Posted by Bill Baer on Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 8:53 pm

Adam Eaton will make $8.5 million this year. He’s made $14.5 million the past two seasons. Yeah, it’s hard to feel sorry for anyone making that kind of money. Unfortunately, there’s no amount of money that makes you less human, and that’s why I’m one of the rare people out there feeling sorry for the guy.

Scott Lauber of Delaware Online wrote:

Adam Eaton watched the playoffs, even the World Series, from his couch. He wasn’t invited to the Phillies’ championship parade. And, now, he isn’t even a candidate for the up-for-grabs No. 5 spot in the starting rotation.

So what if the couch he was sitting on was from Ethan Allen and he was watching the World Series on a 65″ flat-panel plasma screen? How high can your self-esteem be when you watch a team that you were pitching for five months ago win it all? Doesn’t he deserve to be a part of the festivities, regardless of how poorly he pitched? He was a contributor any way you slice it.

Here’s a stretch in defense of Adam Eaton: he led us to rediscover J.A. Happ, and was the catalyst for the Joe Blanton trade. Without Blanton the Phillies don’t win the World Series. Therefore, Adam Eaton played a big role in the Phillies’ championship even sitting on his $2,000 couch. FanGraphs has him valued at under a half-win. I have him valued at, like, fifty.

Yeah, yeah — lay off the pills, Bill. I get it. But on a serious note, it’s hard not to feel for him. The Phillies were offering him up for a handshake (even this one) and $1 million to offset part of his $8.5 million salary, and no one bit. No one wants him; no one likes him.

That $8.5 million is the biggest reason why his supporters are so few in number. And it’s not his fault he makes so much money! He didn’t deserve it when the contract was offered to him and he doesn’t deserve it now. It’s not his fault; it’s Pat Gillick’s!

Imagine striving ten years to reach the pinnacle of your profession. Let’s say you’re working on an arduous project for a company. You get asked to step aside and let someone else handle your responsibilities. Just a few short months later, the project that you worked on is being nationally recognized, and all your co-workers are in utopia. But you can’t enjoy any of it, not a single utopian ray of sunshine. You worked so hard throughout your career — in futility, I might add, but nevertheless… — and you’re shoulder-checkedout of the way.

That’s why I have empathy for Adam Eaton. It’s easy to hate the guy, and it’s easy to think that he’s quite content with his millions upon millions of dollars. But humans are complex beings and are defined by more than their economic power, just ask Bill Gates.

I’m not going to go out and purchase a Phillies jersey with “Eaton” and his number 23 (I’m sure he meant no offense to His Airness) on the back. But I’m the charter member of his fan club if for no other reason than that I refuse to piggyback on a guy who, most likely, could stand to carry a lighter burden.

Lauber goes on to write that if the Phillies can’t find someone to pay $1 million for Eaton, they’ll release him, meaning that Eaton made his last appearance as a Phillie last July 27. I wish him luck whereever he ends up, and you should too.