It's Time to Pay Ryan Howard

Phillies Should Avoid Arbitration and Give Him a Multi-Year Deal Now

Jul 23, 2007

Howard has hit 109 home runs in just over two full seasons of play. His team should pay him now, and not subject Philly's best slugger to the nasty arbitration process.

Ryan Howard is a dream come true for the Philadelphia Phillies. In 2005, his first Major League season, the six foot-four inch, 260-pound first baseman won the National League Rookie of the Year award. In his second season, he won the NL MVP when he hit .313 with 58 home runs and 149 RBI. This year, in his first 80 games, the Big Fella is batting .279 with 27 homers and 81 RBI. That's an RBI a game, folks. That's what Lou Gehrig used to do. The man is awesome, and it's time that the Phillies signed Ryan Howard.

Ryan Howard's value and appeal are not limited to his frequent and prodigious home runs. He's much more than a Dave Kingman or a Gorman Thomas. For a man who's the size of an aircraft carrier, he is a surprisingly nimble first baseman. And though he's no base stealer, he runs the bases well and, more importantly, he runs them smartly, almost never making the base running gaffes so common to young players.

He's also one of the most engaging, likeable sports stars to come along in the City of Brotherly Love in years. Remember, this is a town that has had to deal with controversial personailties such as Allen Iverson, Scott Rolen and Eric Lindross over the past decade. Philly desperately needs a good guy. A really good guy. That is why the Phillies need to sign him to a multi-year deal now, or at the very least, as soon as the 2007 MLB season ends.

To those who say that he still has three more years until he's a free agent, and the Phillies can therefore wait, here are three crucial reasons to get the man inked as soon as possible

First, the undisputed word around Philly this spring was that Howard was a little miffed that the team didn't lock him up long term after last year's MVP season. Instead, they gave him a one-year, $900,000 deal. From the team's standpoint, that may have been a reasonable solution. After all, he did have only one full season under his belt, and it might have been foolish for the Phillies to back up the Citizens Bank truck and unload an eight figure sum of cash on the faith of what may have just been a splendid abberration.

But now he is doing it again, and it is clear that this kid is ultra-special. He is a rare talent who could possibly average 50 dingers a year over the next decade. You want that kind of talent to be happy and secure in his position and in his future with the team. A long term deal will accomplish that.

If the Phightin Phils don't sign Howard, then they will have to go to arbitration this winter. No player likes arbitration. It basically consists of the team's lawyer telling an impartial decisionmaker why the player is not good enough to get paid the money he's asking for. Sure, they are all professionals, and everyone is supposed to know that "it's nothing personal," but that is never the case. How can it be?

Being told you somehow let the team down after hitting 50 homers and knocking in 130 runs is no way to build a lasting bond with management. It always embitters players, even just a little bit. So, if it can be avoided, the team should avoid it. The Phillies can avoid it.

In January, Philadelphia gave its super-second baseman, Chase Utley, a seven year deal worth $85 million. At the time, Utley had two full seasons and two partial seasons in the MLB. At the end of this year, Howard will only have two full seasons and one partial season (in which he won the ROY award), so the Utley case is not directly on point.

But as great as Utley is -- and right now, he is the Most Valuable Player in the NL -- he is still not Howard. Fans love the long ball. Teams need the long ball. They also need the threat thereof, and Howard has become today's (steroid free) version of Barry Bonds. The man is a game-changing home run waiting to happen. His value to the team cannot be quantified.

Oh wait, yes it can. How about something like seven years and $88 million? That would probably do it.

The copyright of the article It's Time to Pay Ryan Howard in Baseball is owned by James Lincoln Ray. Permission to republish It's Time to Pay Ryan Howard in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.