Many Boras clients tend to wait until January to make decisions. There might not be an obvious destination for Madson, but that hardly means he's out of luck.
It hasn't exactly been the smoothest of winters, though. The Phillies never had a deal for Madson, but did discuss parameters of a four-year, $44 million contract. A national writer miscategorized those discussions as a finalized agreement. That was never the case.
Of course, once those numbers were leaked, the pressure was on Boras to find Madson a landing spot for no less. So what happened? It could be that the Phillies priced Madson out of his own market by signing the four-year, $50 million Papelbon contract. Immediately, Boras and Madson wanted a comparable deal, which, judging by the rest of baseball's reaction, was deemed way too much.
That could have prompted more activity in the trade market for closers. Toronto, San Diego, and Boston ultimately filled their spots via a trade. Heath Bell signed in Miami for almost half of what Papelbon did. Joe Nathan and Frank Francisco each signed two-year deals for less than $15 million total.
It all left Madson with an uncertain destination.
An aside: Lost in the hot stove shuffle was a chance to appreciate Madson's Phillies career. He became a reliever only when Kevin Millwood unexpectedly accepted arbitration before the 2004 season and thrived despite a desire to start. He did that eventually in 2006, for 17 games, only to lose his job to Scott Mathieson by August.
All Madson did was become the team's all-time leader in relief appearances (473) and third in games pitched (491). Only two guys named Robin Roberts and Steve Carlton ever stood on the mound more times as a Phillie than Madson.
