Philadelphia Phillies Keep Grady Sizemore For 2015

The Philadelphia Phillies and outfielder Grady Sizemore agreed to a one-year, $2 million-dollar deal to keep the 32-year old from reaching MLB free agency.

Grady Sizemore is going to stay with the Philadelphia Phillies, as he and the team agreed to a one-year deal worth $2 million on Thursday, and the 32-year old outfielder will remain with the team he finished the 2014 season with, avoiding free agency.

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It’s a bit of an odd signing at first, as Sizemore hit .233/.299/.354 with five home runs and stole six bases combined with Philadelphia and the Boston Red Sox, who signed Sizemore last winter after a year away from baseball but released him in June. Sizemore played better after signing with the Phillies, but he’s nowhere close to the dynamic player he was during a five-year stretch with the Cleveland Indians from 2004-2009. Free agency hasn’t even started, and it was unlikely Sizemore would have drawn considerable interest, though there likely would have been some.

The Phillies, though, don’t really expect to be contending much in 2015, and are only looking at Sizemore as a part-time player right now, which is a pretty realistic expectation considering Sizemore’s 112 games played this season are the most he’s played in since the 2008 season, and just the second time since 2009 he’s played in more than 80 games. His days of being an MVP threat are likely long-gone, but there’s value in the cost-certainty of knowing how much your bench will cost in a given season, particularly if you’re expecting to be bad in that season. He’s strictly a corner outfielder now, though he’s probably best suited for designated hitter.

Sizemore was once a durable, all-out type of player, capable of hitting 30-plus home runs, stealing bases, and giving good defense in center field, but injuries began to take their toll on his body in 2009, and in 2010 Sizemore only played 33 games, followed by 71 games in 2011, and in 2012 he didn’t play at all due to injury. Cleveland parted ways with Sizemore after he didn’t play in 2012, and though he sat out the 2013 season, he made a comeback last year, and given that his $2 million is guaranteed (with performance escalators), it appears Sizemore has at least one more season in his body, though nobody should expect another all-star berth for Sizemore.

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