Any day, now Jayson Werth will be wearing a new uniform and a $100-million smile. You can bet your house on the fact that when the 2011 season begins, Jayson Werth will not be a Philadelphia Phillie. This much is painfully obvious by now. What we still don’t know is where exactly he will end up when it’s all said and done. Werth is already being courted by the Boston Red Sox, though they are not a guarantee landing spot for the star right fielder, they are a very likely destination.
Maybe I need to get off of the Werth case and realize that he will not be back next season. Well, this is now an admitted fact that he will be somewhere else next year. The main reason, from Werth’s standpoint, was that the Phillies didn’t offer enough years on their deal. Money supposedly wasn’t much of an issue. I suppose that $16.5 million per season suffices, doesn’t it Jayson? Well, either way, Phillies’ GM Ruben Amaro Jr. apparently doesn’t believe that Jayson is “Werth” this high price tag.
To their own credit, the Phillies are built and have depth throughout. Though it won’t necessarily be easy to replace Werth’s five-tool prowess, it is something to acknowledge and prepare for this winter. Domonic Brown needs to grow up on the fly and Ben Francisco needs to be a solid right-handed bat for the Phillies if this platoon is to work.
Here are five ways that the Phillies will survive life without Jayson Werth.