MLB free agents: Phillies tea leaves are an ugly, wet mess

The Money Part through the Lens of the Phillies Situation That Day

Looking at that list of four players in the last sentence, some people who hadn’t before may now “get it.” All those guys cost a lot, all of them are past 30 (Hand by just a little), and all MLB clubs lost money this year. That’s as far as we know since the books are always closed, but it seems very, very likely.

No one knows what will happen next year because, hey, the COVID vaccine promised by Election Day didn’t actually show up. Next year MLB may be faced with the same situation faced when the 2020 season was supposed to start.

Return to considering the Phillies situation:

·         David Robertson had pitched in seven Phils games in two years for $23 million. No one sensible would have picked up his $12 million option, even if the pitcher is now well-rested after a lengthy recovery from Tommy John surgery. It cost the Phillies $2 million just to wave good-bye.

·         Hector Neris has been the team’s on-again, off-again closer for several seasons. His splitter is excellent when it works. The Phillies decided it didn’t work consistently enough to exercise his $7 million option. He remains on the 40-man squad.

·         David Phelps somehow managed to compile a 12.91 ERA in 7.2 innings with the Phils; his WHIP was 1.957. Sensibly, his $4.5 million option was declined.

·         And despite his success, Parker was let go, but it’s unclear how much his contract was worth. Baseball Reference didn’t list it Nov. 1. It could have been anywhere from the veteran minimum of roughly half a million to his $1.8 million earned in 2019. This is the one puzzler on this list, but maybe those problematic analytics pushed Parker into free agency.