Out and about running errands, I caught Ruben Amaro's post-season presser on the radio. Asked if the Phillies wanted to sign Jayson Werth and did they have the money to do so, Amaro immediately answered, "Yes." Will it happen? That depends, he said, on Jayson, his rep Scott Boras, and the details of amount and length. Ah yes, those details. Still it was a somewhat optimistic note. Amaro characterized the season as a successful one with a disappointing ending. Lots more was said, much of it about the state of the club now and going forward. I like Amaro and think he has done a good job, but the challenges never stop.Let's hope he is not considering any of the names floated in a Jim Salisbury piece on csnphilly.com about possible 'replacements' for Werth, such as Burrell, Rowand, Matt Diaz, Jeff Francouer, and Marcus Thames. Was Salisbury joking?
I later caught some of the Roy Halladay presser on TV and was again impressed by the ace, who was looking cool in gunmetal blue. What a total team player. He and Utley epitomize doing whatever it takes to win for the team. Someone asked which of his several accomplishments this year, including the perfect game, the no-hitter, opening day, and a potential Cy Young award, meant the most to him. Halladay responded with one not named: the NL East clinching game, because it was winning for his team and then being able to celebrate that with his teammates.
The Werth presser which followed was quite different as the reporters wanted only to ask him over and over about his pending free agency and Werth was not really interested in talking about it in detail. Werth, wearing a black leather baseball cap backwards, is for sure an interesting guy with a quirky way of thinking and expressing himself. He knows what he wants, and does not want, to say. He too talked about what a remarkable team the Phillies have and how rare it is to be part of something like it, where the core of players have been together for years. Although Philadelphia is where Werth grew into his baseball identity, I got the sad sense that he has come to terms with moving on. Boohoo, boohoo.
