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.
- Hard to say Amaro is wrong before Papelbon ever throws a pitch. Only time will tell the answer to that question.
— rtronce - Ruben keeps over paying and he still has three former major league GM's in the front office advising him. His $125 million first baseman with declining stats starts the season on the DL and then he pays $50 million for a closer who had a higher ERA, fewer wins, more losses the last two years and fewer saves last year than Ryan Madson did. Should be interesting this coming season to track Papelbon and Madson all season long to see if Ruben knows what he is doing.— Dull
- The Phillies were not that high on Madson as some people think, and that includes the manager and pitching coach, who as you might recall say, "did Madson all of a sudden took a course on how to close? when asked early last year why he chose Contreras to close instead of Mad Dog when Lidge was hurt. And apparently the other teams that needed closer weren't too intrigue by his one year as closer. I don't think there was a substantial offer from the Phillies. It looks RAJ wanted Papelbon from the get go. Boras did what he always does, and does better than most agents, trying to get the maximum for his clients. Madson, apparently wasn't perceived as a top-notch closer. After all, he only has 52 saves against 26 blown saves. Papelbon 217 career saves 29 blown saves.— EL Zorro
- The blame for this falls squarely on Madson. Sure Boras is scum who only cares about the highest amount, but since Madson hired him it is obvious that that is all Madson cared about too. Boras is only an extension of who employs him. I don't begrudge either since they were only doing what was best for the parties involved, but this one blew up in their faces..— superturtle
- If I make $250,000/yr the next 34 years I will match Madson's earnings for the next 9 months. Hard for me to shed a tear. Thought a little perspective might be in order.— bmayer1865
- Right on, chiefohara. Clowns like this writer are nothing more than gossip columnists. they actually dont find us out anything we don't know, so they just resort to speculation, rumours, gossip, laughing at the managers accent and good nature, etc. Who botched it is easy enough, Madsen and Boreass.— spittooncj
- It was Madson's decision whether to sign or not. Simple as that.— soybot
Comment removed.- Lot of if there was, if they did, etc. Tell ya what, I'll buy your paper if you report the news. Conlin may be a bad person but at least he dug in, got the story, then reported it.— jimmymack
- Comment removed.
- Rich, your a terrible report. This is easy. The Phillies and Boras were having discussions. We all know RAJ requires everything to be tight lipped or he backs away from a deal. They said exactly that during the Lee talks. Am sure the frame work of a deal was being discussed, Boras the slim he is leaked out the details..4 for $44mil to try and set the market and use it to pry more money out of the Phillies. RAJ walked away from the talks since Boras opened his big fat mouth and went and got a deal done with Paps...btw which you didn't hear about until after the deal happened. Thus leaving RM stuck without a deal. Now send me your check for doing your work for you.— Bleedsgreen
Isn't there enough misery in the world these days? I wonder if the people that post all negative all the time do so because they are just miserable human beings with no life to live and nothing good in their lives. If everything is SO SO wrong why bother at all? It is not that we can't complain from time to time ,but every post gets tired real fast. But I guess that is why you do it, to wear on everyone else. What do you folks do when you are not on line? Kick the dog? Rat on your co-workers? Live at home and leech off Mom and Dad? You have every right to say what you want BUT WHY? I just don't get it. If I ever got that bad I hope someone would put me out of my misery.— DUDESKINS- Botched? This is what Boras wanted, if he wasn't going to get 4 for 40 million Boras would want him to pull in a decent one year deal so he can go back on the market when there aren't as many relievers available. I am sure there were 3-4 year deals for 7-8 million but Boras wanted to make sure he gets the biggest commission possible rather than ensuring his client's future.— ConverseB24
- Doubt whether it's true the Phillies ever put a top shelf deal on the table for Madson, the way they work lately is, they always get their man. They just don't see Madson as a lockdown closer. Instead they wanted the very best closer on the market they could get, and if the price was only a couple of million a year over the going rate, so what? The past two years they went after the very best starters on the market, and they don't seem interested in second best. Are we really in Philadelphia, Toto?— tom c.
- Quixote-STFU— SJDevilBoy
