Phillies, Ryan Howard Agree To 3Y/$54M Deal
Posted by Tim Malcolm, Sun, February 08, 2009 12:37 PM | Comments: 83
News, Posts
UPDATE (2:42 p.m.): David Murphy reports the terms of the deal:
$15 million in 2009, $19 million in 2010 and $20 million in his walk year of 2011.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the contract is a clause that would require the Phillies to pay Howard $1 million if he is traded before Nov. 1, 2010. (Editor’s note: That’s chump change, less than most option buyouts.)
Howard’s base salary would increase by $1 million in 2010 and 2011 if he was named MVP in the preceding season. In 2011, an MVP would bring him a $1 million bonus. Bonuses are also included for World Series MVP ($100,000), LCS MVP ($50,000), Gold Glove ($50,000), $100,000 for Silver Slugger, and $50,000 for an All-Star selection.
***
The Phillies signed Ryan Howard to a three-year, $54 million deal.
It averages to $18M per season, which is what Howard wanted. It takes Howard through arbitration, making him a free agent in 2012, which was originally planned.
Posts: 0 matt p
beautiful…. simply what the phillies needed
Posted: 12:39 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Griffin
Good move. Howard is a Phillie through his age 33 season. He’ll reach free agency when he’s declining.
Posted: 12:40 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Mike
Yay! Good deal for both sides!
Posted: 12:40 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 jeromy
Great signing on both sides. This is exactly what the phils wanted. By the time this contract is up howard might past his prime and well have 3 more titles. Haha
Posted: 12:44 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Malcolm
Well done, Ruben! Three years is perfect. It’s going to be nice to not have to go through another Howard arbitration!
Posted: 12:49 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 NJ
NO FREAKIN’ WAY! Give a little for a lot attitude from Amaro and ownership and this gives me faith Ryan is commited to the club and his progress because it says ‘I want my focus to be on the field and in the headlines for my play not my contract’.
Posted: 12:50 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 j cole
I am not a huge howard fan, just because of his demands. I dont think he is worth all that much, but this is a job well done for the phils. No more record arbitration cases, and hopefully he’s happy enough to give it his all and stop swinging at all that trash he goes after.
Posted: 12:52 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 NJ
Of course we don’t know fully who’s doing what but the star of the off-season seems to be AGM Scott Proferock.
Posted: 12:53 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Richie Allen
I wonder how Geoff will like this one…
Posted: 12:55 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Justin
i love it, he’s now locked in and keep upping the price each year, good deal no more headaches out of him, cole and chase.
Posted: 12:59 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 NC Jason
Hat Tip to Amaro and the rest of the front office. I was really skeptical but clearly the guy has made some really good moves. Nice job all the way around.
Posted: 01:01 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Kev
Where is Geoff?
Posted: 01:01 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
justin, since wen were cole and chase headaches? I mean sure, cole complained about his $500,000 at the beginning of last season, as well he should, he was our ace and he went out and proved it. He was never a headache over his contract
Posted: 01:03 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
haha kev, I think we are all wondering that
Posted: 01:04 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 j cole
so, it is a good deal. I like howard’s power numbers. I dont dislike everything about him, but my real reason for a second comment, is there anyone left for arbitration now with the phils?
Posted: 01:05 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 From Section 113
Wait a mintue Tim, he had 3 years of arbitration heading into ’09 so this buys out 0 free agent years.
I don’t hate the contract but this doesn’t buy out any extra years at all. Also, this sets up a trade possibility down the road since he’s now locked in at $18. I could definately see him bing traded after this coming season.
Posted: 01:05 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 130 Amanda Orr
Good deal. More than likely if arbitration went year by year, he’ll want more and more money each year. This at least keeps him at 18 per year, instead of going up to maybe 20 or 22 next year… Either way its a lot of money.
Posted: 01:06 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Robbi P
Lets go we have the tools to repeat in place and be competitive for years to come. I’m pumped now! Lets go Phils. Amaro, I wasn’t the biggest fan but I’m liking the deals you made so far. Great Job!
Posted: 01:07 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 j cole
im sure the breakdown is something like 15 / 18 / 21 or something like that. there’s no way a guy like that is going to agree to 18 across the board for three years. after all, papa howard said, we’ve never seen a player like this.
Posted: 01:10 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
no more arb cases, and why do you think he will be traded section 113? Yes, he’s at a somewhat reasonable price (by his standards), but still, i dont think he’ll be traded by year 2 of the contract, maybe at the deadline of year 3
Posted: 01:11 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Kev
Why cant we just be happy they signed him for the next three years, the deal hasn’t even been done for an hour and people are already talking about trading him. lol damn
Posted: 01:13 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 NJ
all happy, this was the best case scenario. Stomachable number for a satisfying amount of time, takes away the drama, thoughts of a trade cannot now be predicted until we know what position the ballclub are in at the time, it’s 18 months before the discussion needs to even be mentioned.
Posted: 01:22 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
agreed kev, i honestly don’t want to see howard go, he is a huge contributor to this offense and without him, frankly i think we’re screwed. Every year he puts up mvp numbers in run production, if he returns to .313 form or whatever it was, he’ll be an mvp for the next 3 seasons, and we’ll have 3 more rings to accompany them. with this move, i think amaro has given us a shot at winning the world series til at least ’11
Posted: 01:22 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 keep it posi
good luck with that phat phuck. he is a one dimensional player. too bad the phillies dont have players like carlos beltran, david wright, and jose reyes who can do more than one thing.
Posted: 01:23 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
wow… a stuck-up mets fan, why am i not surprised. Hey posi, why don’t you go back to ur inferior metsblog and go cry with the rest of ur kind because you all know you are now SCREWED
Posted: 01:25 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
so lets take a new poll, what’s ur grade for the offseason now, before arb signings i was at a d to be completely honest, but amaro is doing a good job, so I’ve bumped it up to a b
Posted: 01:28 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 1650 Tim Malcolm
“Wait a mintue Tim, he had 3 years of arbitration heading into ‘09 so this buys out 0 free agent years.”
Right. That’s what I wrote.
Posted: 01:29 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Matt Veasey
Outstanding development! Congratulations to Ryan Howard and his agent, and to Ruben Amaro and the Phillies as well. This is a great day for Phillies fans. Let’s play two!
Posted: 01:30 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Geoff
Wow, didnt see this coming at all. There had been virtually no indication in the media that the two sides were close to anything. It looks like Howard realized that arbitration is nasty and didnt want to ever go through that again. The Phillies at least now have gotten some cost certainty with their squad, though Im surprised they caved in. Their payroll now is set to be high for a while now and this will be the makeup for a while too. This is a large contract for a team like the Phillies and indicates that for three more years (lidge, rollins, howard, utley, ibanez, hamels, etc) the core will be intact.
Now Howard can focus on improving his fielding (desperately needed), perhaps dropping some weight and playing at a leaner weight to add more agility.
Unless some other contract is moved, dont expect them to sign an expensive reliever or to give nomar that much money. theyve gotta be tapped out after this.
I mean, Im ok with this move. Theres no real way to replace his production without trading him and getting that back in return so they were forced to at least keep him through his arb years and placate things.
Posted: 01:31 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
tim, wats ur opinion on this
Posted: 01:31 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 NJ
They Phillies don’t have players like Carlos Beltran (always knicked up), David Wright and Jose Reyes (questionable on field attitude and fundementals)…
Well dear Mets fan Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Jason Werth. The Phils are deeper and healthier than the Mets, respect to David Wright but Beltran and Delgado are the decline and the Mets have poor depth in all phases of the game.
Posted: 01:32 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
geoff, on the terms of his fielding, i forget where, but i read something saying that he has been working with a fielding coach for some of the winiter now and has also been working on getting back into better shape. now that’s encouraging and good work ethic i like to see
Posted: 01:33 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
nj, great response, dont forget hamels, blanton, and all of the minor league prospects, and we got marson waiting too, and paulino is showing great promise as well
Posted: 01:35 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Richie Allen
Hey as long as we have the money…I’m happy.Lets get on with spring training and put this behind us.
I never wanted to get rid of this guy as long as he is producing monster power numbers.It would be crazy to think about trading him.
So,on with the show boys.and by the way,we dont need Muts trolls dissing our players.
I cant seem to remember who won it all last year,but I’m sure it wasnt the Mets!
Posted: 01:37 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 NJ
I give the off-season an A: Re-signing Cole, Ryan, Werth to multi-year deals that also includes Lidge as well as retaining great support peices in Moyer, Eyre, Park and adding serious competition for the final roster spots as well as what I think is a defining character addition in Ibanez. Have not seen a front-office do such a good job in locking-up it’s on talent in a while.
Posted: 01:37 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Ed
Keep it posi…too bad Beltran, Wright and Reyes can’t pitch…then they might actually be useful. You keep enjoying those three stooges and we will enjoy our back to back division titles and World Series title.
Posted: 01:39 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
richie, agreed on the muts fan subj, lik i stated prior to this, they’re jus pissed off cuz they no they’re screwed, esp cuz they’ve choked for the past 2 yrs, but hey, they say they’ve improved their bullpen and wont choke this year, you know what, i agree. But for different reasons… they won’t even be in it this year to choke
Posted: 01:39 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Chris Iafolla
Good deal for both sides. The Phillies would have had to relinquish this much money throughout the arbitration process in all likelihood and this at least provides a firm number for payroll planning. For Howard, he does not have to go through the public spectacle of arbitration each season and gets the money he was seeking.
Whether or not Howard deserves this much money is another debate entirely.
Posted: 01:41 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 NJ
Tyler I am over the moon happy with this off-season as a Phillies fan to the level I would be if I was a Yankees fan because I’ve seen my teams front office define the direction it’s taking the team in and execute it too a tee, questionmarks remain but the Phils are stacked in every department in the way teams like the Angels and Cubs are. The Phils are no longer just talented but have a great system in place around it to guarantee a play-off spot as well as the Yankees or Red Sox have in previous years in a very tough division.
Posted: 01:42 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 From Section 113
KEV- Yeah people just started talking about trading him…riiight. It’s not like this idea of trading Howard has been around for nearly 2 years.
And why? Because now if we did trade him a team wouldn’t be worried about giving up players and risk losing 20+ Million in arbitration on top that. Also, Amaro has to know he’ll never sign Howard once he hits free agency and not just because he will be expensive, but maybe because he’ll be more suited to being a DH.
Posted: 01:43 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 From Section 113
Tim- I actually meant that to be a question to you, kind of sounds different when I forget to put that little question mark in. Oooppps.
Posted: 01:46 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 NJ
Respect the Mets it’s the only way to beat them but there seeing the Marlins and Braves behind them not the Phillies, they have a lot of juice but not a lot of squeeze as shown last season having to rely on guys like Tatis and Ayala… This off-season they’ve maxed out their credit card to fill glaring holes and have barely addressed depth especially since they’ve delt much of it away.
Mets fans respect the Phillies, this is a team with the makings of a jungernaut and you didn’t really mail it in last year, you had a very good stretch to get back into contention and the Phils showed that they were made of. You can try and parade around as the top dog being hard done by but things have changed while you’ve been growling at The Post.
Posted: 01:47 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 KM
Didn’t see this coming, but it does make sense for both sides. After the 3 years are up, I totally expect the Phillies and Howard to part ways.
Posted: 01:52 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 christopher
what’s that i hear? the sound of geoff backpedaling ferociously?
Posted: 01:54 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
everyone says they expect the phils to part ways with howard after this, but i strongly disagree. if he returns to his above .300 avg that he had in ’06 (?), then i wouldn’t be surprised to see an extension during year two of the contract. and clearly it would be well earned and beneficial to both sides if earned.
Posted: 01:54 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 IRONPIGPEN
Howard = Important
Done = Good
Posted: 02:02 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
ironpigpen, i dont think any of us could have put it any better or any more concisely
Posted: 02:04 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 metsblow4show
They just interviewed Howard about the new deal and he said ” I’m just glad to get this deal done, so that i can go out and prove Geoff the Howard Hater wrong”.
Posted: 02:04 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 KM
I agree with you Tyler, IF Howard returns to his above .300 average I could see an extension, but the chances of that happening are about the same as the Phillies getting Cory lidle as the 5th starter(in poor taste, I know).
Posted: 02:06 PM on February 8, 2009
Posts: 0 Tyler
idk, i think its possible, even if he gets up to lik .280ish i could see an extension comin up for howard, but i think he would have to prove he could do it twice, not just have a fluke season, ideally year 1 & 2 of the contract
Posted: 02:09 PM on February 8, 2009