Ryan Madson is in the final season of a three-year, $12 million deal and the setup man told Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he “would love the opportunity to stay and finish my career here.”
Madson also told Gelb that he’d like the chance to be a closer and with the Phillies likely to decline their $12.5 million option on Brad Lidge for 2012 there’s an opportunity to assume ninth-inning duties in Philadelphia.
Gelb speculates that the payroll won’t have enough room to keep both Madson and Lidge, but it remains to be seen if the Phillies are comfortable with the notion of Madson as a full-time closer. He’s struggled at times when asked to fill in for Lidge, but Madson’s overall body of work as a setup man shows him as one of the elite relievers in all of baseball and there’s little doubt he could translate that success to the closer role if given an extended shot.
Of course, Madson has been so consistently excellent as a setup man that several teams are likely to offer him a closing gig if he hits the open market. Since moving to the bullpen full time in 2007 he has a 3.01 ERA and more strikeouts (252) than hits allowed (242) in 269 innings. During that time the only relievers in baseball to throw as many innings as Madson with a lower ERA are Mariano Rivera, Heath Bell, Carlos Marmol, and Darren Oliver.
