Who botched things for Ryan Madson?
Madson stuck with a 1-year deal
Who botched things for Ryan Madson?
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
Nobody will need to hold a benefit for Ryan Madson. If reports are accurate, he is in the process of doing a 1-year, $8.5 million deal with the Cincinnati Reds. He is safely in the 1 percent. Again, no tears.
But how did this happen?
How did he and agent Scott Boras miscalculate the market so badly?
I still would love to know how the whole Phillies thing went down. Reports stated that a 4-year, $44 million deal with Madson was imminent, and then it suddenly wasn’t. The Phillies went instead for Jonathan Papelbon and for $50 million, and Boras was left to talk about what a strong market still existed for Madson and et cetera.
But was there a real offer on the table to Madson from the Phillies, and if there was, why was it pulled back? If Madson and Boras had said yes at some point in the process, would Madson still have been here?
And who miscalculated the dynamics of the marketplace so badly? Was it Boras, squeezing so hard that the Phillies said ouch? Was it Madson, insisting that he was worth more? Or was there never a real offer on the table, and just discussions that ended when it became clear to the Phillies that they could get Papelbon instead?
If the Phillies thing was real, it was a lot of money, and it came from Madson’s current team. It also was from a team that has, in recent seasons, proven itself to be a market trendsetter. The Phillies -- with Raul Ibanez and Ryan Howard, to name just two -- arrived early and with the keys to an armored car full of cash. They guesstimated the market and they acted first and they were willing to deal with the second-guessers who said they overpaid. In both of those cases, Ibanez and Howard, they likely did overpay and still did not care and still will not care as long as you keep buying tickets at the going rate.
So if there was an offer, or something pretty close to an offer, you wonder what it was like when Madson and Boras discussed it, either face-to-face or on the phone.
Did Boras tell him to sign it? Did Madson want to sign it? Did Boras tell him he could get more from somebody else? Did Madson insist that Boras promised all along to get him more?
In other words, who drove this bus over the cliff?
The spin undoubtedly will be that they decided to take the 1-year deal because the market was lousy, and that if Madson pitches well this season, he will be able to cash in next year -- and it might just turn out that way. But when you do the risk-reward calculation, the risk being carried by Madson is enormous. Pitchers have health issues because that is what they do for a living. Closers have consistency issues because that is the nature of the position, it seems. You pitch in a bullpen, and you do that as your life’s work, and you never know.
Now Madson bears all of that risk and Boras goes about his lucrative business and the Phillies go on with Papelbon. And the rest of us wonder if it was the agent or the client who botched this thing so badly.
- 4 years, $44 million is $4 million a year?
— SFPhillyphan - What I don't understand is the lack of a market for Madson.— 4thand10
- Madson could have had 9 to 10 million in arbitration. In fact he still could. Why take a lesser deal?— sjkolman
- There is no mystery here. Boras severely overvalued his client, and then played his usual game to manipulate the teams that were interested. His machinations are well known. He puts the general outlines of a contract on the table. The other party, in this case the Phillies, comes in with a lower offer. Then Boras goes to another team, and says "we have an offer of 44 milion for 4 years, can you top that?" Then, he leaks to the press that he is discussing 44 million for 4 years with the Phillies, which is the original proposal Boras made, not the one that Amaro countered with. Then Boras tells Amaro that he is discussing Madson with two other teams, who appear to be willing to match the Phillies counteroffer. Ruben, of course, knowing Boras, and knowing what other GMs are really thinking and that no one else would match his offer, which is an overpay anyway, says, "I can't play these kinds of games, I need to lock down a closer now and not be played this way", so he breaks off negotiations with Boras and goes and gets Pap. THERE NEVER WAS AN OFFER OF 44 MILLION FOR 4 YEARS! Get it? Madson will be screwed for life (relatively speaking) if he gets hurt, or has a lousy year. He should fire Boras immediately.— laser5
- To the other poster, Madson cannot still accept an arbitration offer from the Phillies, since he rejected their arbitration offer a month ago. He can't change his mind to accept it now.— laser5
- I count 13 question marks in this piece. It doesn't tell me anything. Please change out of your pajamas and go find out the answers to these questions!— flyrfan17
- laphroaig - Since you posted this twice I'll respond. What makes it obvious to you that Papelbon is on the decline? You toss away the Halladay and Victorino deals as meaningless - Halladay is a Cy Young winner and has been the best pitcher in baseball during his contract here. Victorino was a legit MVP candidate for 5 months last year. So getting those two on cheap deals is not nothing. Anyway, be as negative as you want, and you can certainly debate the merit of giving ANY relief pitcher a deal like this, but the reason the fans generally like Amaro is he addresses the needs we see, he does it with splashy moves, and above all, the team is winning!— Phils Phan 28
- @Shaggy: I hear ya, but Hofman has access beyond the everyday fan's means and should use that advantage to write something informative rather than speculative. It's just a plain lazy effort, one which you or I could pound out, one finger at-a-time, in about 10 minutes, without so much as a single contact, beyond espn.go.com. We deserve more than a missive equal to the effort from some kid's mom's basement, I think.
- IMO, his agent miscalculated the his worth on the open market. NO ONE in MLB besides the Reds made this guy an offer. No one. So it should be said that MLB teams don't think much of him, or didn't think he was worth the asking price. Boras never built demand for him. And that's his job, to create demand for his client. The money takes care of itself in the end.— beegal99
- Madson is NOT a closer, he does not have closer stuff. IF he did, he would've gotten a closer contract, not this 1 year incentive based deal. The only botching going on here is that people think Madson is going to be this great closer. He is NOT. He is a quality bullpen arm with a great changeup. That is all.— SilliBilli
- Its my bet that Boros screwed up. Boros' ego is such that he advises his clients that there is always a better deal, but i think that Amaro snookered Boros this time. Papelbon was the right move. Madson is very good but still unproven as a closer.— FrankJr
Wouldn't Madson made more than that by excepting arbitration????????????— KINGOFZED- The market is still there. The owners are blackballing any Boras clients. He's finished.— RAS
- The story from Boras's side is that RAJ put the offer on the table but said Montgomery had to sign off on it. Montgomery stayed silent and then they got Papelbon.
It's hard to believe there was ever an offer on the table that needed approval from the higher ups because in these cases the higher ups have already told you what their limit is. If Boras believed that, he's a fool.
My guess is that RAJ is getting pats on the back from every other baseball executive for screwing Boras. He's really the first one I can remember doing that.— erformc1 - It was obviously RAJ who misread the market. It's not the first time.— Jeff Dowder
