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I agree with you on Feliz: his contract is acceptable considering he plays gold-glove D and so far is on pace for exactly the amount of offense everyone thought he’d produce (in the area of 20 HR, 80 RBI).

And I agree on Jenkins. He is this year’s Wes Helms/David Bell/Lance Parrish. (Do other teams annually carry an overpriced loser the way we do?)

so thats basically 20mm freed up. that will get you chad durbin and pat burrell. if they trade for starter that money has to be taken into account. sabathia is worth 20mm per year, but ill bet they take the draft picks for him if they trade for him. werth and victorino will get salary boosts.

um, they HAVE to get rid of geoff jenkins. next year he will make 6.75mm, WaY too much for the garbage performances he turns in. he has an 8mm option for 2010. just a terrible contract. they have to liverate themselves of some of that. im thinking theyll have to pay at least half his salary to someone to get him out of here in the offseason.

you seriously cannot bring him back for that amount of money, he isnt worth 1mm let alone 7.

feliz is actually signed cheaply 3mm this year, 5mm next year, club option for 2010. theyre hoping hewitt or someone will be prepared to replace him by then. considering his defense and rbi numbers, i can live with that for another season or two. thats a decent contract actually.

if so taguchi is still on the team after this year, he has an option for next year which can be bought out for 125k (see ya pal).

so, theyll have some money next year if they take the right steps to keep a few more guys and jettison some garbage that is still floating around the payroll.

I would even trade Victorino, Myers and Donald for CC and hopefully the Indians bite. There is a good article on foxsports.com that lists us as being the darkhorses and Gillick’s stealth move of snagging David Cone who pitched them to the WS that year. He will do it again….

Another curious hit and run question from Mr. Michael. What does Howard have to prove? Sure, we all like to see Howard cut down on his strikeouts and improve his BA and OBP. However, that is of lesser concern(s) to me than his fulfilling the primary role of a 4 hole hitter in the lineup. Brian, what do think is the main responsibility for Howard in the lineup?

The obvious answer is to drive in runs for which there is no one better than Howard in the NL. He leads the league with 76 RBIs. 64 of those RBIs came with runner on base (56 with RISP). He leads ALL hitters in the lineup with a .340 BA for RISP.

Personally, I’ll tolerate his strikeouts and low BA so long as he delivers in the clutch as he done all season.

I thought that money was off the books already?

Burrell is the enigma, but it depends on how much he’s willing to take (i.e. possible hometown discount) and what they have to pay the top-of-the-rotation starter we’re all hoping they get. Not to mention what options for a replacement present themselves (an everyday Jenkins doesn’t do it for me).

Either way, this is good news.

I would only trade Howard straight up for CC if the Phillies could sign him, and for no more than 5 years guaranteed.