I think that was offered during the season. My guess is that they saw it the same way you did, and put it forward to, one, create a paper trail that they made at least a token effort to retain him, and two, get a sense of what it might take to sign him.

Personally I would be very hesitant to offer more than two years plus an option to Pat. But that dollar figure is obviously too low. Something like 2/$28m with an option or buyout seems right. He might or might not take that right now; it seems like the teams are waiting to see what happens with Manny Ramirez to set the market, more or less.

While it sounds insulting, teams aren’t going to start out offering what they’re willing to pay. Of course, there’s always the possibility he views it as an insult and shuts down negotiations, but that clearly isn’t the case, as there are already reports of the Phillies working to draw up a new offer. I think it’s 50/50 at best that he stays, but I actually doubt he’ll be lured away by a mega-offer, as I’m coming up empty on who his other suitors would be once better and/or cheaper guys like Ramirez, Dunn, Bradley and Ibanez are off the market.