Ruben Amaro doesn't mess around. When faced with 7 players who were arbitration-eligible, Amaro swiftly signed 6 of them and avoided the hassle of arbitration. The latest to sign was Chad Durbin, relief ace and possible spot starter.
Durbin signed a 1 year deal with the Phillies worth 1.65 million. Signing him allows the Phillies to bring back every player from their solid 2008 bullpen. Durbin will continue to play a key role in the 7th and 8th innings as a bridge to Brad Lidge. His ability to come in at any point in the game and get several outs or just a few is invaluable to the Phillies.
The Durbin signing leaves just one Phillie left to deal with, but he's the big one. Ryan Howard is the final arbitration-eligible Phillie and his deal won't be done any time soon. Nice work Amaro, now you just have one more hurdle to get over.
How would you spend Howard's millions?
ReplyDeleteThis is how we would- http://morehardball.blogspot.com/2009/01/what-i-would-do-with-18-million.html