Personal favorite Phillies by position

[zambonir]

yeah, I definitely think that's true. Not universally, but many an artist and athlete bring a focus to it that makes them sociopathic/narcissistic outside of their discipline.

[allentown]

I believe players should get whatever contract they can, and if they are giving their all, I don't care about their salaries

I agree that players should be able to negotiate as large a contract as they are able. I also don't want the Phillies to be the team that overpays. Both Schwarber and Castellanos getting $100 million for their fading end of career seasons: more power to them, helps the players' losing struggle against owners getting bigger share of the value the players produce. The Phillies giving each of these guys $100 million contracts: I'm opposed. I think it hurts the team. They simply don't have spots for both of them and they are clearly in serious decline.

[tom81]

1B Allen
2B Utley
SS Rollins
3B Schmidt
LF Burrel
CF Dykstra
RF Callison
C Chooch
DH Harper

LSP Carlton
RSP Schilling
RP McGraw

[Philsmania]

As far as Rose goes, overpaid and on the way downside of his career when in Philly. He bet on baseball as a manager, and undoubtedly as a player when he was in Philly and is unrepentent with a 'get over it' attitude. I can understand Reds fans putting him as their favorite 2B, but even with great character, he wouldn't have cracked my top 3 of Phillies 1B.

Conversely, I saw hints of a jerk streak in Schilling when he was here, hence, he doesn't make my list. Big mouth. Rode some teammates very hard (Garrett Stephenson, for example). Towel over his head when Mitch Williams pitched in the '93 WS (admit it, if CBS Sports spotted Bill Giles doing that in the owners' suite, you'ld be crying bloody murder about Williams being thrown under the bus; Schilling being a player doesn't make it justified). Wherever he played, teammates loved having him on the mound but didn't like having him in the clubhouse (it's telling that few if any former teammates have rallied around his HOF cause or publicly tried to help him out when he fell on financial hard times).

[Philsmania]

I didn't dislike Howard after 2011.

I think the money the Phillies gave Howard over the course of his career all came out in the wash. He was probably worth $25 million a year his first five years and was probably worth the 2005 ML minimum in 2016.

[zambonir]

Absolutely. It's a flawed system but he earned that contract on an emeritus basis. Under current ownership that wouldn't have prevented the team from replacing his production (or re-signing Werth at the same time). Back then it did.

Yeah, Schill was already obviously a jerk in '93.... but oh, the pitching.

I also wouldn't say he ever fell on hard times. He possibly defrauded the state of Rhode Island and ran an unsuccessful business. Doubt his personal wealth was ever harmed.

[Philsmania]

Absolutely. It's a flawed system but he earned that contract on an emeritus basis. Under current ownership that wouldn't have prevented the team from replacing his production (or re-signing Werth at the same time). Back then it did.

Yeah, Schill was already obviously a jerk in '93.... but oh, the pitching.

I also wouldn't say he ever fell on hard times. He possibly defrauded the state of Rhode Island and ran an unsuccessful business. Doubt his personal wealth was ever harmed.

I thought I had read that he had sunk a lot of his baseball fortune into the business.

This article is a long read from more than a decade ago but it tells the story of what went wrong with 38 Studios very well. In short, Schillilng was far out of his league trying to run a business of that size (as opposed to hiring people with actual business accumen to be the brains of the operation) and trying to make it go so big so fast. Starstruck Rhode Island officials lavished loan money on him sans due dilligence while his hubris-filled operation of the business was basically amateur hour.

End Game: Curt Schilling and the Destruction of 38 Studios

And getting back to baseball economics, players are underpaid when they are most valuable (when they are younger) and overpayed when they are less valuable (younger). To change that, get rid of arbitration and make them eligible for free agency after three years of ML service time.

[flyers19rw]

1B Allen
2B Utley
SS Rollins
3B Schmidt
LF Burrell
CF Ashburn
RF Callison
C Chooch
DH Harper

LSP Carlton
RSP Roberts
RP Tug

[Aquapong]

Cliff Lee. No one else is needed.