Pay Day and Bills Due

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad the Phillies signed Cole Hamels. But if they ended up trading him, I’da been ok too.

Six years and 144 million. Man that’s a lot of dough! It’s a long investment too. The first week of July was when I came to grips the Phillies didn’t have it this year so trading Cole looked like a real possibility. The prospects they would get in return could have been the building blocks for the next great run in Phillies history. My first choice was to sign him but last week it came what the offer on the table was. I thought, “God Damn! Dudes gonna get PAID!” But then the more I thought about it, the more I didn’t like it. How come he didn’t sign the contract already? And more importantly, how much loot were the Phillies going tie up in the starting rotation?

Halladay makes 20 Million. Lee 24 and Hamels ultimately gets 24. So basically with a self imposed cap limit just south of the luxury tax, you’ve got $68 million in payroll with sits on the bench 2/5 of the time. Hell, throw in Papelbon’s 13 mil and nearly half your payroll is on the bench more than half the time. No wonder, the bats go weeks without showing up. They’re probably scouting a good intersection on Roosevelt Blvd to panhandle or hock bottles of water. I could care less if the Phillies spent money like the Yankees; plundering the free agent market for their ideal team, but that’s just not the case. Amaro is the MLB equivalent of a college freshman with his first credit card. Get what looks good then worry about the consequences later.  Unfortunately, for him the bill is in the form of me and you and the rest the Phillies Nation that buys tickets. If the team finishes 4^th or 5^th, never making a real run, how many people will drop their season tickets or partial plans? How many tickets will be sold by the first day single games seats go on sale? Last year, the number was 3.1 million! I’ve been on the waiting list for full season tickets for 3 years. My buddy who was going to split it with me has already bailed and with the trouble I had GIVING away tickets for the game yesterday, I might not be far behind.

The reason I gave away the tickets I’ll save for another blog, but it had nothing to do with the team’s play.  But the team’s play and their roster moves and the deadline and during the offseason will influence what I do as far as tickets for next season.

See ya at the ballpark!

Jay Wrizight

jaywrizight@yahoo.com