Durbin Agrees to One-Year Deal
And then there was one.
Durbin Agrees to One-Year Deal
Todd Zolecki
And then there was one.
The Inquirer has learned that the Phillies have reached an agreement with righthander Chad Durbin on a one-year, $1.635 million contract. This follows the news that rightfielder Jayson Werth has agreed to a two-year, $10 million contract with the Phillies.
That leaves Ryan Howard as the only Phillies player still eligible for salary arbitration. Howard is seeking $18 million in arbitration. The Phillies are offering $14 million. It seems more likely than not that Howard and the Phillies return to the arbitration table.
Comments (61)
Philly fans do tend to be self destructive. They have a QB that leads them to 5 championship games in 10 years and they want to ride him out of town on a rail. They have the ML leader in homers and RBIs for the last three years and, nah, trade him, get him out of here! Pat Gillick? OUT with thee! Schmidt, same story. Joni Mitchell must have had Philly in mind when she wrote "You don't know what ya got till it's gone".— tpizza
Howard will get the $18mm, but ARod retains the rights to Madonna.— mick314- 18 million for Howard is an 80% pay raise, not 180%.— Neal Obstat
- Only 1 player going to arbitration, this is great. Baseball can't some soon enough after last week's debacle in Arizona..— furio
- It looks like wining a W.S. has really brought the realists in the city. Welcome to the board GoPhilsGo your intelligence really shines thru as far as Howard and thee are many others as well. I'm not even going to add to the pro Ryan points. Anyhow, hate it or love it Jr. is getting the job done.— Truth
- WORLD CHAMPS!!!!!!!!— Clinton, NJ
- Where does this leave Adam Eaton?— benjyedwards
- Don't be so sure, g$. It's less about the raise and more about comparing his stats with those of other players.— Bake McBride
- Amaro and ownership doing a GREAT JOB getting players signed without long term contracts...very well done!— JBP
- "If defense at 1st base were important"? Whoa.....it IS important and never more so than in CBP and with this pitching staff that pitches to contact....there's nothing routine with Howard at 1st base and every pitcher on the staff cringes a little on every play. It's either an out or a runner on/run in.....very fatiguing on a pitcher mentally and physically to have to get 4-5 outs an inning at the ML level and moreso in CBP....no one will deny that....defense wins at all levels. GG 1st baseman who can hit are a big plus....and Texiera will hit plenty with that short porch in RF in Yankee Stadium.....hence the record breaking contract.— Mark1npt
- "If defense at 1st base were important"? Whoa.....it IS important and never more so than in CBP and with this pitching staff that pitches to contact....there's nothing routine with Howard at 1st base and every pitcher on the staff cringes a little on every play. It's either an out or a runner on/run in.....very fatiguing on a pitcher mentally and physically to have to get 4-5 outs an inning at the ML level and moreso in CBP....no one will deny that....defense wins at all levels. GG 1st baseman who can hit are a big plus....and Texiera will hit plenty with that short porch in RF in Yankee Stadium.....hence the record breaking contract.— Mark1npt
- GoPhilsGo aka Daddy Howard....I knew I was right.......— Mark1npt
- An 80% raise is still ridiculous in these times.— ronin32
- G Money- $10M (.8) = $8M $10M+$8M= $18M That means .8 is equal to an 80% raise.— ronin32
- The difference between Howard and Texiera, or Jones, or Hunter - is that all of these guys were free agents. The price goes up for free agents - Howard is not, so you can't directly compare their $$. If we were talking about Howard being a free agent and the dollars the Phillies should spend to keep him, it would be a different story. But he's not. 18 M$ is way too much, even if he heated up in Sept. I think the Phils are more in line at 14 M$. I think the Phils win arb this year.— Gary Varsho
- I know its not exactly an issue, but I was just curious how many years service time Durbin had, and if he was a free agent next season? He was so so in the playoffs, likely because of all the innings he pitched during the year. But I thought he had an excellent season and was very underrated. Hopefully he and Scott Eyre have great seasons next year making the loss of Romero tolerable. Still wouldnt mind another arm out there.— HockeyAdam22
- g idiot, that's an 80% raise.— mikemaddog
The Dodgers gave Andruw Jones a two-year deal worth $36.2MM before last season. 3 HRs and a .156BA later, he is released before his contract expires. It should be noted that Jones let his weight get away from him and his game went quickly downhill along with a knee injury. He's only 32. He was pegged as a future hall-of-famer just three years ago. This is an example of why I don't think the Phils will ever sign Howard to a long term deal. What will he weigh three years from now? Will his knees hold up? In comparison though, I'm sure the Dodgers(et al) would gladly give Howard $18MM this year.— RAS- Howard is not worth that kind of money! He is a crappy fielder, strikes-out too much and hits for a low average for 18M. I like him, but 14M is fair, to hit HRs for a year.— Mohave_Sun
- 18M is an 80% raise (he makes 10m now). Not 180%, moron.— PhilsWin
- Such whiners here.— JerseyCommonSense
- No 3B yet, No RH Power, A decline from last year. We need those two bats. Pitching is solid— Sports4Life
- Werth's second year jumps because it isn't an arbitration year, it's a free agent year.— Greg G
- Mark1npt wrote, "the Yanks signed a Gold Glove, switchhitting, batting leader potentially every year for 8-9 years" Here's the thing about Phillies fans: We don't know what we got til it's gone. Teixiera's lifetime batting average is .290. Howard's is .278. In six seasons, Teixiera has never even finished in the top 10 in batting, much less been a "batting leader," and that's despite playing a majority of those years in a park that is even more hitter-friendly than Citizens Bank. Teixiera has made one all-star team and never finished in the top 5 in MVP voting. He only has two Gold Gloves in six years (one more than Bobby Abreu). And it doesn't matter anyway ... if defesne at first base were important, JT Snow would be in the Hall of Fame. Look, Texiera is a very good player. Howard is a game-changer. The seamheads have a statistic to compare a hitter's impact on a game -- adjusted batting runs. Teixiera's teams have scored 30 runs per season more with him at first base than they would have with the average first baseman. Howard has meant 45 more runs per season to the Phils. Catchers and managers have their own way of showing their respect for a player's game-changing abilities ... Teixiera has been intentionally walked an average of six times a year over his career. Howard has been intentionally walked an average of 30 times a year. But you're right, Teixiera is a switch hitter.— GoPhilsGo
- Good job by Amaro. Going into the off-season, all of the arbitration-eligible players were the big issue for this team. It's basically done now. Howard will get his money from arb., everyone else is paid. And they got Ibanez to boot. Good stuff. Now let's hope someone really emerges solidly from the 5th starter competition and we're set. Well, getting Utley and Feliz healthy and getting Romero back will be nice too.— NJLouis66
- Hey Howard, learn to hit a lefty, then you will get the extra 4 million. His sense of entitlement irks the hell out of me. I dont see what you cant do with 14 million that you cant do with 18million— corron
- howard will get the 18mil. he knows it and the club knows it. don't worry about it. the important thing is almost all of the world champs are back. that is ok by me. we've seen champs broken up very quickly in the recent past. REPEAT IN '09 BABY!!!!— scorpio27
Come on now, is $18 MM for the big that much? Other ballparks sold out last year when the Phils played, and a lot of that is due to Rye-dog. He deserves it. Pay him. Lock him up. To me it is worth it to have one less headache.— Poppys- A $4 million raise for Howard is right on target for the year he had. On the positive side, he led the league in HRs and RBIs. Rest assured, these two stats carry alot of weight. However, on the negative side, his defense declined, he was a non factor for the first half of the season, it took a hot streak later in the season to just get his average at .250 and he came up small in the post season. Based on this and the poor economy, it would be shocking if an arbitrator sided with Howard this time around.— PortCity
- I love how the Phillies are always quick in signing their own players and aggressive in free agency to fill their holes - I just wish Joe Banner would take some notes.— NEPHILLY215
- Have to say, great job by Amaro signing all these guys. As for Howard, he'd be crazy not to ask for what he has. He has to strike while the iron is hot, and it's never going to be hotter than it is now, especially coming off the championship season. You know, the one in which he carried the team in September?— patrick125
- I am impressed and like the moves. It is not my money to spend but seems to be well spent. A righty off the bench and lets go to FL to begin the repeat!!!!— lionpres
- His career stats compare favorably to Texiera's. Texiera is getting an average of $22.5 million a year over eight years. Why wouldn't Howard ask for $18 million? BTW, "ARod money" is $28 million a year. He's not even asking for Jason Giambi money ($23.4 million last year). He wants Carlos Delgado/ Todd Helton money. It's hard to argue that he doesn't deserve it. The arbitrators only look at players in the same service class, so those salaries won't affect Howard's outcome. But I'm not sure who exactly they'll find in his service class who has 3 top 5 MVP finishes in 3 1/2 big league seasons. And remember that the arbitrators are allowed to consider the team's success in determining the award. Hard to argue with two division titles and a World Series championship in three full seasons. Hard to argue that Howard didn't play a huge role in both titles either. He was NL player of the month in September of the World Series year, and his career September OPS is over 1.100. That's insane. The arbitration panel is also allowed to consider post-season performance. He struggled against the Brewers and hit .300 without a whole lot of pop against the Dodgers. But against the Rays, he had three homers in five games and an OPS of 1.137. The man's going to get his money.— GoPhilsGo
- To reivew, in reverse order: pieman, you state the obvious, and who cares. Mark1npt - fact based and correct. Joyda2, IMHO I agree with your view. GHOST - again I agree. Cheesesteak, by citing A Jones (washout), don't you understand you undermine your arguement that Ryan deserves $18M? I love Ryan, but $18M, no. Dixie Deb, correct. Kinkaid 329, how was school today? g$ - agree but I think he signs after arbitration either way. tpizza - agree with you re Amaro, and I must add I am surprised at the speed of getting thisdone. All IMHO.— ruttrho
- Doesn't Ryan make enough off his subway deal already that he can just be satisfied with 14 mil?— Tommy2Tone
- This has been mostly housekeeping. Hamels for $20m/3yr to avoid arbitration was a good deal. I do not think Howard will get the $18M but I want him happy. So I expect a last minute comprimise there.— MattPSU
Comment removed.- Can they sign McNabb?— GANick
- sports is outa control in this country. no way any player deserves this kind of money. its a freaken game...hello!!— pieman
- nuggett, I know what you mean, but Howard is playing the game as much as the phils, it is a game, I say play it, let the arbitrator speak, ink the deal and then focus on baseball. I am generally critical of past financial moves, but I cannot agree that the Phils nickeled and dimes Howard.— ruttrho
- They haven't nickled or dimed anybody...they paid him more than any 2nd year player ever got in MLB history....including Pujols...the 3rd year he just got greedy and now the 4th, same thing....he needs to read the economic landscape and get real. No team left to pay him the bucks he thinks he's worth....the Yanks signed a Gold Glove, switchhitting, batting leader potentially every year for 8-9 years....does anyone really think Howard compares? He can't compete in numerous categories....and the Yanks won't want him even if he's available in 2012. Take less, stay here, enjoy your buddies, win championships and grow old, Howard.....ignore Daddy....you only need $100 million to live comfortably and provide for your ramily for all eternity.— Mark1npt
- I believe that Werth is eligible for free agency after this season, so basically the $3M is to buy out his last arb year, and then the $7M is in essence his "free agent" deal.— jodya2
- This is good work by the Phillies to sign all these players rather quickly. I am glad that Werth got a nice deal, he deserved it. Howard needs to take a look at the what the rest of the team is doing and follow suit. It's a shame he is letting his Dad do all the thinking and talking for him. He is hurting himself long-term at this point. It would be smart to negotiate a 4 or 5 year deal with the Phillies, and insure himself against possible injury or decreased production. Going to arbitration year after year is risky. I would take the guaranteed money.— GHOSTPHAYCE
- Howard deserves the $18mm. just look around the league at some of the guys making that kind of money. Tori Hunter? Andrew Jones? These owners made their own beds with no salary cap, now they have to sleep in them.— cheesesteak17
- They didn't nickle and dime Howard. Should they have paid him 1 million that year instead of 900,000? Probably. But other than that, i think the Phillies have been fair. and I think they are being fair this year. Offering to go up 40% is reasonable. Howard is a big guy..you have to worry about how long his knees will hold up. I think they are smart to play this year by year.— Deb in Dixie
- You are right, nuggett, they have nickle and dimed Ryan Howard from the beginning. The man hits home runs! Pay him already!— kinkaid329
- Howard asking for $18M is like him asking for a ticket outta town. 18M = 180% pay raise...in this economy? yeah, get outta here. Arbitration will side with the phils.— g$ is an idiot
- Let's not get caught up in the money issues. Amaro has done a fantastic job so far with only the big guy left to get signed. I'd like to see a long term deal in place for him so we don't have to worry about anymore. I could care less about the dollar amounts. If both sign the deal, both are happy.— tpizza
- Comment removed.
- Yes, so far so good....but why not just pay Ryan...The Phillies have nickled dimed him from the beginning.....yet they expect loyalty...Tie him up for 3 years and pay him.....He is an important cog on this team....— nuggett
- amaro has been busy. now get a right handed bat!
- i like howard alot..never want him to leave...sure seems headed that direction though..i think he wants more than arod type moola— EskinzWack
- Great! Werth was the last piece of the puzzle for me. We will be the same tame only with an upgrade in left field and everyone a year better (or is it older?)— Structrebc
- I wish the Phillies and Howard would just agree on 15 or 16 million and avoid arbitration, but you know it's not going to happen.— MarkNJ
- No way Howard gets what he's asking, unless the player's union is the arbiter.
- Amaro has done a masterful job of avoiding arbitration and not paying too much. Howard is going to arbitration no matter what. He'll get the 18 million, and he knows it. I'd have to say I'm pretty impressed with how quickly Amaro works. Everyone is happy so far. Can't wait for spring training!— Jamerock
- Sarcasm.— bsktblldn619
- He will sign. 10 years 200 mil.— Beef69
- Sarcasm.— bsktblldn619
- m they only have one left, cant u read? and he wont sign— Sgasda4
- Why are the Phils taking so long to sign all of their arbitration-eligible guys?— bsktblldn619
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