The Pat Burrell signing

I'm a couple of days late on this one, but I was thinking earlier today that the Rays' signing of Pat Burrell for 2 years and $16 million makes the Phillies look even worse for the Raúl Ibáñez signing. The Phillies signed Ibáñez for 3 years and $30 million to replace Burrell, essentially, even though Ibáñez is 4 years older, isn't as good offensively, is even worse defensively (which is saying something), and, apparently, is more expensive than Pat the Bat. It's absolutely incredible how that worked out. The Phillies ended up paying more money and committing to more years for a player that's straight-up inferior. It suggests a few things:

-We've been seeing the effects of the depressed economy on free agent signings, but this seems to suggest that it's worse than people thought it would be even a few months ago when everyone knew it was bad. (Supporting this notion is the fact that the players' union encouraged free agents to turn down arbitration, even though this has come back to hurt several players [Jason Varitek, for one].)

-The Rays got a tremendous deal. I've heard it suggested that Burrell gave them a discount for some reason. I suppose this is possible, and it would somewhat excuse the Phillies for signing Ibáñez, but it's looking more and more like the market for all-hit no-glove guys just isn't there. I mean, even Manny bloody Ramirez can't get signed, let alone guys like Adam Dunn and Bobby Abreu. I wouldn't be terribly surprised if they (Dunn and Abreu) get deals in the same ballpark.

-Perhaps the Phillies' front office has a real problem with Pat Burrell. I haven't really looked into that, but if there is a problem, it's certainly not a widely known one, because it's not the sort of thing that comes up every time he's mentioned. Furthermore, I also haven't heard any suggestions that he's a problem in the clubhouse. Clearly I don't work in the front office of an MLB team, and if I did, maybe I'd think differently, but I think if I were GM and I had a personality problem with a player, if he went out and performed well and didn't cause trouble in the clubhouse I'd keep paying him and try to re-sign him. But maybe there were bigger problems afoot in Philly.