Thome could help court Cuddyer
One of the instant benefits to signing Jim Thome could be his recruiting ability.
Thome could help court Cuddyer
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
One of the instant benefits to signing Jim Thome could be his recruiting ability.
Thome played coy Saturday when asked, but it was clear he had already begun selling the idea of joining the Phillies to former Minnesota teammate Michael Cuddyer. Cuddyer is a free agent who can mash lefties and play multiple positions. The Phillies, like many teams, would value that sort of commodity.
During his re-introductory news conference Saturday, Thome had nothing but praise for the 32-year-old Cuddyer.
"I would put Michael as one of my top-five, all-time favorite teammates," Thome said. "No question. He's up there. He's a winner."
As colleague Bob Brookover noted last week, Cuddyer fits the Phillies well. Because of his versatility, the Phillies could use him where needed whenever injury strikes. They will not be alone in the sweepstakes to sign him. But Ruben Amaro Jr. has a close relationship with Cuddyer's agent, Casey Close. (He also represents Ryan Howard.)
Thome was asked if he could gauge Cuddyer's interest in Philadelphia.
"I can't answer that," Thome said. "I knew you'd ask that. Look, every player that sees the way the Phillies have done things over the last seven or eight years, they've set the bar very, very high. Guys around baseball would love to come here. When you win, you create a lot of good things."
Cuddyer didn't say he wanted to join Thome?
"He did not," Thome said.
Could Thome encourage such a thing?
"I could, yes," Thome said. "Absolutely. I'm sure we will talk going forward."
Have a question? Send it to Matt Gelb's Mailbag.
Please do have that talk Jim...— stan the man too- You don't win championships by paying guys like Cuddyer $10+ million per year the same reason they didn't win by paying Ibanez $10+ million per year from 2009-2011. Spend the big bucks on players with special, hard-to-find skills. I think they spent too much on Polanco- essentially a little less powerful player with a far better glove-and he only gets $5-$6 million per year. There are a lot of guys who could put up close to Cuddyer numbers for a tenth of the cost.— jtj06
- Who? — Momus
- Amen, Monus. jtj, I forget...who was the left fielder when they won the Series in 2008? Every time I read uninformed, short-sighted posts like jtj's, I swear I'm going to stop reading comments. I suppose in jtj's world it's a simple matter of just going out and signing Jose Reyes and Albert Pujols before we trade Joe Blanton and Kyle Kendrick for David Wright. — ajjgc
- "Lots of guys?" How about naming a few who would sign for about $1,000,00 a year. Or you could admit you were just bs-ing. How much Cuddyer ought to be worth to the Phillies is a legitimate question, but ignorant blather like your post doesn't contribute anything but noise to the discussion.— judas_priest
- I'm warming up to Cuddyer the more I look at his numbers. He'll likely end up overpaid a bit but he's got some pretty good offensive numbers and he's played every defense position except SS and catcher (he even pitched once like Valdez). Forgetting about any potential money issues he wouldn't be a bad signing. I would have some concern about the number of years. He's getting to that point where a lot of guys start to drop off. With Howard out for a while and Polanco likely getting less starts Cuddyer might be the right sort of fit in the short term. Depends on what other moves are made of course.
— s - jtj06 NAME 3 OF THE "LOTS"— DONDEN31
- I know the Phillies need to get younger, but barring any unforeseen trade opportunity, Cuddyer seems like the best fit. Actually, being 32 and able to play multiple positions, he would be a much better signing that Ibanez was. Even with a 4 yr contract, he would be younger than Ibanez was when he began his Phillies career! Overall, if the Phils cannot get a younger, quality bat, I like the prospect of signing Cuddyer.— MrPhillie
- I have heard the rumors about the Phillies interest in Cuddyer. I am not too sure if I would like to see it happen. The cost to sign him and Madson would almost keep them from making a run at signing Reyes. I would gladly pass on Cuddyer if they could get Reyes. It looks like the Mets are placing a value of around $15M a year for Reyes for about 5 years - that should be in the Phillies budget to sign him even if they have to add a few more years.
The alternative is to offer Jimmy Rollins arbitration and hope he accepts the one year deal - not likely. Reyes would stabilize things for years to come. Imagine Reyes, Victorino, Utley, Pence, Mayberry, Brown as your first six batters until Howard comes back.— candidly - So, Candidly, just to be clear, the only way to retain Rollins is if he accepts arbitration? I'm pretty sure they can still make him an offer - say maybe 3 years? I know he said he wants 5, but I would hope the Phillies don't go over 3. As far as Reyes, they won't blow their entire budget on him. His injury history this past year scares me off enough. This team needs healthy guys. Of course they could afford him if they decided to play without a bench. — JeffHink
- Ibanez was what, 36 when he signed with the Phils? And still at that point was a 'poor-mans, lefty version' of Pat Burrell? I'd take Cuddyer on a 4 yr, 40 million deal. Now the big thing is that since there is no DH in the NL (yet), where would you play him on a regular basis? Playing him the way he should be played might be hard for Charlie to handle.— ESFjellin
- To JeffHink
I was trying to suggest a way for the Phillies to get to Galvis in a years time if they could not get Reyes. Giving Jimmy Rollins a three year contract - are you crazy? The erosion of his abilities over the last few years scares me a lot more than worrying about possible injuries to Reyes. Jimmy Rollins is an old 32 or 33. By the way, he presents some injury concerns himself.— candidly - Rollins has actually declined slower than the rest of the infielders. Howard and Utley have been going steadily down in all offensive numbers the past few years. Rollins actually had an uptick this year over the previous two years. He's also stayed a lot closer to his career average than either Howard or Utley. But Rollins is the free agent.
I don't see the Phils taking a shot at Reyes but maybe. There's a lot to like about his game but I think 2011 was a career year for him he's not likely to match again. He definitely offers that different hitting approach we've heard about. He's going to command a big salary.
— s - Keep that man here when he retires.— skipintro
- Hmmm, now that I think about it, Thome also helped "recruit" David Bell. Time to make up for that, big man.— skipintro
