"I literally couldn't pay him enough, skip." Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

“I literally couldn’t pay him enough, skip.” Photo Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Ruben Amaro has managed to offer a contract and option structure so ridiculous and absurd that even its beneficiary – in this case, A.J. Burnett – couldn’t, in good conscience, accept it.

As you’ve probably heard, last night it was reported that A.J. Burnett declined to exercise his $12.75 million player option with the Phillies for 2015. It may have come across your timeline or TV screen as a simple if not somewhat surprising news nugget, but I’m not sure it’s getting its just due. Burnett is 37 and coming off a truly terrible season – 8-18, 4.59 ERA, 1.40 WHIP and led the league in losses, walks and earned runs – in which he admitted that he felt like “horseshit.” His chances of getting anywhere near eight figures from another team are non-existant. A simple nod of the head and he could’ve earned nearly $13 million to cruise to his career’s finish line in Philly. But nope. In just a few short years, the Phillies have gone from a destination-discount team (Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee) to one in which aging middling players would rather lose millions than play for. Burnett, presumably, wants to play for a contender. Or, if not, retirement probably isn’t out of the question.

Good news: the Phils save some money in spite of Amaro’s best efforts to the contrary. Of course, Burnett, who had the rare double option in his contract (of course he did!), still receives $1 million because the Phillies declined their half of the mutual option.