Howard, Phillies Sign On for 3 Years, $54 Million
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On Sunday afternoon, the Phillies and their slugging 1st baseman Ryan Howard finally found common ground outside the arbitration hearing room as Howard signed a 3 year deal worth $54 million. With this deal, both sides saved themselves from the possible destructiveness and ill will of a potentially contentious arbitration hearing.
Howard, the 2006 NL MVP and MLB homer and RBI leader in 2006 and 2008, will earn $15 million this season, $19 million next year and $20 million in 2011.
AP sports writer Rob Maaddi reports the reactions of both the Phillies and Ryan Howard to the 3 year deal:
“The things that have happened prior with Ryan, it was really nothing adversarial, although I know with some people it was depicted that way,” Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. “We just agreed to disagree. It didn’t make us love Ryan any less, and it didn’t make Ryan love us any less.”
“I’m happy to have this done and to know that I’ll be in Philadelphia for at least another three years,” Howard said in a statement.
“We’re very pleased to have avoided the arbitration process, not just for this year, but also for the next two,” Amaro said. “Ryan is clearly one of the top power hitters and run producers in the major leagues and is a very important part of our championship club.”
Maaddi also traces back Howard’s ascendancy on the club:
A fifth-round draft pick in 2001, Howard quickly established himself as one of the premier sluggers in the majors once he finally reached the big leagues. His path to Philadelphia initially was blocked by Jim Thome, who signed an $85 million, six-year contract in December 2002.
An injury to Thome during the 2005 season paved the way for Howard, who had 22 homers and 63 RBIs in just 88 games to win the NL Rookie of the Year award.
He followed that up with one of the best sophomore seasons in history. Howard had 58 homers, 149 RBIs and a .313 average in ’06, nearly lifting the Phillies into the playoffs. He batted .268 with 47 homers and 136 RBIs in ’07 in what was considered a down year for him.
Since moving into the starting lineup for good on July 1, 2005, Howard leads the majors in home runs (174) and RBIs (493).
Most impressive, he’s done it with raw, natural power and a sweet left-handed stroke… The 6-foot-4, 252-pound Howard comes from a big family and has two brothers bigger than him.
In 2008, Howard hit .269 in the post-season, although hitting .285 with 3 homers and 6 RBIs in the World Series and blasting 2 of the 3 homers and driving in 5 of those runs in the big 10-2 game 4 win over Tampa Bay. The Phils took the 2008 World Series by a 4-1 margin in games over the Rays.
With a 3 year deal in hand, a clear mind and good health, hopefully the big slugger can now start working on performance priorities; i.e. upping his production over last April’s 5 homer, .172 BA production and his lifetime April BA of .230 as well as drastically reducing his strikeouts from last season’s 199. He’s struck out a total of 692 times in his 4 year career.
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