Phillies might stay away from free agent Madson

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- The Phillies watched Ryan Madson throw late last week in Arizona, and Ruben Amaro Jr. made an interesting comment Wednesday when asked about it.

"Our reports were good when we saw him, so he's going to sign somewhere," the general manager said.

Interesting because Amaro said Madson is going to sign somewhere, not necessarily with the Phillies. If the Phils were in the thick of negotiations or seriously interested, Amaro typically would have much less to say.

There could be a reason for that. Sources said Madson has been telling teams he is looking for a guaranteed Major League contract. That might be too much for the Phillies to handle, considering they just signed A.J. Burnett, but most importantly because Madson has not pitched in a big league game since 2011 because of right elbow surgery.