Show Him The Money

This past week, the Phillies and Ryan Howard started their annual winter date together: Arbitration meetings.

On both sides, and in public opnion, I think there is little doubt that he deserves a raise. Last season, Howard finished with 48 home runs and 146 RBI's, both tops in the MLB. This is the second time he has finished tops in both of those categories in the league, last doing it in 2006. In his first 4 full seasons as a Phillie, he has also managed to collect some pretty impressive hardware. He has been MVP, Rookie of the Year, and of course, World Series Champion.

The only place where Howard has not been leading the leagues in, it seems, is in his pocket. In 2006, when he was MVP, his salary was $900,000. While that is grossly underpaid, he was not MVP when he got that deal, so you can't blame the Phillies for that. However, there is no denying that they got him at a bargain rate. That next summer, the Phillies rewarded Howard for his play, boosting his salary to 10 million dollers.

In 2008 Howard outplayed his contract as well. Once again, he led the league in HR's and RBI's. He was also an intregal part in the team winning their first World Series since 1980. This past season, once again, the Phillies got him at a bargain rate, even at 10 million per season.

When you look at some of the salaries in the league, it becomes aparent how under paid Ryan Howard was. Not 1 player (from an offensive standpoint) from the top 25 paid players in the league, led the MLB in an offensive category. Ryan Howard led the league in 2. If you start to read the names of the players, it is almost comical to see who makes more then Howard. Jason Giambi. Jim Thome. Randy Johnson. And not only did these players make more then Howard did last season.

Every player in the top 25 made more last season the Ryan Howard has over his whole career.

When arbitration started this summer, the Phillies came to the table with an offer of 14 million, a 4 million doller raise from last season. Ryan Howard and his agent requested 18 million. Since then, there has been some debate as to whether or not the Phillies should pay him what he asked for.

I'm here to say not only that they should, but that it is a no brainer.

If the Phillies signed him to an 18 million doller deal, he would still not be in the top 5 paid players. This despite leading the league in HR's and RBI's 2 out of the last 3 years. In comparison, the New York Yankees signed Mark Teixeira to an 8 year, 180 million doller deal this off season. Howard had more HR's, more RBI's, and around the same slugging percentage. While Teixeira did have a higher batting average, Teixeira will be making 22.5 million dollers this season. Even if Howard did get the 18 million dollers he asked, that would still be 4 million less then Teixeira.

The Phillies have been getting Ryan Howard at a bargain rate for the last 3 seasons. Their unwillingness to agree to a long term deal with one of the premier power hitters in the league (and you could argue that this is even before his prime) is ludacris. Skeptics will point to the errors at first base, but how many games have they lost because of that? In the post season, Howard had 2 errors, the same amount as Jimmy Rollins. And in those 2 games, the Phillies were 2-0.

The Phillies do not need to keep leaving these winter meetings without a long term deal with Howard, and continuing to make him upset. Because soon, when Howard hits the open market, some team will pay him what he is really worth, and the Phillies will be left in the dust.