Lining up for Burrell

Not offering Pat Burrell arbitration is an enormous blunder on the part of the Phillies. Recession, Depression, Bad Economy...WHO CARES? Pat Burrell has been a lifelong Phillie and genuinely WANTS to be here. He may be wildly inconsistant at times, but the guy has done his fair share of producing. At the very worst, Burrell would have accepted arbitration, and we would have had to pay him for 1 more year. I would take Pat Burrell, and his defense in LF for one more year ahead of Rivera, Baldelli, Dobbs, Jenkins, Ibanez, and anyone else that has been mentioned as a possibility to fill the void. There shouldn't be a void to begin with. Pat Burrell should, without a doubt, be a Philadelphia Phillie next year, and shame on the entire organization for not making that happen!

The loss of Burrell, one of the Phillies home grown guys will be felt in the early summer when the weather heats up, and the Mets begin to make a run.

He protected people in the lineup, and this will come to the surface soon as the bottom of the lineup will see a wave of quick breaking stuff and off the plate pitches now. Wherever he ends up gets better by having him in the lineup.

Rays Renegade

http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com

I agree that Pat should get signed, but that doesn't mean arbitration would have guarenteed that. I think that if I were the Phils I would want him back as a huge Fan plug if nothing else. But let's not forget that with his back problems he has not been the Pat Burrell of the past. His defense is not where it should be and his bat runs so cold sometimes that I can feel the frostbite from Colorado. The Phillies are trying to avoid over paying for a guy who, let's face it, is at the end of his career. If I were Pat Burrell I would stay with the Phillies because it's never going to get better than this. The Phillies are looking out for their bullpen and I think that is smart.

Phillies fans are famous for short-term memories! I appreciate Pat's faithfulness to wanting to stay, but he has been wildly inconsistent. We can't rely on the long ball game after game to win it. We need a lineup that strings hits together, and Burrell is not part of that equation. Greg Dobbs will fill his void, and then some defensively. I do recognize this hurts our pinch hitting situaton. We should be focusing on that and let Dobbs have the starting role he has earned over the past two years.

I never believed that the Phillies inteneded on re-signing Burrell.Remember they wanted to trade him in years past and he would'nt authorize it.Now if we cant trade for a replacement of his calibur in terms of power numbers we are in big time trouble!We are so worried about all our arbitration eligible players that we wont make any big moves.Ryan Madson's agent is Scott Borus and he wont want Ryan signing any long term deals now.So they should sign Juan Cruz now and package Madson and another starter like Myers who makes 12 mil next year for a big name left fielder.Moyer must get resigned or we then lose his excellent leadership and tutorial skills for uo and coming pitchers JA Happ and Carasco.Unless Arizona would take Kendrick and Madson for Connor Jackson.

he protected people in the lineup? most of the talk is about how people can throw ryan howard sliders low and away because they know they can get burrell, since he strikes out a lot and grounds into a lot of double plays. also, i dont understand the comment about the new back end of the lineup not seeing this wave of breaking stuff. burrell could only hit two pitches, fastballs middle in and big, ol' hanging curveballs, which i could hit.

I think the Phillies didn't offer him arbitration because if they would have, they could not have paid him less than he earned last year. In doing this, he could potentially sign for less in order to net another decent free agent, like a Derek Lowe type player.

Alas, Phillies fans have very short memories. I caught every game this season, and let me remind everyone that if it weren't for Pat Burrell and Chase Utley in the first half of the season, the Phillies NEVER would have made it to postseason play. Pat and/or Chase single-handedly carried the team the first half. Of course, both slumped in the second half (Chase due to injury); but then Howard, Victorino, and Werth came alive. Every Phillies player contributed to the World Series win. But you cannot summarily dismiss the great contributions Pat Burrell made to that effort.

Packaging Myers and Madson would leave a huge hole within the starting pitcher lineup and in the bullpen, so you affix a bandage in leftfield only to create a hole in your pitching staff!

Additionally, can any of you name a MLB outfielder who can put up numbers like Pat and who will ask for less than $20mm? Matt Holliday, for example, another Boras client, had fewer HRs than Pat but Matt's BA was higher ... but a high batting average does not win games or guarantee participation in the postseason. Matt (although not on the Phillies' radar) would be a free agent at the end of 2009 and would demand an even higher salary. My point is that what alternatives do the Phillies have?

Pat's got a great arm and his outfield assists are the best in MLB according to a sports writer. As many of you noted, Pat's defense (with respect to running the bases) is not the best, but then there are quite a few MLB players who don't run the bases well.

I think the Phillies should continue to talk to Pat Burrell and re-sign him. I am hoping to see him in pinstripes next spring!

u know whats going to happen there not going to sign burrell and to replace him get sucky roco balldeli with his bad numbers compared to burrells consistent 30 and 90 every year!

This comment was so great i had to quote it.

"
Alas, Phillies fans have very short memories. I caught every game this season, and let me remind everyone that if it weren't for Pat Burrell and Chase Utley in the first half of the season, the Phillies NEVER would have made it to postseason play. Pat and/or Chase single-handedly carried the team the first half. Of course, both slumped in the second half (Chase due to injury); but then Howard, Victorino, and Werth came alive. Every Phillies player contributed to the World Series win. But you cannot summarily dismiss the great contributions Pat Burrell made to that effort.

Packaging Myers and Madson would leave a huge hole within the starting pitcher lineup and in the bullpen, so you affix a bandage in leftfield only to create a hole in your pitching staff!
Additionally, can any of you name a MLB outfielder who can put up numbers like Pat and who will ask for less than $20mm? Matt Holliday, for example, another Boras client, had fewer HRs than Pat but Matt's BA was higher ... but a high batting average does not win games or guarantee participation in the postseason. Matt (although not on the Phillies' radar) would be a free agent at the end of 2009 and would demand an even higher salary. My point is that what alternatives do the Phillies have?

Pat's got a great arm and his outfield assists are the best in MLB according to a sports writer. As many of you noted, Pat's defense (with respect to running the bases) is not the best, but then there are quite a few MLB players who don't run the bases well.

I think the Phillies should continue to talk to Pat Burrell and re-sign him. I am hoping to see him in pinstripes next spring!

Not signing Pat would be a slap in the face for all that this team has accomplished. From the early season when Chase and Pat carried them, through the middle seasons with Werth, Howard and Rollins, to the fantastic post season heroics of Carlos Ruiz and Shane Victorino. Who woulda thunk that a Philadelphia franchise would actually work together as a TEAM. A real team is made up of eight everyday players who pick each other up during slumps, go along for the ride sometimes and take the wheel when it is their turn. If they all did the same thing at the same time they would be called the Mets. If you take out the heart (Pat and Jamie), what is left? Lets stick with Pat and show our thanks for his dedication.

A team that would give up consistent 30hrs and 90 rbi each year (even with streaking hitting for average) and a guy who is good for the clubhouse doesn't understand what it takes to have a winning team in this league. Let's hope Amaro's first mistake isn't failing to re-sign #5.

The reason the Phillies didn't offer arbitration was Burrell would been making 16 million easy if they cannot resign him to a few years for the same 14 mil why 16? And as said he probably woulda declinded least now they can try talk bout home team deal like 3 yrs with the home discount if possible I am a big Burrell fan since when he played in Reading but like it was said before the payroll is building up quick and we all know Hamel was mad about his 500K pay last year and is due major $. Just have to wait and see.

I think it's great that my Giants like to bring back local players and ex-players. They get it as an organization. I would love to have Burrell. The problem is the outfield is crowded. Lewis becomes the odd man out. We also get older instead of younger. Then you have Nate possibly without a spot. If we were able to trade outfield depth for a power corner fielder, then Pat makes sense. However, teams want Cain or Sanchez. If either one of those guys leave, the Giants will need to up the anty for the local Sabathia. The other option is ask a kid like Baumgartner to be ready.

I like Pat Burrell as a player but I think we are all forgetting the times that we as fans called for his departure because the majority of us felt he wasnt worth the money we owed him. Also I think we are overlooking the constant booing and trash talk we threw at him while playing left field ( I was there for alot of it.) I agree with one of the other comments, we do have short term memory. Only this year has the city as a whole started to embrace Pat as one of our own, it only took .... 10 years! I kind of link this back to last year and the Aaron Rowand sitiutaion. Both are very good players but certainly not worth the money they demand. There is no way that Burrell is worth 16 mil in this stage of his career, maybe half that. Again I want to say that i DO think Burrell is a good player but I can't argue with the Phils for wanted to find a different left fielder. I think they need to go after a player with alittle better fielding and a higher batting average, we already have a .255/.265 30HR hitter in the outfield, his name is Jayson Werth only he plays the field better and has much more speed. I wish Pat good luck and I will still be a fan of his no-matter which team he lands on.

Burrell isn't demanding money, he wants more years. To the previous comment, get a player who is a better fielder who hits for a higher average ? So Burrell isn't so great in the field or on base, ok. As someone previously stated, batting average doesn't win games or get you to the playoffs. No Phillie hit .300 in '08, the long ball and pitching, in particular the bullpen, played a big part in success this year. Even in the playoffs, it came down to HR's and pitching, which both the starters and bullpen were impressive. Prime example, look at Ryan Howard and his accomplishments, and how he carried the team at the end of the year, his season average is never great. I think I can handle seeing Burrell in left a few more years, and putting up his .250 30 and 90. Let's not forget the possibility of Utley being out until June this upcoming season, if so, the lineup will produce much less in that time period, as it will all season long without Burrell in it. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, my opinion is bring Pat back for 3 more years (he'll take a discount), let him retire at 35 as a lifelong Phillie with hopefully 1 or 2 more World Series rings.

Let's get this straight people. Offering Burrell arbitration would've kept him here for another year. Don't get me wrong, Burrell is a good player and I'd love to have him stay, but the economics aren't feasible. We already have 10 arbitration eligible players. What if he went into arbitration and asked for $15mil. and the Phils countered with $9 mil.? The arbitrator has to pick from only those two offers. He can't meet in the middle. So, he picks the $15mil. because Pat made $14 mil. last year and hit 33 HRs and had 86 RBI. Now we have Pat locked in at $15 mil. Do you honestly think that teams will not only give up two draft picks to sign Pat, but also offer a comparable contract for more than 3 years? Really?

The Phillies wanted to trade Burrell and his salary before.It's clear they don't think he's worth the 15Mil.Moyer is 47 and wants to pitch until he's 50.Sign him for 2 years with it a contract built on incebtives.The Philles have two players represented by the much hated Scott Borus.They are Ryan Madson and Jason Donald.Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley are signed through at least 2011.The Padres just trade their shorstop K. Greene and they dont want Trevor Hoffman back.The Philles can make a deal for Peavey and include Madson and Donald.The Phillies must first sign Juan Cruz as their righthanded set up man.The Yankees need starting pitching and possibly a long term closer.We can trade and dump Brett Myers 12 mil salary next year and package him with like Mayberry Jr. for Hideki Maysui.All our concerms will then be resolved!Hamels,Peavey,Moyer,Blanton and Happ..

I'll state the obvious... huge Play-off HR and even larger World Series Double leading to never before seen wins. We need consistant numbers hitting behind a dangerous Howard who is streaky himself. Hope the Phils don't try and fill this unnecessary hole with career-bench players (stretched to perform better than ever before) or someone else's discard. Keep "Pat the Bat" just because he's a Citizen's Bank HR threat and Mets killer!

Not offering is the right move. Burrell's second half, especially August and September, was absolutely terrible and a possible glaring sign of a player in decline. And he's not a Mets killer anymore, look at the splits (.226 the last 3 years). Burrell is looking at limted FA options (talk of TB for one year?), the market for plodding, corner OF/DHs just isn't there, and he would have gladly taken a raise over his $14M he got this year. Plus, offering him would mean that any team signing him would have to give up a first-rounder, making it even less likely he'd sign elsewhere. Let's move on. If he comes back, it's only at a Phillies-friendly number.

Please bring Pat back. We know what we have with him and I think he should be a Phillie til he retires. He's slow but what other left fielder is going to put up the numbers he has over the years??? This group of players are a TEAM, don't you get it,Ruben??? I really believe that it's the organization that doesn't get it! All of this team are keepers.

I think there is something you all are forgetting...When you look at our everyday players, they are all fantastic. But Burrell is asking for too much money (Yes he is asking for money...it's Jamie who wants years). The Phillies are trying to avoid draining their bank account on a man who runs cold more often than a dorm room shower. I love Patty Boy, but there are other needs on the team. Also whoever said they shoudl trade Myers and Madson should ook back on the year one more time...and focus on the PLAYOFFS! They both have had their rough days, but look who kept them at the top. Pat needs time to think of where he wants to be next year, because it's his decision. If he wants to be a Phillie than he will. If not we'll miss number 5.

The problem is not in letting Burrell go -- the Phils would be NUTS to offer him big money and a multi-year deal at this stage of his career. The problem is "who replaces the numbers". That's what they need to be focused upon.

I've seen enough of Burrell's streaky hitting and horrible LF play to last me a lifetime. It is without a doubt time to move on, and to spend those big dollars elsewhere. They made the right move in not signing Aaron Rowand for big money and long-term, and they've made the right call here, too. Live with it.

Let's face the music my fellow Phillies fans. Pat the Bat will be wearing a differnt uniform next year. That is, of course unless his love for the city of brotherly love is far stronger for his love of the cabbage. With all payroll restrictions already keeping them in check thus far, there is no way I see us overpaying to keep a 7 inning a game, streaky, rally killing, base-running and defensive liability. The writing was on the wall as soon as the ink on the John Mayberry deal began to dry. I think the best strategy is to continue to bolster the starting rotation (the 08 phils were living proof that pitching wins championships) and maybe even adding a top shelf seventh or eight inning arm to compliment Madson and Romero. That being said, I'm 100% in favor of bringing back Moyer and giving Carasco a shot at the 5 spot. They should also look into giving Cole Hamels' chiropractor a raise and make sure he/she is available on-demand 24/7 rain or shine. I kind of like the idea of adding a Rocco Baldelli and taking a "left-field by comittee approach" which would allow Charly to stick with the hot hand. People are knockng Baldelli but lets not forget, people were calling this kid the next Ken Griffey Jr a few years back before back to back to back injury plagued seasons.

Burrell was a long time great and i love the guy but i think its time we both moved on, the guy did everything he could for this team, organazation, and city. I would like to see Ibanez a Phillie that is the dierection in my opinion that we should be heading

Nothing aganist Burrell. Guy has been nothing but a solid citizen and good teammate since he's been here. And he gave you the same thing every year .260 30 homers and 90 rbi's. As consistent as his yearly numbers were the way he gave them to you every year drove me nuts. And Rowland and this year Victorino covered up his outfield speed. So is that worth 14 mil a year? At his age? The same question was asked about Rowland last off season. I think the decision to let Rowland go was a good one. I feel the same way about Burrell. But seriously I wish the guy nothing but the best. Felt the same way about Rowland.

do people seem to forget that burrell is the one guy in the lineup that will make a pitcher work to strike him out. if he had any speed he would be a great leadoff guy. he walks all the time. id much rather see burrell come back then howard. trade howard and sign switch hitting mark texiera. teams will not pitch to howard anymore cause they can k him ith sliders away. also resigning moyer is a priority.

Let's make sure we leave emotion out of this. After 1993 the Phillies showered the juiced up Dykstra, Daulton and others with long-term contracts in large part because of what they had done in a dream season. The Phillies must look at this as a business move/deal to make the team better. As much as I like Burrell too, it's time to move forward. If that includes him, so be it. But if it doesn't...that's ok too.

Keep Burrell and Moyer they have heart and the the knowledge of the game, did anybody watch Moyer with the young guys how he talked to them about each pitcher and hitter they came up against the man has the knowledge not only to play the game but to help teamplayers in there growth in the game and the team, What can I say about Charlie a man that should have been voted Manager of the year. Also, he looks so much like my Mother in laws brother that maybe some where along the line he is related to me. That couldn't make me any prouder of this man. He has the love for the game, the knowledge, and a way with the team to bring them together as one. A wish the bested for all the players and My team the Phillies, Utley is the man, he caught everyone off guard. Although I didn't think it was very professional but, He was hearing it all day from the fans and in the heat of the moment. Hey, go for it. He still has people talking so, good for him, and he played with his hipp injured HE"S THE MAN. Please do your best with keeping the team intact even for 1 more year give them the chance to shine again. since the 80 team we have had the highs and the lows and still more to come but in the eyes of my family they will live forever. The only thing that could have made this win better is if my DAD was alive to watch it with us. Now lets see the flyers bring it home.