Chase Utley signs a mega-deal

by Jeff Sackmann on Jan 21, 2007 11:11 AM CST in Transactions

I know we all want Rickie Weeks to come back from injury and turn into our long awaited super-stud second baseman, but that could mean ponying up in the not-too-distant future:

Chase Utley and the Phillies agreed to a seven-year, $85 million extension Sunday, avoiding salary arbitration. The extension covers the final three arbitration seasons for Utley and his first four seasons of free agency.

Wow.

If Utley keeps developing, that'll be a steal. The risk, of course, is that it's nearly $100M to a guy with only two full seasons under his belt. One thing that makes Rickie's situation potentially different is that Utley has never really had injury problems.

In other transactions news, Tomo Ohka may finally make a decision between the Nationals, Pirates, or Blue Jays. If I were Ohka, I'd go for Washington: good pitcher's park and not in the AL East--he may not get a ton of wins, but he could rack up some pretty ERAs that will help him make some money next time around.

Also, Cliff Floyd may be signing with the Cubs, at long last. It's this kind of move that reminds me not to worry about Jim Hendry--just when it looks like he's putting a nice team together, he punts on defense (Alfonso Soriano may move to center) in order to bring in someone to platoon with Matt Murton, who doesn't need a platoon partner. Brilliant!

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I hope

that Rickie plays well enough over the next couple years to earn that type of extension.

by Dutch on Jan 21, 2007 11:18 AM CST reply actions

Utley

At least he's getting paid for a promising future. I guess I'd rather do that for someone with Utley's potential than pay umpteen millions for the past performances of, say, Doug Davis. Or Gil Meche.

Question: if Weeks's agent says Rickie would sign a similar deal, would you pay him? As Jeff notes, the deal is good if Utley can stay healthy, something Rickie hasn't been good at so far.

"C'mon, boys, let's get 'em some RUNS!" --- Daron Sutton, pretty much every game of the 2005 season.

by roguejim on Jan 21, 2007 8:22 PM CST reply actions

the baby bears

what's so nice about this offseason is watching the cubs spend all this cash and all the while knowing that they won't make playoffs anyway.

they are the cubs. they will find a way to blow it.

by Griswald on Jan 21, 2007 9:40 PM CST reply actions

On second thought

I guess this is obvious to most people, but Utley is light years ahead of Weeks right now. I hadn't realized just how good his stats are. Over the past two years, he's averaged 30 HR/.300 BA/15 SBs a season. He's a freakin' monster, not to mention an all-star. Plus, the deal takes him until he's 35, which is probably at the end of his usefulness. I think this is a steal for the Phils.

Although he's younger (and faster), we'd be pretty lucky if Weeks can even approach Utley numbers throughout the rest of his career. It's not an entirely fair comparison, but Utley had 400 major-league ABs before 2005, when he pretty much exploded with his obscene (.900+ ops) statistics. Rickie will have had 800 ABs by the middle of April 2007, and we're still waiting. Again, not entirely fair, but, well, there it is.

It's not like time is running out on Weeks, really --- he could goof off for the next two years, and if he put it together in 2009, he'll be the same age as Chase was in 2005. Plus, he's actually shown some really good progress before his latest injury. Still, it's a lot easier to get behind a mega-contract for Utley than a similar one for Weeks right now.

"C'mon, boys, let's get 'em some RUNS!" --- Daron Sutton, pretty much every game of the 2005 season.

by roguejim on Jan 22, 2007 10:52 AM CST reply actions

Utley

He's also pretty good on defense. A legit MVP candidate were Pujols not a space alien.

by battlekow on Jan 22, 2007 4:48 PM CST up reply actions

Rickie Weeks

Weeks has mega-star written all over him. Reminds me a lot of a young Gary Sheffield, albeit probably without the same power potential. Quick, compact stroke and lightning fast wrists. He should routinenly vie for the batting title at some stage. If he can stay healthy, he's going to be one of those guys signed to an enormous $100 million plus contract in the not too distant future. Enjoy him while he's in Milwaukee, because I have a hunch his stay will be all too brief because of the dollars and cents.

by cubbiebrewerfan on Jan 23, 2007 8:49 AM CST reply actions

Too true.

I agree with you on this one. But hey, I'm not completely ruling out the possibility that we might sign him in the future. But that will limit our flexibily of signing the Prince, or Cappy, or Hardy. I'd say that Prince may be the one to sign, but I might be wrong.

by Tim @ Brew Crew Ball on Jan 23, 2007 3:53 PM CST up reply actions

Jeff made the big time!

Really!

"C'mon, boys, let's get 'em some RUNS!" --- Daron Sutton, pretty much every game of the 2005 season.

by roguejim on Jan 25, 2007 5:06 PM CST reply actions

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