Sources: Free-agent catcher Carlos Ruiz re-signing with #Phillies.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 18, 2013
Chooch es back.
Oh God. It’s going to be four years, isn’t it?
UPDATE: Matt Gelb reports it’s a three-year, $26 million deal. Whyyyyyyyy?
There was reportedly a two-year, $20 million deal on the table. So the Phillies offered an extra year and $6 million more.
UPDATE 2: The Phillies may have outbid themselves. From Todd Zolecki, last week:
But the process has been interesting to follow. FOXSports.com reported this week that Ruiz’s agent told one team his client has a two-year, $20 million offer on the table. Some speculated it could be the Red Sox. Some speculated it could be the Rockies. In fact, the Denver Post reported that Colorado made a two-year, $15 million offer, but has since moved on. The Rockies had no desire to meet or exceed that price.
Interestingly, nobody considered the Phillies might have made the $20 million offer.
UPDATE 3: The Phils’ offer reportedly includes a team option for a fourth year, according to Gelb:
The deal, a source said, includes a $4.5 million club option for a fourth season.
UPDATE 4: Jayson Stark says the Rockies were in it… until they realized three years and more than $20 million is just silly for a 35-year-old (when season starts) catcher coming off a sharp decline following a PED suspension:
I've heard #RedSox were in Ruiz negotiations right to the end. It appears #Phillies guaranteed 3rd year & hiked AAV to keep him.
— Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) November 18, 2013
UPDATE 5: Idle thought: The Phillies have signed a 36-year-old former PED user coming off a mysterious power surge in a contract year to a two-year deal, and a 35-year-old catcher, also suspended for PEDs, coming off the worst year in five seasons to a three-year deal. It’s November 18.
Anyway, let’s separate Amaro’s ineptitude from the fact that Ruiz is adorable. CHOOOOOOCH.
37 Responses
Guy is one of the best in the MLB, I don’t have this move, probably one of the smart ones Ruben has done in a long time.
Couldn’t agree more.
Had to keep Chooch.
Money well-spent, IMO. It should give Tommy Joseph or Valle time to grow into the role of successor too. (Heck, if Marlon Byrd is worth $8 million/season, Chooch is easily worth that much!)
THANK YOU BABY JESUS
Signed Chooch 4 years 35 million.
too much for a guy who is in decline offensively. too…fuckin…much.
I don’t give a shit if he bets .220 this year…he knows how to handle the staff and that’s the catcher’s primary responsibility. Roy has sung his praises for years, and it’s about time everyone see what he sees. A great game managing catcher is priceless, and they’re hard to find.
i agree to a point but Yadier Molina makes 7 million a year and was almost MVP last year …….. it’s still too much money, sounded like all we had to do was offer 2yr 21 million with a 3rd year team option for 4.5 and he would have stayed…especally if it’s true that Boston wasnt offering more than 2yr 20 mil. and if that’s true, are we overvaluing him?
agreed
Gelb is wrong
If Marlon Byrd is worth $8m per year for 2 years, Chooch is (hopefully) worth $8.66m per year for 3.
Great minds think alike. You beat me to it.
It’s a no-brainer, IMO.
You can’t use Marlon Byrd’s salary as a standard. We were the only ones that would have paid him that much.
Using Marlon Byrd’s signing as a benchmark for anything is a good way to demonstrate how clueless you are
I don’t hate this move entirely, but as usual in Philly, it’s for too long and too much money.
The Phillies trying to steal the Eagles spotlight with resigning of old man Ruiz.
Chase Utley 35yrs old
Jimmy Rollins 35yrs old
Ruiz 35yrs old
Ryan Howard 34yrs old
talk about the over the hill gang(SMDH).
still time to steal A-Rod away from Yanks for CHEAP
And resign 37yr old Roy Halladay,whose velocity is down to around the mid 80’s he’ll fit right in with the rest of the washed up has beens that the Philles covet so much.
Good thing they traded Pence for that young catching prospect. This roster in 2016 is going to be incredible.
who else should they have targeted? they need a C. Chooch is the best fit for now. no one else out there.
How about Brian Mccann? The Braves pitching staff does pretty well with him behind the plate and he can actually provide a little offense.
This team will be even worse than it was last year. Club option makes no difference to me. Rube will hopefully have been fired by then and the new GM will cut the 100 year-old-catcher loose.
Yea. Because we can afford to pay another player $100 million over the next 5 years. Lets bring in another $18-20 million a year player. Lets go buy Brian McCann and ignore all other positions on the field.
After Sandberg took over this club, Ruiz became the hottest bat in the lineup. We get to keep Chooch as our stop-gap for the next 2-3 years since no one in the minors wants to step up and take his spot (I’m begging for Tommy Joseph or Rupp to play out of their minds next year). He’s as hard a worker as this team has had and he gives you everything when he plays.
Overpayment, absolutely. But given our recent history of contracts, are we really surprised?
Note: If Howard’s monster contract wasn’t on our books, I’d be happy to have McCann on it. He is a great player, but his premium is unreal.
Win-win.
We get Chooch for next season (where there wasn’t a better, less expensive alternative). He’s great with the pitchers, and that’s all we need from him. Win.
It’s a ridiculous deal in terms of the years, and hopefully it makes RAJ look even worse, sooner, and they fire him quicker. Win.
Old & cooked. typical raj signing
Kyle Scott go hang yourself. you dont get the right to call chooch adorable after talking shit on him the whole article. Would you prefer they signed Mccann for 300 mil? i bet youd love it if Mccann tied you up with that queer tie you wear in your signature pic and tickled you with his beard.
This team should be fun to play as in MLB The Show 14
This is insane! This farm system is embarrassingly sparse in every single position EXCEPT CATCHER. I can’t even begin to fathom the thought process here. To take the one area where we will have MLB ready talent in a year and sign a 35 year old to a 3 year deal should be the final nail in RAJ’s coffin.
Blog, blog, blog, blog….Phillies suck, worst signing ever, blog blog blog blog. We want the best available option out there and then bitch when the Phillies get it. Blog blog blog blog….I’m never happy and have a 2 year old redesign my logo..blog blog blog.
Not sure what the deal is with continuously calling Ruiz a PED user. He was suspended for using adderall, which he now has a prescription to use.
Please. He was hitting the leaded coffee. Nothing wrong with that – the entire sport ran on the stuff until recently – but the fact that they’re going to nail him if he does it again means that he’s just another old man offensively.
Resign = to quit
Re-sign = to sign again; bring back
And George Carlin would tell you to go fuck yourself because they actually just signed him. No need for the “re-.”
If you applaud the signing of a 35 year old catcher to a three year deal, that alone is enough to make your opinion invalid. Nevermind the fact he’s an abvious PED fraud and that the rest of the team is just as old..
This is a terrible signing and is as bad as the Marlon Byrd signing. They have plenty of catchers in their farm system. Now they will have Chooch on the books until he is 38. The guy probably doesn’t have knees to last him past this season let alone another 3. The Phillies are a complete joke with Amaro running the show.
Yeah, the Phils do have plenty of catchers in the minors, problem is, none of them are any good:
Tommy Joseph: Derailed by concussions
Sebastian Valle: Can’t hit out of a wet paper bag with a chainsaw
Cameron Rupp: Too raw, not ready for the Show
I’m no fan of resigning Ruiz, mainly because of the years, not the money, but Ruben had no choice because the free agent options were too expensive (McCann), too douchey (Pierzynski) or too lefthanded (Saltalamacchia).
2 yrs. as starter. 1-2 yrs. as back-up to Rupp/ Joseph. Reasonable salary. No better fit on the market. So…
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO though!!!!!!!!!!
joseph is done as a catcher. hes had his bell rung to many times. So why do you boo? youd rather see a quintero/kratz platoon?
Just like the Flyers inking Kimmo for another year at a ridiculous number, they had to do this just so they weren’t completely fucked if he walked.
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