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Outfielder Jayson Werth agreed to a one-year contract with the Phillies, Assistant General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. announced today. Werth had been eligible for salary arbitration.
Werth, 27, will earn $1.7 million in 2008, plus performance bonuses.

Not Werth it...

wow, seriously?

1.7 for werth???

there has to be someone capable of putting up werth type numbers for like, 1/3 of that money.

oh well, whatever. hit lefties like you did last fall and it'll be worth it.

seke2 wrote:wow, seriously?

1.7 for werth???

there has to be someone capable of putting up werth type numbers for like, 1/3 of that money.

oh well, whatever. hit lefties like you did last fall and it'll be worth it.

Is there really any guys capable of hitting .300/.400/.850 out there just dying to sign for 500k?

iladelph53 wrote:

seke2 wrote:wow, seriously?

1.7 for werth???

there has to be someone capable of putting up werth type numbers for like, 1/3 of that money.

oh well, whatever. hit lefties like you did last fall and it'll be worth it.

Is there really any guys capable of hitting .300/.400/.850 out there just dying to sign for 500k?

The Phils had one, but they let him slip away to for 5/60.

1.7 is peanuts
hell, Nunez made that much

werth is capable of doing that....but for his career, he's .259/.352/.782, and last year was his best year. and i'm not sure what we paid for him before last year, but i thought it was closer to 500k-1m? and my point is that there are probably other AAAA types like werth who could do what he did last year. like chris snelling. or even TJ Bohn. dobbs last year.

it's not my money and 1.7 is more or less "whatever, who cares" money in MLB terms. but i do think that players of the caliber werth was BEFORE last year are available, and i think any of them are similarly likely to do what werth did last year as werth is do it again himself.

Werth is way better than Dobbs.

Werth really isn't a AAAA type. He is a pretty good big league player whose career was stalled by a wrist problem. It looks like there's a good chance he's back on track.

TJ Bohn is a AAAA player. He doesn't have nearly the chance of putting up a good season as Werth does. He's not nearly as good. Bohn can be a decent 5th outfielder type. Werth can start for you and play all three OF positions and help you. If you have Bohn out there getting 350 at bats or more he is going to hurt your production I think.

Snelling is a big league hitter if he can stay healthy. But you don't want to be in a position to have to count on him. He just can't stay healthy. If you're lucky he can give you a good year if he does happen to be uninjured for a year.

You can take a chance on a AAAA guy if you don't have any other good options. I mean if you were going to go into a season with Angel Pagan or someone like that holding down a key outfield spot then, yeah, take a look at Ben Johnson or someone.

But Werth is a good option. He can give you 350-400 ABs and give you some good production. And he's pretty good defensively to boot. AAAA guys aren't really like that. Either they won't hit quite enough (like a Langerhans or they have some glove problems or both. Guys like Restovich and Watson are AAAA players. Not Werth in my view.

philliesphhan wrote:Werth is way better than Dobbs.

Yes. I don't think this is bad news at all.

It's a one-year deal. The risk is shared. If he busts, he hurts his long-term prospects. If he has an even better year, he has a chance to cash in.

Good deal for both sides, I think.

I just hope he's warmed up to our fans a little. I remember reading last year that when he was on a rehab assignment in Reading or Lakewood, he was overheard complaining about the Phillies' phans.

Some people were ok with 50 mil for Rowand, but 1.7 for Werth is too much? Really? JC Romero played a LOT less than Werth did last year, was FAR luckier, and translated that into 11 million. Heck, we are paying 7 million for his platoon partner.

I like this deal. I would have been ok for up to 3 mil for Werth considering the role he is likely to play for the returning NL East champions.

JFLNYC wrote:

iladelph53 wrote:

seke2 wrote:wow, seriously?

1.7 for werth???

there has to be someone capable of putting up werth type numbers for like, 1/3 of that money.

oh well, whatever. hit lefties like you did last fall and it'll be worth it.

Is there really any guys capable of hitting .300/.400/.850 out there just dying to sign for 500k?

The Phils had one, but they let him slip away to for 5/60.

Rofl, yeah, let him slip away. Have you even thought through what you are saying here?

TJ Bohn isn't even a AAAA player. This is a guy who put up a .631 OPS at AA last year and a .660 OPS at AAA. Chris Roberson put up a .663 OPS in AAA. Bohn wouldn't hit enough to stay on a roster.

Chris Snelling doesn't have much power, can draw a walk, and might hit for average. He has a .737 OPS in four cups of coffee. He probably could be a reserve outfielder. Probably.

Jayson Werth is head and shoulders above these guys. When he finally got a shot he put up .338/.486/.824 in 2004. His numbers in 2005 weren't very good but that was because he spent the year playing injured. He started the year on the DL, went back on the DL, and never got right.

Last year he put up .404/.459/.863. He destroyed left handed pitching. His 1.058 OPS was over 100 points higher than Pat Burrell, Chase Utley, Aaron Rowand, and Jimmy Rollins. His OPS against righties was .760. Shane Victorino was .857/.733, so Werth was better against both lefties and righties.

And he should get better. He was always good at drawing a walk. Last year he was great at it. Last year his road home run rate was the same as his home run rate in previous years. He only had 1 home run at home in 118 at bats. This is remarkable because players have much higher home run rates at CBP. Look at the top righties other than Werth. Burrell hit home runs 23% more often at home. Rowand hit homers 79% more often at home. Werth hit home runs at a rate of 83% less. Thus, he had a higher OPS on the road.

He'll be 29 this season. If he were a free agent he'd get a lot more than $1.7 million. Geoff Jenkins is getting $6.5 million this year. Werth is a decent bet to outhit Jenkins. He's a bargain.

How could anyone be upset with this? It probably cost them no more than a few 100k than what they would have paid if they won in arbitration. Who cares.

I didn't realize that he made 850K last year (For some reason I thought he was close to the minimum) but I have absolutely no problem with him being paid 1.7 + incentives in 08.

Hell I'd be fine with it if he was making 3.5 million + incentives this year. Either way it's chump change in today's market.

Uncle Milty wrote:I'm not upset with signing Werth. I think he'll probably produce well above $1.7M. I'm just surprised a player in his position doubled last year's salary.

Madson went from $400,000 in 2006 to $1,100,000 in 2007. He could come close to doubling his salary in 2008. Rollins went from $450,000 to $2,425,000 when he hit arbitration. Werth was a bargain last year because he missed 2006 due to injury and no one knew if he could still play.

Disco Stu wrote:

JFLNYC wrote:

iladelph53 wrote:

seke2 wrote:wow, seriously?

1.7 for werth???

there has to be someone capable of putting up werth type numbers for like, 1/3 of that money.

oh well, whatever. hit lefties like you did last fall and it'll be worth it.

Is there really any guys capable of hitting .300/.400/.850 out there just dying to sign for 500k?

The Phils had one, but they let him slip away to for 5/60.

Rofl, yeah, let him slip away. Have you even thought through what you are saying here?

I'm glad you're rofl because it was A JOKE, Stu.

JFLNYC wrote:

Disco Stu wrote:

JFLNYC wrote:

iladelph53 wrote:

seke2 wrote:wow, seriously?

1.7 for werth???

there has to be someone capable of putting up werth type numbers for like, 1/3 of that money.

oh well, whatever. hit lefties like you did last fall and it'll be worth it.

Is there really any guys capable of hitting .300/.400/.850 out there just dying to sign for 500k?

The Phils had one, but they let him slip away to for 5/60.

Rofl, yeah, let him slip away. Have you even thought through what you are saying here?

I'm glad you're rofl because it was A JOKE, Stu.

I presumed so, and would have had it been anybody BUT you.

Stuey,

What's happened to us? We used to be great together. You the GM, me the manager. Do we need to see a counselor? A weekend in the Poconos? Let's try to get back to where we were. We'll always have Conshohocken.

xo.