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The Philadelphia Phillies Franchise Part 4 of 4: Team Payroll 2013 And Contracts Forward (Mar.1)
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Friday, Mar.01/2013
Since Roy Halladay missed almost 2 months of baseball in 2012, his 2014 (20 Million Dollar contract will only become exercised if he pitches 225 Innings in 2013) – Otherwise he becomes a Free Agent.
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Analyst Website Owner): Follow @chuckbooth3024
The Phillies are top-heavy for their payroll in 2013. I talked a lot about this in Part 1 of this series (The Franchise). What they really need is for Domonic Brown, John Mayberry and Ben Revere to improve in their role with the club and get as much production as they can out of their superstars. 2013 looks a lot better than the years after. Roy Halladay must return to form in 2013.
I am predicting the team will win at least 90 games in this year with the Starting Pitching having a bounce back season. The fans should all come in droves to the park while this club is competitive. The Phillies will age really fast after 2013, so there will undoubtedly be some rougher times ahead, as Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard all fade into the back half of their careers.
The New York Yankees are facing a similar dilemma. You might even see a Yanks/Phillies World Series rematch in 2013. I am sure the Dodgers, Angels, Tigers and Nationals will try to have their say about that as well.
The smaller market teams might fight for another ring as well. You are starting to see some distances set forth from the high-priced salaried teams to the lower payroll clubs with both Los Angeles teams and Detroit nearing or going over the Luxury Tax Threshold of 178 Million Dollars in Player Salaries.
Again, I am thinking that MLB Baseball might have to realign soon-to make the divisions stack up for payroll and geography reasons. I wrote an article about this some time ago here. The Phillies have led the MLB in attendance for the last 3 years, so they will be able to keep the payroll at a high mark as long as the baseball revenue is able to match it. It is the long-term contracts that won’t garner them much value at the end of these deals, that will ultimately set the Franchise back awhile.
Ryan Howard highlights are below. He must return to his 40 HR self next year otherwise the Phillies will have a tough time competing.
For Part 1 of the Phillies Article Series: The Franchise click here:
For Part 2 of the Phillies Article Series: The Hitters click here:
For Part 3 of the Phillies Article Series: The Pitcher click here
For the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals Franchise 5 Part Series: click here
Cincinnati Reds Schedule In 2013: The Team Hopes For NL Central Dominance
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Follow @mlbreportsThursday, January.24, 2013
By Richie Devotie (MLB Schedule Correspondent): Follow @MrBaseballMan and Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer/Website Owner) Follow @chuckbooth3024
The Great American Ball Park is a great place to watch a game. The Great American Ballpark is one of the best parks in the majors for scenery outside the yard. You get a close personal view of the Ohio River. The park also features the ‘Cincinnati Reds Hall Of Fame” that is directly adjacent to the park—great place to check out the 1st Major League Baseball Club. Particularly if you are a Pete Rose fan, you have to visit this Museum. Pete Rose is nowhere to be found at Great American because of his lifetime ban—but his career is nicely chronicled inside the doors of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame.
The concourses at Great American are spacious, clean and the workers there offer the nicest hospitality. There is not a bad seat in the place. Cincinnati’s fans are amongst the smartest in baseball. They have 3 mascots still in use that walk the field in:‘Gapper,’ ‘Mr. Redlegs’ and of course ‘Rosie Red,’ a truly great experience for the kids. The fireworks display on Friday nights in the summer are incredible against the back drop of the Ohio River.
From guys who also did 30 Ball Parks in 30 Days:
Cincinnati Reds Roster In 2013: State Of The Union
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Follow @mlbreportsFriday, January.04, 2013
The core is as solid as ever and they could potentially attack next year with more speed with some recent trades and Draft Picks. The Reds will be a fast, entertaining team with lots of power from both hitting and defense.
Matt Steinmann (Reds Correspondent): Follow @thesteinmann
97 wins. NL Central Championship. Knocked out of the playoffs by the eventual World Series Champion, San Francisco Giants in the NLDS. That’s the story of the 2012 Cincinnati Reds. Everything that was going so great in the summer of 2012 ended abruptly, leaving many people scratching their heads wondering what went wrong? How did this team, who went 2-0 in San Francisco in the NLDS, come home and lose 3 straight at Great American Ballpark? Having nobody on base when Joey Votto came to the plate didn’t help, but that was only part of the story. Lack of clutch hitting was another problem. You could point fingers at skipper Dusty Baker as well, who did not manage with the sense of urgency that San Francisco’s skipper Bruce Bochy did. Either way, it was a team effort to get where they got, and a team effort on why they didn’t get to where they wanted to be.
Cincinnati Reds: Fan-Made 2012 NL Central Champions Video:
The Toronto Blue Jays Payroll 2013 and Contracts (Updated For MIA Trade Nov.13/2012)
Monday, September.10/2012
Note from Chuck Booth: I am attempting to bring the history for each of the 30 MLB Franchises into a 5 part series that will focus on 1. The teams history. 2. The hitters 3. The pitchers. 4. The Teams Payroll going into 2013 and 5.The Ball Park that they play in. (The stadium articles will all be done next summer when I go to all of the parks in under a month again.) Be sure to check my author page with a list of all of my archived articles section here.
The Blue Jays have not qualified for the Playoffs since they won Back to Back World Series in 1992 and 1993. At that time, they were around the top of the MLB Payroll for all teams. How much will they spend in 2013?
Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer): Follow @chuckbooth3024
It has been a disastrous season for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2012. Only the Boston Red Sox can usurp them in the AL East for being more disappointing. It is not entirely anyone’s fault, injuries to many key pitchers-plus the loss of Jose Bautista just after the All-Break, crippled the team’s ability to compete. Just chalk up the season to unlucky. Fortunately for the Blue Jays, Alex Anthopoulos has kept the team flexible with the payroll going forward. I still think that getting out of the Vernon Wells and Alex Rios contracts was the biggest ‘Houdini Act’ of the New Millennium. Since he got out from under those contracts, only Joey Bats makes more than 10 Million Dollars now on the club. To contend in the AL East, the Jays will need to spend at least 100-110 Million Dollars. The core of the team is intact for a couple of more years. From 2013-2016 is the clubs best window to make a charge at the playoffs and have some success.
Perhaps the best move that the Blue Jays GM did this year was to lock up Edwin Encarnacion to a 3 YR/27 Million Dollar contract before he hit the Free Agency Market. In a downtrodden year, EE could have requested an arm and leg for his services and been obliged. He left between 8-10 Million Dollars on the Table in my opinion. The keys will be to lock up a couple of their young player to long-term contracts. The catching looks solid (Arencibia and Mathis) for years to come with some more prospects filtering through the Minor Leagues (Travis D’arnaurd.) Trading away Eric Thames and Travis Snider paved the way for the club to lock-up Colby Rasmus long-term-and maybe take a run at a power hitting Outfielder. The team’s starting pitching must heal up from multiple Tommy John Surgeries and come back to be relevant. The team should definitely be players for free agent pitchers.
For Part 1 of a 7 Part Article Series: The Toronto Blue Jays Franchise 1977-1993, click here
For Part 7 of the 7 Part Series: Blue Jays 2013 Team Payroll: A Readers Thoughts, Click Here:
Josh Johnson brings a career record of 56-37 (.602) to the Blue Jays lineup in 2013. With one year and 13.75 Million Dollars left on this current deal. will Toronto try and extend him or wait to see if he can stay healthy all year.
Fantasy Baseball: Winning The Waiver Wire
Monday August 6th, 2012
Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com
Peter Stein (Fantasy Baseball Analyst): Follow @peterwstein
In the majority of fantasy leagues, the trade deadline has already passed and owners are depending on the core roster that they have assembled all year for the final stretch run of the season. When trading becomes closed, it makes it much more difficulty to fill the void left by an injury. However, the waiver wire remains open. And although you aren’t likely to hit a home run at this point of the season, there are players still available that can prove to be the difference in a championship quest.
Here are a group of players to consider if you face an unexpected injury over the last two months of the season:
Bartolo Colon, available in 85% of ESPN leagues, continues to surprise us all with his advanced age and weight. Most recently, he shutdown the Blue Jays over eight scoreless innings at the Coliseum. Just know that Colon is not a must start option, but is a good one at home and if he faces weaker opponents like Seattle. Read the rest of this entry
A Busch Stadium Book Excerpt from ‘The Fastest Thirty Ballgames’
Friday, Aug.03/2012
Game#25 Day#24
Busch Stadium
St. Louis, MO
Aug.01/2008
I never thought anything was going to equal the previous day. We had arrived back at my brother’s house to spend a quality morning with my nieces and nephew—and Trent’s wife Kristy before returning to the road. It was a quick trip from Philadelphia to St. Louis. It was going to cost us a fortune to all take the shuttle into the Hilton at $17 each-so I got us on the next transportation shuttle bus, and then negotiated a deal with Budget to give me an extra few hours head start on the 24 hour time line airport rule—so I would not have to return after the St. Louis game to pick up the Mini-SUV, which had been the original plan.
Budget was awesome to let me have this deal early. I am a Fast Break member with them-and have/had spent a lot of money with them. We got a Mitsubishi SUV. My brothers thought it was a little small, but for a $65.00 rental that started out in St. Louis and ended up the next day in Minnesota-it was a great deal. Yes we had a five-hour drive from St. Louis to Chicago tomorrow, but we were all tough guys. I once again told them-“welcome to my world.”
That day in St. Louis was myopic. My brother Trent knew a guy at head office St. Louis, and that gentlemen made a few calls and arranged for my dad and I too receive ‘Field Passes’-and to be interviewed by Fox-Sports Midwest. I was almost in disbelief of that option, but it was now going to happen later that day. This experience was even better because none of us had been to new Busch Stadium-so all of us were there for the first time. Overall it was my 29th stadium so I only had “The Ballpark In Arlington” for stadiums left to complete my active 30. Much like Coors, Safeco and AT&T Park, the red-brick around the whole Stadium at Busch Stadium is top-notch. Read the rest of this entry
Reds Sunday Select: Is Dusty Baker the Right Manager in Cincy? And the Premiere of the Billy Hamilton Report
Sunday July 1st, 2012 
Ryan Ritchey (Baseball Writer, Reds Expert): Welcome to the premiere of Reds Sunday Select. This is going to be a segment on the Reports in which I post a weekly article on the Reds organization. At the end of each article, you will find an update on the up-and-coming star prospect for the Reds, Billy Hamilton. This week on the Reds Sunday Select is Dusty Baker and the job that he has done so far running this Reds team.
Dusty Baker has been in Cincinnati since ’08 and has yet to win a playoff game. He has made it to the playoffs once, in 2010 on the back of Joey Votto‘s MVP season. In Dusty’s 19 seasons as a manager, he has a 17-22 record in the playoffs, which in my opinion isn’t getting the job done. He has never won a World Series title, falling short back in ’02 with a 7-game series loss to the Angels. Do I believe Dusty Baker is a great manager? Yes I do. He has a strong career winning record as a manager. Which tells me he can win games, but just not get it done in the playoffs- which is where it really matters. Read the rest of this entry
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