Phillies tender contracts to three players

Apparently, in an effort to do nothing more than spite @justin_klugh's earlier report this morning, the Phillies have in fact tendered contracts to three players for 2015.

The Phillies did tender contracts to arb-eligibles Bastardo, Revere, Brown.

— Jim Salisbury (@JSalisburyCSN) December 3, 2014

The Phils likely made the decision and submitted the paperwork prior to last night's midnight deadline, and decided not to announce anything to the press because the PR machine had gone to bed for the night.

That's totally understandable here in the 21st century. No one ever makes news once the sun sets. News only happens in the daytime, kids. That's how we do things here in the sportz newz biz.

Anyway, the decision to tender contracts to Antonio Bastardo, Ben Revere and Domonic Brown were not surprising. And it does not mean these players will automatically be playing for the Phillies in 2015. All three can still be traded, and if the team and players cannot come to an agreement on a contract, their cases will go before an arbitrator.

The amount of the tenders are as yet unknown. But you can expect a raise for all three.

Bastardo made $2 million last year, posting an ERA of 3.94 and striking out 11.39 batters per nine while walking 4.78. With the emergence of Jake Diekman as the team's primary left-handed reliever, the Phillies are looking to trade Bastardo, which probably won't happen until Andrew Miller signs with a team.

Revere made $1.95 million last season and hit .303, becoming the first Phillies player since 1898 to hit over .300 and steal at least 49 bases. However, his subpar defensive metrics, low walk-rate and general inability to do anything more than hit singles has some in the organization questioning his future as the long-term answer in center field.

As for Brown, fans will probably be outraged when he gets a raise from the $500,000 he made last year. He's entering his first year of arbitration, which means they will take into account not only his abysmal 2014 season (.235/.285/.349 with 10 HRs in 512 PAs) but also his All-Star season in 2013 in which he hit 27 home runs. That means he could be in line for a payday of $1.5 to $2 million next year.

In all, these three players could account for $9-12 million of the Phils' payroll next season, if none of them are traded.

However, all three names will likely come up at the Winter Meetings next week.

Finally, in the light of day, the suspense is over.

Return to your normally scheduled lives.