Curt Schilling spoke to a Daily News Reporter before last night's ALCS Game 1, about the prospect of returning to the Phillies, saying "Absolutely, they'd be on a short list if it doesn't work out here." The soon-to-be-41 Schilling is looking for a short contract, and that's good as the Phillies would probably prefer a short contract as well. This happening is seeming more and more likely every day.
The even better news comes from team president David Montgomery, who said that the Phillies payroll can rise from the $103 million payroll last season. He was quoted yesterday in the Daily News... here is an excerpt from the article:
Seems like just yesterday that any rumor of an impending sale of the Phillies, bogus or not, would produce smiles, a lot of hope, maybe even a few hallelujahs.
Now I'm not so sure. The fun ballpark and its kind-hearted workers, a gritty, young and talented team that the city has put both arms around, a payroll that is reportedly $40 million more than three of the four teams still playing, a manager players begged to bring back, a general manager that, despite some missteps, made some shrewd midseason deals . . .
Well, don't those mystery men and women who own the Phillies get a little credit for all of this?
"The amazing conversation for me," Dave Montgomery was saying yesterday, "is when fans would say, 'If only you people cared as much about this team as we do.'
"I mean, are you kidding me?"
Montgomery said the other day the team's payroll hit $103 million last season, and that it can go up next season. "We got to the new ballpark, we said we would act differently," Montgomery said. "These people haven't taken a dime out of this club. They just want to win."
Hold your snickers. He's not contesting that the value of the franchise has risen. He's saying the ownership group he represents does not pocket the profits made when 3.1 million of you went through the turnstiles this season, or paid for your dogs and beer.
The Phillies have spent - Freddy Garcia, Adam Eaton, Jim Thome, David Bell are just a few of the bigger checks. You can kill them for being stupid with that money - Lord knows, I have - but the larger-market successes, and even some smaller ones, have skeletons in their closets, too. Ask the Diamondbacks if Randy Johnson's season was any more productive than Garcia's.
Wouldn't you have liked to be sitting next to George Steinbrenner when Roger Clemens - whom he paid $28 million for two-thirds of a season - came out after 2 1/3 innings in the ALDS?
"You know what they did this year that they haven't in the past?" John Kruk said on the brink of the playoffs last week. "Chase Utley went down, they went out and got Iguchi. When those pitchers got hurt, they went and traded for Kyle Lohse and took on his contract. The free agents they signed - if they had a younger guy who was better, he played [Carlos Ruiz].
"Pat Gillick threw his ego aside and said play the best guys. I'm telling you, there are a lot of GMs out there who wouldn't do that, because they can't admit when they are wrong."
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/10497822.html
It seems as if the Phillies have learned their lesson. They're not looking for a long contract for a star player (avoiding the problems with Philly stars who have long contracts... Thome, Lindros, etc.). However, they should be careful who they bring to the team- if Rivera or Schilling came and had an ego problem, the team chemistry could go down the drain.
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