Things change. In professional sports, that’s certainly the case. Nevertheless, it’s always hard for fans to say goodbye to some of their favorite players. That’s the climate we live in though today with free agency. For fans the Philadelphia Phillies, they might have seen right fielder Jayson Werth play for the final time in a Philly. Werth, who hit just a shade under .300 with 27 homeruns this season, is set to become a free agent in the upcoming days. Though it’s certainly possible that Werth’s contract is re-upped, it’s more likely that he finds a bigger paycheck elsewhere on the open market.
The day after the Phillies’ Game 6 loss to the San Francisco Giants, Werth joined Howard Eskin & Ike Reese on WiP to talk about his time with the Phillies, the end of the season series loss to the Giants, and whether or not he thinks it’s likely that he’ll return next season with the Phillies. (Transcribed excerpts of the interview via: SRI)
On what it was like cleaning out his locker this week:
“It’s depressing, disappointing, all the things you can probably [imagine]. … I’m sure this was tough for everybody in the city to swallow, not only just for us, but I know everyone had high hopes this year and we were right there. We went through a lot, we got to where we needed to be. Obviously everyone saw it going differently and it’s been a weird couple days, I’ll definitely admit to that.”
On how much he thought about the fact that it could be the last time he cleans out his locker in Philadelphia:
“Those thoughts are starting to enter my mind. Really, they’ve kind of been the farthest thing away from what I’ve been thinking about because we’ve been so focused on our goals this year, what we’re trying to achieve and winning another World Series. I think we’ve always had tunnel vision and today things are starting to kind of come in perspective of where we actually are.”
On the chances he’ll be back:
“It’s too early to say. We’ll wait and once the World Series is over, then we get a chance to hear what the Phillies have to say and where they’re coming from and what they’re thinking. We’ll have a better idea of what our chances are. Right now, I’m optimistic, I’m open-minded, I’m hopeful. I said this earlier, there’s not another place out there where I’ll get a chance to play with guys that I’ve gone to war with the last four seasons and accomplished what we’ve accomplished and been through what we’ve been through. The chemistry of our clubhouse is obviously something that people talk about. It’s well-known that we all get along very well and play really good together. The formula works. … We’re entering into some unknown territory for me here.”