Remembering Madson’s career with the Phillies

Madson had the Phillie mentality, didn’t get the chance to show us his best possibly

It was the end of an era for Ryan Madson and his Phillies career on Thursday as he declined the Phillies offer for arbitration that would have kept him in Philly for one more season. Madson had been patient with the Phillies his whole career, he was a brilliant set-up man for Brad Lidge when Lidge was the rock solid closer for the Phillies, and now Madson and Lidge appear to be gone from the Philadelphia Phillies landscape.

The Phillies never seemed too content with making Madson their rock solid closer. Though he has earned the right to be that closer with the Phillies by now, something just didn’t click with that happening. Last year, some closing duties were handled by younger players who did a wonderful job, when he was needed though, it was Madson who generally shined through with the experience and toughness that a closer needs.

Madson’s career in Philly started in 2003, when he pitched for a cup of coffee in 2 innings as a 22 year old. The following year saw Madson appear in 52 games and accumulate a 9-3 record. The following year in 2005, Madson had a 6-5 record in 78 appearances with the Phillies, his season era was elevated to 4.14 and the following year the Phillies tried out Madson as a starter.

In 2006, Ryan Madson started 17 games for the Phillies. The same year he also saved 2 games for the Phillies. His record ended that year at 11-9 with a 5.69 era. Not exactly what the Phillies thought of a resounding success with his re-launch as a starter.  After the 2006 season, Madson would again go to the pen and became a steady guy out of the bullpen for the Phillies.

I think what hurt the most with Madson and the Phillies having the confidence in making him their everyday closer was the fact that prior to last year, Madson really didn’t have all that many saves to his credit. In the 9 years that Madson pitched for the Phillies (including his first season of 2 IP), Madson had a grand total of 52 saves, of which he earned 32 alone last year. Is he a set-up man who can close or that closer that a team relies on to go out and earn you that save?

Not taking anything away from Madson, he was very steady most of the time and he really fit his role with the Phillies well. He may have been well to accept that arbitration year for what it was. He’s already earned $15.5M in the game of baseball already, but the lure of bigger money on the horizon is what he and his agent is now after. Is Madson the closer that most people think he can be? I kind of think he’s ready to make that step but will some team lay serious money on the line to find out? That remains an issue that is still yet to be resolved.

Madson's 9 year career numbers with the Phillies:

Year	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB
1998	3	3	.500	4.83	12	10	0	0	54.0	57	38	29	5	20	MTV · APPY
1999	5	5	.500	4.72	15	15	0	0	87.2	80	51	46	5	43	BAT · NYPL
2000	14	5	.737	2.59	21	21	0	0	135.2	113	50	39	5	45	KAN · SALL
2001	9	9	.500	3.90	22	21	0	0	117.2	137	68	51	4	49	CLW · FLOR
2002	16	4	.800	3.20	26	26	0	0	171.1	150	68	61	11	53	REA · EL
2003	12	8	.600	3.60	28	28	0	0	165.0	168	75	66	9	44	SWB,CLW · IL,FLOR
2003	0	0		0.00	1	0	0	0	2.0	0	0	0	0	0
2004	0	0		4.50	2	1	0	0	2.0	3	2	1	1	2	REA · EL
2004	9	3	.750	2.34	52	1	14	1	77.0	68	23	20	6	19
2005	6	5	.545	4.14	78	0	10	0	87.0	84	44	40	11	25
2006	11	9	.550	5.69	50	17	8	2	134.1	176	92	85	20	50
2007	0	0		0.00	2	0	1	0	3.0	3	0	0	0	0	REA · EL
2007	2	2	.500	3.05	38	0	9	1	56.0	48	19	19	5	23
2008	4	2	.667	3.05	76	0	14	1	82.2	79	29	28	6	23
2009	5	5	.500	3.26	79	0	28	10	77.1	73	29	28	7	22
2010	0	1	.000	3.18	5	0	0	0	5.2	4	2	2	1	2	CLW,REA,LHV · FLOR,EL,IL
2010	6	2	.750	2.55	55	0	21	5	53.0	42	16	15	4	13
2011	0	0		0.00	1	1	0	0	1.0	0	0	0	0	0	CLW · FLOR
2011	4	2	.667	2.37	62	0	46	32	60.2	54	16	16	2	16
9 Seasons	47	30	.610	3.59	491	18	150	52	630.0	624	268	251	61	191
162 Game Avg.	6	4	.610	3.59	66	2	20	7	84	83	36	34	8	26

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/9/2011.