Some Phillies Links for You, September 24, 2010: Lazy Eating, Long-Range Planning, Ruben Roster Master

sigh; I could’ve done without the latter half of this sentence from Conlin’s article: “That includes Placido Polanco, who couldn’t wait to return to the team that traded him away for a setup reliever now living in confined quarters provided by Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez.”

I don’t really like the idea of a pitcher as MVP. I know the rules allow it and it has happened in the past, but there’s already an award for most valuable pitcher. Maybe if there’s no standout position player and there’s a pitcher who has truly transcendent numbers (think Pedro ‘99 here), but while Halladay’s having a phenomenal year, it’s never going to be mentioned among the best pitcher-seasons of all time.

In a recent article, it was mentioned that (as opposed to the SNY, YES, and for that matter in a different way the Braves and other teams) the Phils decided to get out of the equity arrangement with Comcast in the early 2000s. In exchange for Montgomery et al’s equity, the Phils retained advertising rights while Comcast retained broadcast rights, the deal for Comcast ostensibly for the increased fees that they could procure from subscribers.

This sounds like MBA-speak, except that by retaining the advertising rights, the Phils gain all of the upside when ratings increase, since advertisers pay more when ratings increase. In short, more $$$$. This may have been a minor factor when the Phils went out and got Oswalt…the budget could be increased by just a marginal amount, at least for next year. And if this is true, and if Roy 2 is as important to the playoff success as we think he might be, this is a serious win-win for management and fans. Maybe not so much for Comcast.

Of course, a 15 rating is probably still not enough to back up the truck for the bags full of $$ Boras will want. :-((