More fire for the hot stove, this time from ESPN’s Jayson Stark…
Here’s one Phillies source on the odds of his team finding a way to keep Jayson Werth: “No chance. None. Zero.” In the end, it might not even be the annual dollars that will force the Phillies to move on. It’s their unwillingness to go beyond three or four years for a player who will turn 32 next May.
The above quote shouldn’t surprise anyone whose been following the path to free agency that Werth walked during the last season, from his unwillingness to comment on his future with the team during Spring Training, to the report that he turned down a mid-season extension, to his post-season press conference that felt like a denouement more than anything else.
But even in light of Stark’s piece and the Phillies “source” who made the comment, let me say one thing: This business happens every single offseason. There is always an unnamed source or a mystery team or an early report that Player X wants to play where it’s warm or that Player Y won’t accept a trade to Team Z. Hell, that’s what happened with Roy Oswalt earlier this season, and lookie what happened there. Point is, take everything you hear with several grains of salt.
Is there a chance that Werth re-signs with the Phillies? Of course there is, just like there is a chance that Cliff Lee signs with the Nationals. It’s not a particularly good chance, but let’s remember that it’s November, and we shouldn’t get caught up in every last rumor/blurb/report that crops up, else it’s going to be an even longer offseason.
Original Story:
http://www.thefightins.com/tr-pierce/...
