Philadelphia Phillies Add To Their Bullpen, Sign Danys Baez

Before I get to my Danys Baez envy, I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy New Year. I also hope everyone had a safe New Year’s Eve, or as it is commonly referred to in New York City, amateur hour.

Today is the first day of the year, but I also feel one of the most underrated days of the year. There are no responsibilities, there is college football all day, the NHL Winter Classic, classic movies like Airplane on Comedy Central, and of course, Chinese food.

What’s better than that?

Though I have to admit I am a little disappointed in the MLB Network today. How do you show the same programming for 48 hours straight? Today is a perfect day for All Time Games .

Now, on to the matter at hand.

Yesterday, a couple of free agents ended 2009 with a bang. Marlon Byrd signed with the Chicago Cubs and Danys Baez signed a contract as well.

As Todd Zolecki of MLB.com first reported via Twitter , the Philadelphia Phillies signed Baez to a two-year contract. No terms of the deal have been disclosed yet.

Not only am I extremely envious of Baez, but I am envious of his agent as well. This guy must have the best negotiating skills on the planet.

Baez’s agent was able to negotiate a three-year, $19 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles after the 2006 season. A 2006 season, in which he had his worst statistical season of his career up to that point.

In 2006, Baez had the highest ERA of his career (4.53), highest hits/9 (9.1), and lowest K/9 (5.9). Somehow, Baez’s agent took those number and spun them into a three-year contract.

Now Baez’s agent is at it again.

Baez had three less-than-stellar years in Baltimore. It was really only two years because Baez missed the entire 2008 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

Baez had a 5.02 ERA in those two seasons and his HR/9 of 1.2 was the highest of any two year stretch in Baez’s career. In 2009, Baez had the lowest K/9 of his career at 5.0.

It’s usually not a good sign when a reliever doesn’t have the ability to miss bats anymore. Baez’s agent turned two years of mediocrity into another two years of security for his client. Amazing.

The Baez signing essentially means the end of the Chan Ho Park era in Philadelphia.

I have to admit I am not too fond of the Phillies’ offseason so far. I thought they had a chance with a couple of smart moves to really put the hammer down in the National League and have failed to do so.

They gave up their best prospects in order to acquire Roy Halladay, who won’t give the Phillies that much more than what Cliff Lee would have given them, I really didn’t understand the rush to sign Placido Polanco and as it turns out now, they overpaid for him, and Baez really isn’t that much of an upgrade over Park.

It’s been a perplexing offseason for the Phillies in my opinion. They have addressed their needs, but I am not a fan of the decisions they have made to address those needs.

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg