Yesterday the baseball world was abuzz over the reported 4-year, $44 million deal that the Philadelphia Phillies were set to give to Ryan Madson. It's pretty rare for a team to give $11 million annually to a starting pitcher, and it's especially rare for a closer to get that kind of deal.
Ruben Amaro, Jr. couldn't comment on the deal, and we figured his silence wasn't because the contract wasn't finalized, but because he physically couldn't comment. Figured there was probably a cigar in his mouth, lit with a $1,000,000 bill that he paid the Federal Reserve to print just for him for situations just like this. Hard to talk with that thing in your mouth. But it turns out, the deal wasn't done. From Ken Rosenthal:
While SI.com reported that Phillies general partner David Montgomery has yet to approve the supposed agreement, multiple sources said Wednesday that the two sides never reached a deal.
Looks like the closer market hasn't been broken just yet, with the Phillies also talking to* Jonathan Papelbon to keep their options open. Madson is still available, and the Nationals are supposedly interested according to Rosenthal.
* grunting at