Pat “the bat” Burrell has officially left the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies and has successfully negotiated a two-year deal worth $16MM with last year’s runner-up, the Tampa Bay Rays.
Burrell who is 32 years old, batted .250 for the World Champion Phillies last season, and tallied 33 homeruns and 86 total RBIs overall in 2008. Burrell has never played for another team except the Phillies in his 9-year career until now.
**Correction: As previously reported: Pat Burrell never did receive a formal offer from the Phillies worth $22MM. The information about the offer was based on a report written by a Philadelphia News Source. A person who remains anonymous contacted RBI Magazine stating the following; “I work for the phillies organization. Pat Burrell was not offered any sort of formal contract. He and the phillies never formally spoke about a new contract.”
Also, MLBTR also confirmed the rumor was started by sloppy reporting from a highly credible Philadelphia News Source that will remain nameless.
Anyway…
How do the Rays benefit from all of this? How about a 3-4-5 consisting of Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena, and Pat Burrell possibly being part of the best offensive line-up in baseball. Don’t you think?
Overall, good move by the Rays! A move that may just sting the Phillies in the “tush” come next season.
can you cite a source for the phils offer?
i read in one of they philly papers (daily news i think) that it was never an official offer and there were never any actual conversations – none…
just curious if you can provide me with a source for that… thanks!
Burrell was not offered 22 million from the Phillies. He wasn’t offered a dime, ever. Why would they add Ibanez at $10 million a year to an already stellar outfield, and then turn around and offer an aging player a franchise record contract?
Just so you know, this is the first article that comes up for me when i search for the Phillies on Google News. You should revise, if possible.
one more…
http://www.philliesnation.com/archives/2008/10/report-burrell-rejects-2y22m-deal/
Outside of the really big free agents like Teixera and Sabathia it really seems like most teams are a lot more reluctant to spend big money on long term contracts. Or maybe it’s just here in LA?
Overheard a radio guy saying the Tampa Bay Rays now have the most potent offense in the NL East…
LA Dodgers Blog,
Thanks for your comment. Long term means commitment and with the economy the way that it is people are scared of monetary commitment.
I think they will have the most potent offense in all of baseball..now image last year’s line-up minus Baldelli with Pat Burrell as the DH. The Rays are going to be a hot team to handle in 2009 mark my words!
As for you and Dodgers; please sign Manny already
and on another note about pat being with tampa next year possibly stinging the phililes next season…Pat is very good at drawing walks..he is probably the best in the big leagues at drawing walks but he also has fatal flaws in his swing…if you pitch low and inside to pat, he’ll kill the ball, if you pitch high in the zone and middle of the plate he’ll pop out every single time, if you pitch middle and out he’ll strike out every time…Pat is consistently the same batter. He has been his entire career…Pat, if he plays the phillies, will do nothing against them because this pitching staff knows him better than anyone. Unless a mistake pitch is made to him, pat will be inaffective against the Phils….pat is pat and he’ll never change…I love the guy but he’ll never change. he’s as predictable as the sun comes up every day…
Pat Burrell is going to make the Rays lineup more potent and hard to handle for AL teams?? HAHA, that is laughable. I love Pat because he is extremely dedicated to his game and NOBODY in major league baseball has a harder work ethic than Pat. I can honestly say that about Pat, he is, without the shadow of a doubt, the hardest working man in baseball. He will bring a good work ethic to the rays and that will be a good example for the young players on the rays, but as far as making it a more potent lineup?? Nah…I dont buy it..I’ll tell you why…Phillies fans had high hopes for Pat to become the player he never became, as you think he’ll suddenly become as a Tampa Ray player…Pat has major flaws in his game that have been worked on numerous times without success. He is proned to major slumps that last for months at a time. Coaching does not help him. He works harder than anyone in baseball to improve his swing but he just can’t translate that into the batter box success. His numbers are hollow. You saying that pat is going to help the rays is the same as people said about Bobby Abreu when he was sent to the Yankees a few years ago from the Phillies…Everyone said how Abreu was going to have new life and was going to succeed in New York and he proved to be the same slumpy, heartless, choke artist player he was in Philadelphia. The only difference between Burrell and Abreu is that Burrell had/has a ton of heart and gave/gives a crap about the game and Bobby Abreu had none and never did…Philadelphia made it wihout Abreu and will flourish without Burrell too…Pat is a heck of a nice guy but it’s time to move on and Tampa better expect nothing more than maybe some good veteran leadership in the clubhouse with Burrell because Burrell can deliver leadership but not consistency…
you seem to know alot would you like to write for us? please email me!