Werth: Phillies could have had me and Lee
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Werth: Phillies could have had me and Lee
Paul Hagen
Jayson Werth arrived at Nationals spring training today and reflected on his time with the Phillies and the way it ended:
(Hard feelings all those guys got extended and you didn’t?)
“Hard feelings? No. It’s a business. It really is. Baseball is the same game I’ve been playing since I’ve been a kid. But when it comes to the business side of it, it really is dollars and cents. And the team has more to do on that end than anybody else.”
(Made a comment that they could do whatever they want. Really believe they could have afforded to keep you and sign Cliff Lee?)
“I think if they would have played it right they would have had us both. I mean, they traded Cliff away for prospects and then realized that was probably not what they should have done.
“They ended up paying him a lot more than they would have if they’d signed him the year before. Then we would have had him. Chances are if they had signed him before they traded him, it probably would have made it a little easier to sign me.”
(Shocked when they signed Lee?)
“Not really. I had an inside edge.”
“I kind of knew it was always a possibility and I kind of felt it was going to be one or the other. At that point. When it wasn’t me, and what they were talking to me about in terms of years, it kind of made it seem like they were playing us off against each other a little bit.
“That’s the name of the game. That’s the business of it. You miss on one, you get on the other. That’s how they played it. Unfortunately I think if they’d played it right, they probably could have had us both.”
(Did you think about what Aaron Rowand went through when he signed with a last place team and then ended up with another ring?)
“Now he’s got another ring. The thing about this team that was interesting to me was the owners and where they were coming from and what they were trying to do. It’s an interesting group. Ted Lerner is an interesting guy. He’s not like any other owner in baseball,, I don’t think. It’s a one family ownership, so the situation here is different than what it would be anywhere else.
“After they assured me that they were going to take the right steps to continue to add to the young core group of players they had and were throwing around the number of years they were throwing around, the more I stepped back and took a look at this team and where I thought it was going in the future and what could be done here and the type of situation I’d be in, it was actually the type of situation I wanted to be in. Getting in on the ground floor and building it to the top. That kind of turned me on in a sense.”
Download our NEW iPhone/Android app for easy access to all of our Phillies coverage, plus app-exclusive videos and analysis. Get it here.
- I can't tell you how much we miss having you here.
— PhightinPhil 
Comment removed.- Yawn...— Smooth88
- What's with the Civil War-era personal grooming fashion in MLB? It looks idiotic.— p-diddy
- Lee took less money to be here. Werth could have followed that example but he didn't. I wish him luck but bottom line, he is more into money than winning.— gslide
- It's easy to talk tough about the Nats now, but wait a couple of years for their rookies to grow up a little bit and watch out. We won't be top dog forever, and right now, they have a lot of young fire power. Lets give the Nats some credit....— phigglesfan75
“After they assured me that they were going to take the right steps to continue to add to the young core group of players they had and were throwing around the number of years they were throwing around, the more I stepped back and took a look at this team and where I thought it was going in the future and what could be done here and the type of situation I’d be in, it was actually the type of situation I wanted to be in. Getting in on the ground floor and building it to the top. That kind of turned me on in a sense.” Don't suppose there's any chance they lied to you, is there Jason???
- Wow, sounds like poor J Dub is regretting going from the penthouse to the outhouse. Maybe if he wasn't so greedy and accepted the Phils offer of $15-16 million a year he would still be here with Cliff Lee. Werth is a very, very good player, but is he a great player ? I don't think so. The Nationals needed to overpay to get a guy like Werth, the Phils didn't want to overpay for him so they didn't. Werth benefited from a great hitting coach in Charlie Manuel and great protection in the batting order. Yet he still only hit .186 with runners in scoring position.— Superskunk
- Don't believe the FO hype that they offered Werth 15-16mil/yr. If they wanted to offer Werth that much they could've done it May'10, but they didn't, or he'd still be here. The issue was always years - he wanted 5 yrs & they wouldn't give it. Previous to Lee, they'd only given that to Howard. Now Lee has 24mil/yr & an op for a 6th yr. You think Werth was greedy & the Nats overpaid him, but Lee somehow took less money to be in Phila b/c he's just a great guy working for non-profit? Why should a 5-tool player take less $$ & less security b/c the multi-billionaire owners are stingy w/everything except their own pocketbooks? What a joke. — just fine
Who is Jason kidding?... This was all about that hair on his face. Charlie hated it. I wish I could find an Avatar with a caveman and a bat. Oh look, there's one in centerfield!— NRGjunk- Werth isn't acting poorly. The reporters asked. He answered briefly & honestly. So what. He doesn't deserve this animosity. He was a good player, loyal to the fans, the team, & the city. With more money than most small countries, there's no reason the owners couldn't have signed Werth in May '10, for fewer yrs & less money. Boras wasn't his agent then & he still wanted to stay, but they refused to speak to his previous agent. The owners decided to sink bucks into Lee: he's older, a pitcher; history of injuries; played a total of 2 mos w/this team (giving an op for 6th yr). Guess I'm one of the few who thinks we actually needed Werth's 5-tools, right-hand bat, his solid, experienced RF, & back-up for Ryan Howard (in whom we've already invested 125mil). If we win the WS, it was brilliant. If not, it wasn't. In the end, we lost a good player & got a good player. That's baseball.— just fine
