NEW YORK -- With every quality start Kyle Lohse makes, the Phillies get closer to earning a playoff berth.And Lohse gets closer to earning a huge contract.
Lohse's agent, Scott Boras, dropped by Shea last night to watch the Phillies beat the Mets in 10 innings and chat with some of his clients. This winter, few will be as important to Boras as Lohse, even though the soon-to-be-a-free-agent right-hander will take a 62-74 career record to the mound with him today against the Mets.
Why the fuss over a sub-.500 pitcher? Well, the market won't exactly be ripe with pitching. Not after Carlos Zambrano and Mark Buehrle signed long-term contracts and avoided free agency. With the increasing demand for pitching and the decreasing supply, average pitchers like Lohse will command big bucks. Add in that Lohse will be only 29 when next season starts, that he has never suffered a major arm injury and that he always has pitched in hitter-friendly ballparks (Minnesota, Cincinnati, and now, Philadelphia), he has qualities that plenty of teams will find attractive.
Had a chance to talk to Boras before last night's game. He didn't discuss specifics about how much money he'll be seeking for Lohse, but my guess is Lohse will get a four- or five-year deal worth $10-12 million per season.
If you were the Phillies, would you pay that price to keep him?
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To me, Jamie Moyer's performance was the most important thing in last night's 3-2 win, so it was the focus of the game story. And, as Martin Frank wrote, it's always about pitching for the Phillies. But let's not forget that Chase Utley hit his 20th homer, giving the Phillies a franchise-record five players with at least 20. Ryan Howard (38), Pat Burrell (28), Jimmy Rollins (27) and Aaron Rowand (23) have already reached that plateau.
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Once a game, the Mets play this video on the left-field scoreboard. If it's not the best between-innings entertainment in the majors, I don't know what is.
4 comments:
Nope.
The best video is at CBP, and features J-Roll talking about his favorite soap opera.
He goes on and on about his fave daytime drama.
Now that's hilarious.
Minaya won't rest until his whole team is full of spanish players. I'll feel bad for Wright in a few years when he'll have no one to talk to because everyone on the team will be speaking spanish. lol.
Hey Lauber, did you see the six brawls in the Shea stands in the late innings on Saturday? It was something to see. In fact,there were times when the eyes of the entire stadium were on the brawls and not the game. The place was crawling with security. It was almost like being at a Flyers game.
slauberfan (love the name, by the way): I did see those brawls. Looks like a Phillies fan got the worst of one in the upper deck in left field. Made me happy that I was in the press box. The NY press corps isn't as tough as some of those fans.
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