Phillies Sign Methuselah For Two More Years

Like Julio Franco before him, Jamie Moyer could play until he is 50! Now 46, the Phillies signed Moyer to two more years, a contract that will take him to the age of 48. And the Phillies knew what they were doing too.

After all, Moyer has won 82 games since he turned 40. 82 wins! In that same period of time, A. J. Burnett has won 53 games. Oliver Perez has won 51. Jake Peavy has won 80. Sabathia has won only five more games in that time span. Andy Pettitte, who has always been ten years younger, has only won four more games since Moyer turned 40. Tim Hudson has won the same amount of games as Moyer in his 40s. And yet, if you turned back time to 2003 and asked any general manager if he had a choice between Moyer and any one of those guys, none would have picked Moyer.

Did the Phillies take a risk? Of course. Any contract longer than a year is risky and the risk doubles for older players. But Moyer is the George Blanda of his era. George kept kicking field goals up past 50 and Moyer will keep his team in the game for just about as long.

The Phillies risk looks pretty good when the then 45 year old Moyer went 16-7 with a 3.71 ERA, while only giving up 199 hits in 196 innings. He will win at least 13 games and post an ERA around 4.00 this coming year while making all his starts. Whether 46 or 26, a lot of teams would take those kinds of numbers.

You go, Jamie Moyer. Pitch another season for the old guys.