MLB Fastball 2.22.08: Howard Cashes In With $10 Million Arbitration Award

Posted by Neil Borenstein on 02.22.2008

The free agent market isn’t the only place to get rich. On Thursday, Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard received the largest award for a first-year arbitration-eligible player at a cool $10 million - $3 million more than what the Phillies wanted to pay. In this edition of MLB Fastball, Neil Borenstein discusses this, as well as Chien-Ming Wang’s almost unnecessary arbitration case.

Howard Banks Record Award In ArbitrationPhillies First Baseman Wins $10 Million Salary For 2008 Season

Photo Credit: Phillies.comRyan Howard, the 2006 NL MVP, received the highest award for a first-year arbitration-eligible player at $10 million.

A team always reluctant to shell out some cash, it appears the Philadelphia Phillies will need to widen the checkbook just a bit. On Thursday, the team's star first baseman, who is known more for his bat than his fielding, was awarded $10 million in arbitration. That figure comes in at $3 million more than what the Phillies put on the table.

According to Jimmy Rollins, one of the first things Howard is going to do with his newfound wealth is plop down approximately $170,000 – or what is about three days worth of pay – for a new set of wheels. Howard's eyes have been set on getting an Ashton Martin DB9, better known as the James Bond car. I think the funniest part has to be the fact that Howard can afford a car on three days' salary that most people couldn't afford over three years.

The Phillies have two emotions coming out of this arrangement.

On the one hand, they have their lineup's most powerful bat locked up for another year. As with many power hitters, he strikes out pretty often. In fact, he had an MLB all-time high in a season with 199 K's last season. But to counter that, Howard, who was the 2005 National League Rookie of the Year and 2006 NL MVP, is becoming a threat for around 50 home runs a season. His power is unmatched by anybody else in Philadelphia's lineup, which just shows his significance. So with him still signed on for another year, the Phillies remain a pretty a potent team offensively going into 2008.

However, the prospect of being able to sign Howard to a long-term contract within their price range has shown to be increasingly difficult. Ideally, Philadelphia would have loved to get him inked to a multi-year contract before the arbitration hearing, which it pursued heavily. But an agreement could not be made. And if Howard was able to land the highest arbitration award for a first-year arbitration-eligible player, that's only going to put more stake behind Howard's claim for an extremely rich deal.

Howard, who cannot become a free agent until after the 2011 season, reportedly wants a deal over what Albert Pujols received from the St. Louis Cardinals in 2004 - $100 million over seven years. For the penny-pinching Phils, that might be too rich for their blood. That's unfortunate, because if Howard can continue to produce as he has over the past two seasons, he may just be one of the best power bats across the Majors. And the Phillies don't really have anybody to replace him, nor are they going to pay somebody with the same effectiveness at the plate to fill his role if he leaves.

I'm still very skeptical of the Phillies' insistence in not stepping up to the plate and handing out contracts to certain players. While I'm whole-heartedly on the bandwagon that baseball players make entirely too much money and the market is becoming increasingly out of whack, Howard might just be one of those exceptions that you have to splurge a little bit on. And I'm not convinced the Phillies can't do it.

If Philadelphia just handed Howard a deal for seven years and $105-115 million, I'd like to think Howard would be hard-pressed to decline it. He might not become the richest player in baseball. But he doesn't really deserve to be. And for a player that's becoming giddy over $10 million, an average of $15-16.5 million per season would pretty much make him the happiest man alive. I also think he would be okay with taking a million or two less than he might receive on the open market to remain in a Phillies uniform.

At least for the Phillies and Howard, there was a $3 million separation between the two parties that reasonably necessitated an arbitration hearing. The New York Yankees and starting pitcher Chien-Ming Wang had to state their cases over a petty $600,000.

On Sat. Feb. 16, the result of the arbitration case went in favor of the Yankees. Wang received an award of $4 million. He wanted $4.6 million.

Now, I fully understand that regular contract negotiations don't normally go the way of arbitration hearings. The numbers thrown around in front of the three-person panel are likely ones that don't come up very much between general managers and players. But if the Yankees were to offer Wang a $5 or 6 million, one-year deal to avoid arbitration and move on to more long-term negotiations, there wouldn't be a need for hours of putting each other down with the danger of lingering hard feeling. Wang did win 19 games, after all, and would hardly be considered overpaid at $5-6 million.

Photo Credit: Yahoo! SportsChien-Ming Wang lost his arbitration case with the Yankees, who won their case at $4 million.

Until Phil Hughes can mature his game over the next season or two, Wang is the ace the Yankees' rotation. Andy Pettitte has the experience. But I think he plays a better No. 2 starter at this point in his career. I can't understand why the richest team in baseball that has some of the highest paid players in the game needs to go to an arbitration case with anybody, let alone perhaps the most important starter in their rotation right now that was only seeking $600,000 more.

Though Howard's decision wouldn't have helped Wang in his case, the big talk now is how Howard's award will affect future arbitration hearings of offensive players. Players like Prince Fielder, Ryan Braun, Hanley Ramirez and Ryan Zimmerman still have hearings to look forward to. And Howard's decision might set a different standard for these cases that could heavily favor the side of the players.

Naturally, I doubt any of them will see $10 million, or even anything remotely close. But we could start seeing a trend develop where players make significantly more than they are really worth not just in free agency, but in arbitration, as well. Howard's case might have been fair based on his production. But future hearings might just add to the financial lunacy we've seen in recent years with relation to player contracts.

Feedback …

I received two pieces of feedback related to last week's column about the Clemens-McNamee Congressional hearing:

It's good to see that while a kid with a history of mental illness can buy 4 guns and shoot up NIU, Congress is ignoring gun control and focusing on important issues like stopping athletes who play a fucking game for a living from using steroids. No wonder the rest of the world hates us.

- Guest #3863 (Comment section)

Thanks for the comment, and thanks for realizing how dumb Congress is. I think this is one of my biggest issues with Congress' involvement in professional sports. There are so many more important things to worry, such as the lack of gun control that allows students to shoot up their schools, as you pointed out. Instead of worrying about that, however, Congressmen feel that wasting our taxes on dealing with professional sports leagues that are already handling their steroid issues is a much better idea. It's dumb, it really is. But alas, the witch-hunt must continue – right?

Yeah but if Clemens gets in, then Pete Rose should be allowed in. I mean if Cheating can get you in Cooperstown, then why is Gambling such a far more darker and cardinal sin?

- Anonymous

Actually, I have no problem with putting Pete Rose into the Hall of Fame. Was he wrong for gambling, especially on the team he managed? Absolutely. But I'm fine with him going into the Hall of Fame, since I don't think gambling should have any bearing on his Hall of Fame status, which should be a measure of what he did as a player. Rose and Clemens are in two entirely situations. But I don't have an issue with either one of them heading to Cooperstown.

Thanks a lot for the feedback, and everybody keep it coming!

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Until next time!

~ Neil Borenstein