The Phillies (literally) cut their losses today and released "pitcher" Adam Eaton, swallowing the $9 million remaining on Eaton's contract in the process. The Phillies' willingness to consume that much salary is as impressive, as the initial Eaton signing was ill-advised. (Apparently, they sold enough 2008 World Champions paperweights in the offseason to make this a financially viable option.) Their decision to commit $24.5 million over 3 years to a pitcher coming off a 65 IP, 5.32 FIP season had been rather baffling. But the Phillies made the right choice on Eaton today.
However, this choice was not without some possible negative repercussions. Repeating as Champions will be quite difficult, as the Braves, Mets, and Cubs have all improved in the offseason. Not to mention the three AL East powerhouses, any of whom would be a tough World Series opponent. Wouldn't repeating be all the more challenging, all the more sweeter, with Eaton on board for 32 starts? Eaton's projections call for another FIP in excess of 5, and those projections may not even consider that Eaton managed to have a 2008 FIP of 6.28 in AA. Winning the pennant with that kind of suckitude making 20% of the starts would be an accomplishment of historical proportions. Fortunately, with the free agent acquisition of Chan Ho Park, this achievement is still within reach.
Eaton will always be remembered for his greatest moment as a Phillie, on the mound in Colorado, on July 8, 2007. Hopefully, new acquisitions Park and Ibanez will handle themselves as brilliantly, as courageously, as Adam Eaton did on that fateful day. You'll always be remembered fondly in Colorado, Adam. In Philadelphia, not so much.
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