Cheapskate Phillies drive away another superstar

Lost amid all the recent signings, arbitration talk and speculation that the champs will have one of the league's highest payrolls this year, is the contract dispute between the Phillies and a key part of their championship team.

This guy is already gone, so there's nothing the Phillies can do to rectify this injustice.

But consider the state of the Phillies before this superstar came to town:

-Charlie Manuel was a bumbling oaf who couldn't double switch his way out of a paper bag. Now, Cholly's a beloved champion.

-The Phillies were a bunch of underachievers in a long playoff and even longer championship drought. Now, they're proven winners - models of heart and homegrown talent.

-A bulldog named Elvis roamed the field. Now, he's gone to Florida.

The vital cog to the Phillies championship who left town over a few hundred thousand dollars? Jimy Williams. Jimy friggin' Williams? When he left, I figured he just wanted to retire. I had no idea he was a prima donna who wants credit for the Phillies success:

A big part, apparently. Speculation abounds that Williams asked for money closer to the $1.5 million being paid to Manuel than to the salaries paid to other Phillies coaches. Most certainly Williams saw himself as a co-manager over the last 2 years, a belief that Manuel's egoless manner did not tame. Indeed one of the more poignant clips following Brad Lidge's final pitch is of Manuel hugging Williams and saying something to him in his ear.

Unreal, but a fascinating column by Sam Donnellon in the Philadelphia Daily News. Much better than Phil Sheridan's offering, which tries to get at the psychology behind fans caring about athletes' salaries, before realizing it's human nature to gossip about money and that there are some fans who realize that an overpaid superstar could drain resources from the rest of the roster.

Poor showing

Jacoby Ellsbury finished third in the AL Rookie of the Year voting announced today. You could argue that his showing mirrored where the Red Sox ultimately ended up. I'm not certain, however, that Ellsbury deserved to finish that high. His showing might have more to do with his play in last year's World Series than this season. Although this year was disappointing for him, I still have high hopes.

The Phillies had no viable Rookie of the Year candidates, although Christine's preseason pick, Geovany Soto, won it in the NL. This year's winners, Soto and Evan Longoria, were about as clear-cut as you can get, but the NL voting was a travesty that won't get any attention because it didn't cost a deserving winner.

Under the vote totals is an asterisk: *(Edinson) Volquez received votes despite being ineligible as a rookie. What the (insert your favorite Chase Utley word here)? About halfway through the season, I wondered why Volquez wasn't getting any ROY buzz. So I looked it up and saw he shed his rookie status last year. Three writers, whose jobs it is to know stuff like this, couldn't be bothered to do the same.

I bet they'll overlook Cole Hamels in the Cy Young vote that is announced tomorrow. OK, postseason doesn't count, so he doesn't deserve it. He'll have to be content with his NLCS and World Series MVPs.

One Phillie who does deserve an award is Charlie Manuel, but he's getting no hype. Sports Weekly (it finally arrived Saturday) had its writers pick the awards. Where did Cholly rank? I can't tell you; they list only the top three. Yeah, Lou Piniella and Joe Torre had much better seasons.

Other news: Brad Mills is interviewing for the Mariners job. So is DeMarle Hale and Alex Cora's brother Joey. John Farrell isn't. Scott Eyre is coming back to Philly. Jimy Williams isn't. And it looks like Matt Holliday won't be coming to town.

{My theory on Williams: Maybe he thought he would be next in line for the manager's job if Manuel were ever fired. Well, it's clear that Cholly won't be fired and won't be going anywhere, so maybe Williams decided it was time to cut his losses.}

(s)He's coming ...

Camps for the Sox and Phils have been relatively quiet save for Curt's injury and the speculation over Ryan Howard's contract.

We could, however, see a shakeup soon as Kris Bensen is supposed to arrive today. Todd Zolecki has no word whether Anna is coming with him.

The big stories of the day include a puff piece on Tim Wakefield, noting how his two selfless acts - sacrificing an ALCS start to save the bullpen in '04 and giving up a spot on the World Series roster in '07 because of uncertain health - helped win championships. We also get a brief Phils connection with former Sox manager and current Phillies bench coach Jimy Williams.

I've always felt like the team came first. I remember Jimy Williams telling me one time, 'Wake, when you finally leave this game, the only thing you're going to take with you is your reputation.' It makes a lot of sense. The numbers aren't going to mean anything.

The thing that I want to take away from this game when I do leave, whenever that may be, is, was I a good teammate? I think that's the most important thing to me. Was I a good teammate? Was I helpful to the young kids? Was I a leader as a veteran? Things like that. Those are important to me.

Over in Clearwater, Ryan Howard didn't get to host his press conference, but he still spoke, saying all the right things.

I'm focused on trying to come out here and get better and get ready for the season. All the other stuff, all the outside stuff, that's outside. I'm here. I'm working. I'm going to try to be the best I can for the team.

It's nice that our players don't have to be answering for the actions of their teammates.

Oops: The little Benson blurb notes how Ryan Howard and Prince Fielder are bad fielders. In my Baseball Mogul game (haven't played much lately) I did sign Fielder to bring some youth and right-hand balance to the Utley-Howard heart of the order. But Fielder's a lefty - guess I have the picture of his dad engrained in my memory. Oh well, we'll roll with the three stud lefties, then see if we can get a good righty for Howard next year.