Belated thoughts from one beat writer
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Belated thoughts from one beat writer
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
While making dinner plans last week with a friend who lives in San Jose, Costa Rica, he asked an innocent question.
"Hey, did you see what the Phillies did?"
I had no Internet or phone connections during my week-long vacation in Costa Rica, so there was no possible way.
"They signed Cliff Lee," he said.
So this is how I found out, about 15 hours after the rest of the world knew. The next day, I found a copy of of alDía, a Costa Rican newspaper, and flipped to the sports section. The headline read: "FILIS GANARON A LOS YANQUIS."
And that's a good way to start dissecting the ramifications of this signing, beyond the basic fact that the Phillies have possibly assembled the greatest rotation of all time.
This signing cuts deeper than that, though. Adding Lee to ensure a payroll above $160 million in 2011 and at even higher levels in 2012 and beyond officially makes the Phillies a big-market franchise.
And yes, I know you'll say this: But Matt, the Phillies play in the sixth largest market in the country. That doesn't mean they've operated like a big-market baseball franchise. There are differences.
Boston is the ninth largest media market in the country. But we describe them, in baseball terms, as one of the elite big-market franchises because they spend -- and spend freely.
On Dec. 15, when Lee was formally signed and re-introduced, the Phillies became a big-market franchise. They, as the Costa Rican newspaper made sure to point out, beat the Yankees for Lee.
The Phillies broke their guidelines of going beyond three years to a pitcher. They moved the payroll to lengths never before dreamed in Philadelphia.
In 2001, the Phillies' payroll was $41.66 million, ranking 24th in the majors, according to USA Today's salary database. That same season, the Yankees' payroll was $112.29 million -- the first time any team crossed the $100-million mark. Boston's was $109.68 million. Los Angeles was $109.11 million.
In 2007, the Phillies' payroll was $89.43 million, ranking 13th in the majors. They made the postseason for the first time since 1993 that year.
And yes, I know you'll say this: But Matt, the Phillies had the fourth largest payroll in 2010, behind just New York, Boston and Chicago. They were already a big-market team before now. To that, I'll say this: If the Yankees or Red Sox had the chance last off-season to hold both Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, would they have done it?
Now, Ruben Amaro Jr. has corrected that mistake, and with the blessing of ownership, has proven the Phillies are indeed in the pantheon of the Yankees and Red Sox. They are an elite big-market team. They have sold out 123 consecutive regular-season games at Citizens Bank Park. They are reaching revenue totals they could have never dreamed of.
Lee turning down more than $20 million extra from the Yankees is a fantastic Philadelphia story. But the more shocking and important story is the revolution of how the Phillies organization is run has taken the biggest step yet.
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Yes, there are actual on-field ramifications to discuss too. We'll tackle some of them here this week and next. Among those topics:
-- How does a 10-man pitching staff sound? OK, fine, 11.
-- Why staying inside for the lefthanded reliever wouldn't be the worst thing ever.
-- Which Phillies free-agent-to-be has had a wonderful off-season? (Hint: He is a reliever and represented by Scott Boras.)
-- The Cole Hamels question: When to sign?
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Because we're in the giving spirit: There will be a Phillies chat with yours truly on Tuesday at 2 p.m. here at The Phillies Zone. Come one, come all. Bring your Christmas lists.
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Just 56 days until pitchers and catchers report to Clearwater, Fla.
We're jockeying between 4th and 5th on Standard Metropolitan Statistical area between the San Fransisco. As far as market size goes, it depends on how you slice it. The Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area (CMSA) of Washington/Baltimore is often considered a single Market, and when combined is significantly larger than Philly. The same thing can be said of the Bay Area. When you include cities like San Jose into the mix, the San Francisco/San Jose CMSA is also larger than Philly. So Matt is correct, we're 6th in CMSA.— UCityGardener- Forget about Metro statistical areas, its misleading and arbitrary. For example Trenton is considered part of metro NYC not Philadlephia.TV advertising basically built this country and Philadlephia is the 4th largest Designated Market Area stretching from Eastern pa., South Jersey, and Del. Its also the largest market with only 1 baseball team....As far as added revenue? Who owns the parking lots surrounding CBP? Is the Phillies? Can they be sold to developers who could turn those parking lots into parking garages,hotels, condos,apartments, restaurants? Id pay good money for a condo on the 30th floor looking down onto the stadium.Such wasted potential down in the stadium district.
— argonne - signing Lee "officially" makes the Phils a big-market franchise?? what were they before the signing? geez...you guys ever think before you write stories?— tdoc
Comment removed.- Merry Cliffmas...
Just received a Christmas card from our old neighbors Dave and Ruby. We had lost touch for awhile, but when we last heard from them, things weren’t going too well. They had built a terrific new place in South Philly and their business was booming but they were having a lot of trouble with their kids. It seems the kids were rebellious and never satisfied with what Dave and Ruby provided them with. There was quite a bit of acrimony and bickering that was tearing the family apart even in good times. Ruby always downplayed the problems and claimed it was just growing pains and every thing would eventually turn out fine. Personally, I had my doubts and thought the kids had turned into spoiled brats. Well Ruby included a nice note with the card saying that everything was wonderful now and the family couldn’t be any happier. Ruby attributes it to the kids finally having grown into mature adults and learning to appreciate what they have. I was thrilled to hear the good news and hope Ruby is right about the kids wising up. However, at the risk of sounding cynical, I just couldn’t help thinking that their new found family joy might just might have more to do with the FOUR HUMMERS parked in their garage right now....— stan the man too - 4th, 5th, 6th what does it matter and who the heck cares. This sounds an awful lot like a "mine is bigger than yours" argument.— nc_bg
- When we get past the sticker shock of this year's payroll, absent any hard figures, we don't have that much money tied up in long term contracts. When it comes to contracts with a total value of more than $100 million in guaranteed money, we only see Cliff Lee and Ryan Howard. The Phillies have displayed a willingness to sign players to high salaries annually (Halladay, Oswalt, Lidge, Ibanez, Howard, Utley), but have not made the long term commitments that other big market teams often make (look at the what the Yankees and Red Sox carry).
Another matter entirely are the ball club's economics. Attendance is great, but fans should expect higher prices across the board if the team continues to spend as much as they are. Other than merchandising and ticket sales, which are already at near full capacity, how exactly will the pie get bigger? The answer may lie in jacking up the price for its games on cable, which that Comcast is surely making a mint on (somebody has to pay for Ricky Bottalico's babies)— tgray83 - The Phillies have always been a big market team, but their tenure at the Vet prevented them from spending like one. The lease agreement really hurt them. Now that Citizens Bank Park is theirs, they have control over revenue. This has provided a much needed financial boost that has catapulted them into the position they are in today. Give credit where credit is due: the Phillies did a great job with the new ballpark and got it right. They are now seeing the results of their hard-earned labor. Good job Phils!— 3rick
- By the way, if you want to see a Phils game, you'd better go to Washington, New York, or Pittsburgh. Plenty of seats there!— 3rick
- Philly area is 5th in population if you take in to consideration an 1 1/2 drive or less, which is reasonable to get to a baseball game. You split #4 SF Bay Area and #3 Chicago in half since they have 2 teams each, Philly is 3rd. Not to mention it's not only the size of teh market, but how many in that market tune in, which is very high.— eres
- Yes, the price of poker will go up because of the increased payroll (ticket prices,concessions,tv subscriptions,etc.). However, I do not get Comcast so I end up following the Phillies on gameday or radio. I actually prefer following them on the radio - 'I've gotten tired of all this vision'. Fans like myself benefit from having a higher payroll (it is more fun following a winning team) and are less impacted by the higher cost of poker.— Beck
- now?— Theo1980
- The overall SanFrancisco Bay Area may be bigger than Phila, but they have two major league teams to support. Well, maybe 1 and 1/2 :)
- The Red Sox do spend but, as a % of annual revenue, perhaps not as "freely" as the 2011 Phils. Matt knows the Red Sox also own their own sports-cable network, NESN. Their annual revenues are HUGE which is why John Henry and Werner paid $750 million for the franchise, when the bought it. As a % of annual revenue, I'd wager the Phils will spend more freely than the Sox next year. Plus, Henry and Werner are two of the richest men in America -- so much so that they dabble in NASCAR and just bought the Liverpool, England soccer franchise, for something like $700 million more. That's No. 1. No. 2: I agree with post-ers who say it was a mistake to trade Lee. All I know is we traded him, got a decent pitcher named Halladay, then a so-so one named Oswalt, went to the NLCS -- and got Lee back. If that's what we call a mistake, let's make a few more. We'll end up with Josh Hamilton in right field and Carl Crawford in left. Keep bumbling, Ruben!— eman
- First of all, Lee didn't take a discount compared to what he would have signed for in 2009. He was throwing numbers like 20 mil a year around so the irony is that the Phillies picked up an additional 16 million a year in payroll(Oswlt) and then signed Lee for a couple million more than he was asking for a year earlier.
I love it, no complaints but you know they wish they signed Lee before, kept a restricted Happ(who went 6-2 for the Astros) and still had that extra money to make sure their line-up stays potent. Again, I am overjoyed by our bounty, but let's not make The Rube something other than, a, well, a rube.— ccheung
