RichmondPhilsFan wrote:Dave O'Brien gave me a damn heart attack last night. Was in line at Chipotle and saw on Twitter that he RT'd a Candy Van report that the Phils had signed BJ for 6/$98M. After my initial four-letter-word reaction, I scrolled around and saw no one else reporting this, then the Tweet disappeared followed by another Tweet from DOB saying he'd been suckered by a fake Twitter handle.

joe table wrote:We should probably consider Alfonso Soriano too. I'm sure the Cubs would be happy to pitch in a significant amount of money. Say they eat 28mm over the next two years....I'd definitely prefer Soriano for 2-10 (w/o giving up any top prospects) than whatever Cody Ross will get. He still has a lot of pop and his defensive numbers have been consistently excellent in LF

• Agents who have spoken with the Phillies say that despite their pursuit of both a center fielder and right fielder this winter, one option who apparently is no longer on their list is Josh Hamilton. Amaro wouldn't comment on any specific free agent, but said people who think the Phillies don't have the wiggle room to make a big signing are mistaken.

"I don't know that yet," he said. "We haven't been given a real budget. I know it's not unlimited, but that's not usually how we work. There are limitations, but each situation is unique, in and of itself. We didn't budget for Cliff Lee. But we signed Cliff Lee. We haven't budgeted for a bunch of things we've done. Each situation is different."

• Speaking of the Blue Jays, the Phillies have batted around the idea of an extension for baseball's most prominent former Blue Jay, Roy Halladay, but are proceeding slowly -- for now.

"I guess it's still possible," said Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. "But a lot has to do with how he feels and how he performs. So that's a decision and a conversation that would probably have to go into the spring, and maybe into the season."

Before Halladay's shoulder started acting up in midseason, the Phillies had actually had some preliminary talks with his agent, Greg Landry, about an extension that would keep Halladay in Philadelphia beyond next year -- and bring his salary more in line with the $24-million average annual value of Cliff Lee's deal. But Halladay's shoulder -- and the Phillies -- put an end to those talks.

"We kicked it around, but we tabled it," Amaro said. "It just wasn't the right time to focus on that."

Now, unless that extension talk resurfaces, Halladay will almost certainly become a free agent next winter. He'd need to bounce back from shoulder surgery and grind through 258 2/3 innings next year to vest his $20-million option for 2014. And only once in his 15 big-league seasons has he worked that many innings: In 2003. At age 26.

joe table wrote:We should probably consider Alfonso Soriano too. I'm sure the Cubs would be happy to pitch in a significant amount of money. Say they eat 28mm over the next two years....I'd definitely prefer Soriano for 2-10 (w/o giving up any top prospects) than whatever Cody Ross will get. He still has a lot of pop and his defensive numbers have been consistently excellent in LF

Doll Is Mine wrote:Jayson Stark

• Agents who have spoken with the Phillies say that despite their pursuit of both a center fielder and right fielder this winter, one option who apparently is no longer on their list is Josh Hamilton. Amaro wouldn't comment on any specific free agent, but said people who think the Phillies don't have the wiggle room to make a big signing are mistaken.

"I don't know that yet," he said. "We haven't been given a real budget. I know it's not unlimited, but that's not usually how we work. There are limitations, but each situation is unique, in and of itself. We didn't budget for Cliff Lee. But we signed Cliff Lee. We haven't budgeted for a bunch of things we've done. Each situation is different."

Barry Jive wrote:Fernando Rodney was an elite reliever this year and he didn't sign until January 5. the Rays got him for 2 million dollars plus a club option. slam fucking dunk, and all it took was patience