The Philadelphia Phillies and Ryan Howard are three million dollars apart in salary demands. Howard, who is eligible for salary arbitration for the first time, submitted a request to MLB to be paid $10 million this season. The Phillies have submitted a $7 million request. Last season, Howard made $900,000. The 7 million figure is on par with what former Florida Marlin, Miguel Cabrera, received last season, when he had the same service time as Howard.
The sides will continue to negotiate until a hearing that will be set for a to-be-determined day in February. If they can't reach an agreement, a three-person panel will listen to arguments from both parties before determining Howard's salary. As I've written, the Phillies prefer to avoid arbitration hearings, which can often be contentious and divisive. They haven't gone to a hearing since beating Travis Lee in 2001.If the Phillies were smart, they'd lock Howard into that $10 million he is looking to receive for the next few years. Howard has a Rookie of the Year award, an MVP, and a 45+ HR, 135+RBI season under his belt. Though his average is down, largely due to his strike-outs, he does everything you can ask for him offensively. He is near the top of his position and don't give me that band box ball park bull shit. His home/away splits are pretty even.
The thing that scares me however is the fact the Phillies' organization has done a lot to piss of Howard. His rookie and MVP years brought a lot of people back into the Citizen's Bank Park seats. I am not so sure they're ever going to be able to lock him up long-term.
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hey man i agree with you completely. to have a automatic star on your team and not do everything in your power to lock him so he'll stay around and hitting 50+ homers and 145+ rbis is beyond me. the nucleus of the team looks healthy but it is those cheapskates in the front office that really tear the team down.
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