Ryan Madson: “I can’t prove it, but I do believe” Phillies made $44 million offer

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and agent Scott Boras have much different stories about how Ryan Madson went from reportedly being on the verge of a four-year, $44 million deal to remain with the Phillies to settling for a one-year, $8.5 million deal with the Reds.

Boras insists the Phillies made a verbal offer to Madson, but backed out of the deal and instead signed Jonathan Papelbon for $50 million. Amaro insists no official offer was made and the Phillies simply decided to move in a different direction at closer.

As for what Madson thinks, here’s what he said to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com:

I can’t prove it, but I do believe it. There’s a handful of theories. I never figured it out. But it became pretty obvious they wanted to go in a different direction. So I just moved on to see who else was interested. Thankfully, the Reds came into the picture. I’m actually glad I’m here. It’s been a nice change so far. I’m really not looking back. I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. It is what it is. Everything happens for a reason. You can’t make plans. Only one person can make plans.

Madson cited the fact that Boras “has been in the business for 20 years and it’s never happened before” as reason to think the Phillies caused the agreement to unravel. Of course, Heyman then writes that “Madson also pointed out that Boras would have nothing to gain by concocting an offer that never happened.” Which, really, is one of the funniest sentences in the history of the English language.