Happy Thanksgiving 2011

   


It’s Thanksgiving 2011, I was going to award some holiday ‘Turkey’ awards to a couple players for their play in this past season’s Division Series, they know who they are and I think the reader does as well. But today, I’ll remember a happier time back in 2008 when the Phils won it all.

Now it’s been 3 seasons since the Phillies won the World Series in 2008. We’ve seen a lot of change from that team that won it all, the Phillies team isn’t what it was back then and today I think it’s worth a look back at that team and what was going on back then.

The Phils of 2008 had the 12th highest Opening Day payroll of all MLB teams to start off the season at $98M. In the past 3 years since winning the WS, the Phillies payroll has skyrocketed. In fact, last year the Phillies were second only to the Yankees with an incredible $172M reported payroll from the Associated Press reports. The Yankees were just over that at $201M.

This year the St. Louis Cardinals won it all, they were 11th on the list of top payroll teams in 2011. Their opponent, the Texas Rangers were 13th at $92M on the list for this past season. Is their a correlation between a team having players that aren’t all making millions of dollars and winning championships?

Here's a video podcast that I did back in 2008 just after the Phillies won it all, don't you think Pat Burrell should have accepted that offer from Phillies to extend his contract if in fact that ever happened? Much debate is still circling about if the Phillies ever offered him anything after 2008. He would have remained a Phillie and possibly took his stock higher but opted to leave and never regained the superstar status he had with the Phillies. He did go onto the Tampa Rays though and made $16M for 2 seasons in 2009 and 2010. Not a bad couple years of 'work'.

arbitration offered to 3 phillies for 2012

Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Madson, and Raul Ibanez were all just offered arbitration which means that these players could agree to have their salary arbitrated for a period of one year and if they accept that, they may remain with the Phillies. If they leave the team, the Phillies would be getting some compensation in the form of improved draft pick positions.

season ticket and regular ticket prices to rise in 2012

Season tickets prices have gone up again, as will regular season ticket prices. In fact, since 2004 when Citizens Bank Park opened, the ticket prices have nearly doubled in price in all areas. More on this in the coming months of the off-season. The team is doing well now and no one seems to mind about the price increase now, but if the bubble bursts and the Phillies turn into a mediocre team down the road, we could see a situation where the 76ers are at now. For now though, it’s Thanksgiving, a time of holiday celebration and good cheer.