Let the Aaron Nola cash grab begin!

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As expected, the Phillies decision to call up top pick Aaron Nola is having the initial desired effect - bumping up ticket sales.

With a paid attendance of 28,703, Nola's first major league start (a strong six inning outing with no run support) brought in over 6,000 more fans than the 20,000 to 22,000 the team had been averaging during their current home stand against the Tampa Bay Rays.

Nola's debut couldn't come at a better time for the Phillies from a business perspective. Average paid attendance, which topped off over 45,000 in 2011, is down to just under 25,000 paid fans per game (the team now averages 20,000 empty seats per game). That 44 percent freefall in paid attendance makes them sixth-lowest draw in all of baseball, and only the Marlins average less fans per game in the National League.

Things don't get much better from the broadcast side of things. With a new 27-year TV deal with Comcast worth $2.5 billion set to begin next season, TV viewership has plummeted 65 percent from 2011. An average of 350,000 adults tuned in that year to watch the best season in franchise history. This year, that number has dropped to 112,000.

So is the immediate cash grab by bringing up Nola to a team that will probably lose over 100 games worth losing the right to keep him under club control for an extra year (2021 instead of 2022, if the Phillies were more patient)?

I think David Murphy hit the nail on the head by comparing the Nola situation with Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole:

In 2012, Gerrit Cole was at a similar juncture, cruising through the minor leagues after having been the Pirates' top pick in the previous June's draft, a college pitcher who was considered to be near-major-league-ready the moment his name was called. But rather than rush Cole to the majors in a season that would end with them 18 games out of first place and nine games out of a playoff spot, the Pirates kept him at Double A through the end of the year, finally promoting him a couple of months into the 2013 season.

If they had not exhibited that patience, Cole would be eligible to become a free agent after the 2019 season, and his salary likely would rise to somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 million next year. As it stands now, he will not reach free agency until after the 2020 season, and his 2016 salary will be around $600,000, giving them an extra $4 million to $5 million to spend on a roster that is built to contend (roughly what the Phillies will pay Aaron Harang this season).

Compared to the decision the Pirates faced - Pittsburgh was 10 games over .500 as late as August that year - the Phillies don't have much to think about it. Sure, Nola might very well be the Phillies' third-best starter today, with a 2.04 ERA and a sparkling strikeout-to-walk ratio in six starts at Double A Reading, but what good would that get them - 105 losses instead of 110?

Obviously, we'll have to wait and see how this all plays out, and if Nola can outplay scouting reports predicting he'll land as a solid number three or four starter. Until then, make all checks payable to the "Philadelphia Phillies."