deals crippled the team for five years.

While I think there's some place for sentiment and even (to a very limited extent, in very particular circumstances) "rewarding" a player for past performance, on balance I much prefer Smuggles' approach. The team "owed" Lee nothing beyond his paycheck and not to denigrate him. They did approach him about an extension. We don't know if they offered 3/$60m, but if they didn't I suspect it's because they didn't value him as highly as they did Halladay--which, again, is a decision on the merits.

Shore wrote:Personally, I'd have preferred to ship the kids off, and have a nice long weekend with my wife AND the hottie down the street.

Unfortunately, we shipped the wife off with the kids, and the hottie brought hers with her.

Shore wrote:Personally, I'd have preferred to ship the kids off, and have a nice long weekend with my wife AND the hottie down the street.

Unfortunately, we shipped the wife off with the kids, and the hottie brought hers with her.

THE DEAL SWUNG on a phone call. To a 9-year-old. That's what Brandy Halladay would like you to believe, would like her 9-year-old son Braden to believe, too. That once the numbers were crunched, the offers digested, he made his father a Phillie.

"Braden was printing out Phillies rosters last week," Brandy said. "He knows everything about this team. He's really into them."

"I've heard you guys are a little ruthless at times if you don't like us," Brandy said. "So I'm just gonna smile and suck up the best I can to the media. And hope that works in my favor."

What they like is what that toughness implies. Hard work. No nonsense. No frills. A team that represents its culture, a clubhouse that, Roy Halladay said, "I've heard nothing but positive about."

"We're really normal people with a really great job," Brandy was saying. "So the idea of being someplace where the primary focus is you being famous, or how many sponsorships you can get, we're just not interested in it. Roy just wants to do his job.

"Philly is a place where he can do that. We can still do the charities and work in the community without it being a frenzy all the time. I don't think I have to be dressed to the nines to walk out the door here. I'm a very casual person by nature anyways.

"This just fits us. This fits our life. That's how we grew up."

So why take 34 as a number?

Because it was offered. "As long as it says 'Phillies' on the front," he said, "I don't care what's on the back."

Brantt wrote:

So why take 34 as a number?

Because it was offered. "As long as it says 'Phillies' on the front," he said, "I don't care what's on the back."

JFLNYC wrote:

THE DEAL SWUNG on a phone call. To a 9-year-old. That's what Brandy Halladay would like you to believe, would like her 9-year-old son Braden to believe, too. That once the numbers were crunched, the offers digested, he made his father a Phillie.

"Braden was printing out Phillies rosters last week," Brandy said. "He knows everything about this team. He's really into them."

"I've heard you guys are a little ruthless at times if you don't like us," Brandy said. "So I'm just gonna smile and suck up the best I can to the media. And hope that works in my favor."

What they like is what that toughness implies. Hard work. No nonsense. No frills. A team that represents its culture, a clubhouse that, Roy Halladay said, "I've heard nothing but positive about."

"We're really normal people with a really great job," Brandy was saying. "So the idea of being someplace where the primary focus is you being famous, or how many sponsorships you can get, we're just not interested in it. Roy just wants to do his job.

"Philly is a place where he can do that. We can still do the charities and work in the community without it being a frenzy all the time. I don't think I have to be dressed to the nines to walk out the door here. I'm a very casual person by nature anyways.

"This just fits us. This fits our life. That's how we grew up."

Donnellon