It's official, Ryan Madson will not be returning to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2012, according to Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman, who tweeted the news earlier this evening.
The news of the decline came from Madson's agent, Scott Boras, and it was announced on the heels of fellow relief pitcher Francisco Rodriguez accepting arbitration from the Milwaukee Brewers.
Madson's decision to decline arbitration and look for a deal on the open market is not much of a surprise, and one that we spoke about earlier. While it would have made some sense for Madson to accept arbitration and return to the Phillies, the safe bet was on him looking for work elsewhere.
While Madson could technically still return to the Phillies (it would take nothing short of a miracle for that to happen), his career in red pinstripes is most likely over. In his nine seasons with the club, he pitched himself to a 3.59 ERA over 630 innings split between being a starter and a reliever. He found his niche after his permanent move to the bullpen in 2007, where he had an ERA of 2.89 over the next five seasons, where he also notched 49 saves.
