The statistics are clear, superstars do more than twice as much as the average employee. So how do you pay them for those results? In the case of the Philadelphia Phillies, not well.

Bob Ford, sports columnist at The Philadelphia Inquirer, writes about everything you need to know about paying superstars in Phillies Blew It With Hamels.

Here we are, eight years into the new millennium, more than 125 years since the Phillies began operating a professional baseball team, and the organization still can’t tell the difference between what is smart and what it can get away with.

The Phils have bungled the handling of Cole Hamels’ contract, and there’s no other way to look at it. They have upset a valuable part of their roster, apparently because they had the right to do so.

Here’s the deal. Cole Hamels won 15 games for the Phillies last year. But he’s young. So the Phillies decided they didn’t need to pay him now because he would make more later. BAD mistake.

In the case of Hamels, now and in the future, the Phillies have made winning less likely. Cole Hamels has the potential to be a great pitcher for a long time, but it is now less likely that he will be happy here, less likely that he will pitch through his annual collection of tics, spasms and strains, and less likely that he will stay with the organization once escape is possible.

But, congratulations, Pat, you saved $200,000.

The next time you want to save a lot less, say $20,000, because you don’t have to pay your superstar any more, remember these words:

The Hamels situation isn’t the same thing, but it is the same principle. Just because you don’t have to spend some money, just because there isn’t a rule book somewhere forcing you to spend it, doesn’t mean that spending it anyway isn’t a good idea.

The Phillies are technically right about how they handled Hamels’ contract. They followed the rules, doing what they were required to do and little more.

Being right isn’t the same thing as being smart, though. All these years and they still don’t get that.

Please read Bob Ford’s entire article here. Very nice high potential pay article, Bob.