Money Time (Phillies Jan 18)

January 18, 2010   ·   philliesmania   ·   Jump to comments

 

4 Phillies file for arbitration. Of course we knew Joe Blanton was heading down this road. But it is also time for Shane Victorino, Chad Durbin, and Carlos Ruiz to get a raise.

It is also a chance for Ruben Amaro to come to an agreement with any of these players before the arbitration hearing. I would make Victorino a top priority.

Shane Victorino is 29 years old and is a proven Gold Glove center fielder. He is also very productive at the plate and on base. He is also likely going to be asked to be happy hitting 7th in the order. He made $3 ,125,000 in 2009. Which frankly is a bargain by today’s standards. I would offer him $21 to $25 million for the next 3 years.  It would be nice to get him for 5 years but I don’t know if he would go for that at $7-8 million per. But for now it is double his present salary and not outrageous for the Phillies budget. I mean if he would go for 5 years and $40 million that would be nice also.

Blanton made $5,475,000 in 2009 and went 12 and 8. Not an ace but a solid 3,4 or 5 starter. He was pretty consistent in 2009. Reports are you could probably lock him up for $7,000,000. It would be nice if he would take $15,000,000 for 2 years. Chances should be good that you have some end of the rotation help from your farm system over the next couple of years.

Ruiz is interesting. He is clearly your starter now and has improved a great deal over recent years. He has had 2 very good post season runs also. He just turned 30 but he does not have years of abuse behind the plate. He is a converted catcher in fact. So he has only been squatting for about 6 or 7 years if memory serves me well.  He made a whopping $475,000 in 2009. And he is going to get better I believe. The pitchers already like him. I think he will hit a little better and I really think he is growing as a catcher. And there is no glaring replacement on the horizon. It would be nice if he would take 3 or 4 years for $9,000,000 –  $13,000,000. I am looking at the maximum side of the offer. It would great if he took a deal that would give him $2 million per year.

Durbin? He is coming off a good and bad year. Injuries didn’t help. But he had some strong outings as well as some shaky outings. He was paid $1,635,000 in 2009. He is 32 years old and will be a free agent in 2011. It would be nice to give him a 2 year $4,000,000 deal.

The good news that last year Ruben signed all 10 arbitration eligible players before arbitration.