Phillies Have Very Little Money Left to Spend in 2011

There is going to be a ground swell of "re-sign Jayson Werth" and "sign Cliff Lee" calls this off-season.  Before you participate, know this: the Phillies have $146 million committed to only 16 players next season:  [Philly.com]

Under Contract Through 2011

(figures in millions)

Ryan Howard $20

Roy Halladay $20

Roy Oswalt $16

Chase Utley $15

Raul Ibanez $11.5

Brad Lidge $11.5

Cole Hamels $9.5

Joe Blanton $8.5

Jimmy Rollins $8.5

Shane Victorino $7.5

Placido Polanco $5.25

Ryan Madson $4.5

Danys Baez $2.75

Carlos Ruiz $2.75

Ross Gload $1.6

Brian Schneider $1.5

$31 million tied up between Lidge, Ibanez, and Blanton.  Yikes.

The $146 million is $6 million over their self imposed cap for 2010– meaning the Phillies will have very little flexibility when it comes to adding big name free agents during the off-season since they still have to round out the roster with nine additional players.

Those nine will include Domonic Brown, Ben Francisco, Kyle Kendrick, and Antonio Bastardo, who are very cheaply under the Phillies control.  And the Astros kicked in $11 mil for Oswalt.  So while it's not quite as bad as it first sounds, don't go expecting the return of Cliff Lee.