This isn't Ryan Howard all over again.

Not even close.

Hamels is bent out of shape over having his contract renewed yesterday. Howard was in a similar mood after having his deal renewed a year ago.

The only difference is that Howard, with his extraordinary credentials, should have been upset.

Hamels? Please.

When Howard wouldn't agree with the Phillies on a salary for 2007, the team exercised its right and renewed his deal at $900,000. Although that was a historic salary for a player with less than two years of service time on a one-year deal, the Phillies fumbled a chance to tell the world how great they thought Howard was.

For symbolic value, for PR and good-will points, the Phils should have given Howard $1 million, even if the player stubbornly refused to sign for something closer to that amount. After all, he was coming off two spectacular seasons in which he was the National League's rookie of the year, most valuable player and home-run and RBI king.

The Phillies did not disrespect Hamels by renewing his contract at $500,000. The number (a $100,000 raise) is entirely comparable with what other top pitchers in Hamels' service class have received.

For proof, the 24-year-old lefty needed only to look across the field in Tampa yesterday. Last year, the Yankees renewed Chien-Ming Wang's contract for $489,500. He was in the same service class as Hamels is now. And he was coming off a season in which he went 19-6, had a 3.63 ERA, made 33 starts, and pitched 218 innings.

Hamels is coming off a season is which he went 15-5, had a 3.39 ERA, made 28 starts and pitched 1831/3 innings.

There's nothing unfair about this deal. It's not a "low blow," as Hamels so foolishly and naively called it. It is completely in line with the way the system works for players not yet eligible for salary arbitration, and, lest we forget, the players sign off on this system every time they OK a new labor agreement.

Hamels, frankly, sounds spoiled and out of touch when he talks of being slighted by the deal, when he hints that he'll hold it against the club in the future. What does that mean? He's going to walk when he becomes a free agent after the 2012 season?

Come on, the only concern a guy with Hamels' health record should have about the future is that there is a future! In case he hasn't noticed, he's had some problems staying on the field throughout his professional career.

None of this is meant to demean Hamels. He's a good guy, a good competitor, and one hell of a talent. He wants to be one of the all-time greats and could be if, again, he stays healthy.

It's just that he was not disrespected by this deal.

Howard should have been upset last year. Hamels shouldn't be.

Hamels needs to take a deep breath and do his history homework. He needs to learn from what Howard went through last year.

After his contract was renewed, Howard got off to a slow start during the regular season. There's no doubt he was bothered by a sore left quadriceps. But his discontent with his contract didn't help. Howard let a team decision, albeit a poor one, affect him. Thankfully for everyone involved, he was strong enough mentally to clear his head during a stint on the disabled list in May and come back and have another huge season in which he had 47 homers and 136 RBIs.

That season, that ability to rebound from legitimate disappointment, was the reason Howard changed the baseball industry last month with his $10 million salary-arbitration award.

If Hamels is looking for another history lesson, he again could look to the Yankees' Wang, who followed up his 19 wins in 2006 and his contract renewal with 19 more wins. This season, he will make $4 million. That's no low blow.

This contract renewal shouldn't be getting Hamels down. But if he wakes up this morning still feeling slighted, he needs to get over it quickly.

Like Howard, Hamels likely will be eligible for arbitration next winter. There's a lot of money out there for him to make, but to get it, he will have to stay healthy and produce the way he did last season.

Pretty soon, the system will favor Hamels and he will have his say.

In the meantime, he's being treated fairly this season. Go pitch.