Apr 8th 2008 3:45PM by Will Brinson
There is absolutely nothing worse than realizing that your team is paying a player that does not currently reside on the roster. Aside from the fact that you instantly dislike that person, you also have to realize that ownership looks at zero gain management decisions that result in such expenses as less of a reason to pony up future cash. Such is the case with Wes Helms, now with the Florida Marlins. Helms was recently released by the Philadelphia Phillies, who the reports will pay all of Helms’ salary for 2008.
According to a source familiar with the transaction, the Phillies agreed to pick up Helms’ entire 2008 salary. Helms won’t cost the Marlins anything during the season, but they will have to pay him $750,000 this offseason to buy out a $3.75 million club option. That is the final component of the two-year, $4.95 million contract Helms signed with the Phillies prior to 2007.

The Phillies designated Helms for assignment last week and would have been responsible for the remaining $2.9 million of his contract had they released him. By dealing him to the Marlins, they begrudgingly benefit from a 26 percent savings.
Guh. If you are a Phillies fan — like The 700 Level peeps are — you’re probably not particularly thrilled by this recent turn of events. And if you’re a Marlins fan (Yeah … right.) then now you understand why your team purportedly had signed a player who exceeded their maximum age and salary combination (roughly 17 and 65k per year last I checked).