The Adam Eaton era officially nose dived to earth and exploded into a fiery mess today as the Phils released the underachieving righthander despite still owing him enough money to buy all of Citigroup. Ok, maybe not that much, but the Phils will likely owe him $8.75 million if he signs with another team, according to Todd Zolecki.

I applaud the Phillies for having the balls to bail on Eaton despite owing him such a stomach churning amount of money. In the past, couldn’t you see this franchise holding on to him in order to try and find a way to suck whatever they could out of him?

These Phillies don’t chase bad money with good money. In this case of course, it was all bad money. The Phillies aligned themselves with the same theory that says you don’t stand in the same long ass line in a supermarket just because you’ve put the time in. If a shorter line opens up, you go for it.

Same thing with Eaton. Sending this guy out every 5 days, or planting him in the bullpen and stealing a spot from a more worthy hurler in order to justify the waste of money is insanity. The Phillies figured that out in the middle of last year, and are better off, if not a bit poorer, for it.

Which brings us to Eaton. Check out the quotes from interviews he did with the media after being released. I hate guys like this. He’s so easy on himself. How can he look himself in the mirror after cashing that paycheck this year? It’s the closest a legal contract can be to pure larceny. I don’t know how he sleeps. I guess pretty well, based on his nonchalant responses – “To have a label put on you to be a certain way is fine.”, “It’s sad, but I wish I was able to earn that money while I’m still in this uniform.”, “I did have moments of success, but for whatever reason they were short-lived.”

By the numbers, Eaton’s contract is just a complete train wreck:

$1,750,000 for each of his 14 wins as a Phillie.

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The Phils lost again today. They are now 0-3 in Grapefruit League play. JC Romero and Ryan Madson looked good. There’s not much more you can derive from the box score other than Shane Victorino going 2-3 at the plate.