Ruiz Remains in Philly, Stairs is Old School

The Philadelphia Phillies have reportedly reached an agreement with catcher Carlos Ruiz to the tune of $8.85 million over three years, avoiding salary arbitration.

After batting .255 with 43 runs batted in and a career-best nine home runs in his fourth season with the Phillies, Ruiz was also offered a $5 million club option for 2013 with a $500,000 buyout. The backstop, who turned 31 last Friday, boasts a .303 postseason average, including two World Series appearances and one ring, of course.

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Matt Stairs is Old School

Remember the Montreal Expos? Matt Stairs does. He started his career with them in 1992.

Stairs busted out some all-too-familiar Philly-style heroics Monday night during Game 4 of the NL Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After Shane Victorino tied it up at 5 a-piece with a two-run bomb in the eighth off Cory Wade for his 11th RBI of the postseason, the beefy, 40-year-old pinch-hitter nailed a 3-1, 95 mph fastball served up by Jonathan Broxton to help the Phillies come from behind for the third time this series. Watch the video here and read Stairs' kinda lame quote here.

The Big Hurt Feelings

After Frank Thomas voiced his displeasure with the Toronto Blue Jays for benching him in favor of the left-fielding DH Matt Stairs, the club has released the 39-year-old designated hitter.

This move may have something to do with The Big Hurt being, well, hurt a lot, old, grumpy and kinda sucking at baseball these days. Thomas was batting .167 over the first 16 games of the season, with three homers but a decent number of RBIs at 11.

After being (permanently) benched Saturday, the 19-year veteran claimed foul as he thinks the Jays were attempting to limit his at bats so he wouldn't reach the 304 plate appearances he needed to guarantee his $10 million option for next season.

But of course, Blue Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi denied the allegations that the Big Hurt's contract options had any bearing on his decision.

Shady.

[TSN]