Phillies sign Howard to 5-year, $125 million extension
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Phillies sign Howard to 5-year, $125 million extension
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Phillies have locked up their slugging first baseman with the richest deal in franchise history.
Ryan Howard has signed a five-year, $125 million contract extension, the team announced Monday. There is a club option for a sixth year, meaning the deal could reach $138 million in total value if the option is exercised.
Howard would have been a free agent after the 2011 season.
When the deal kicks in, Howard, 30, will become the highest paid player in franchise history. Roy Halladay's deal pays him $20 million per season as a Phillie. The average annual salary of Howard's deal is larger.
Currently, the only player with a higher average annual salary than Howard's in 2012 and beyond is New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez.
The contract breaks down like this:
2012: $20 million
2013: $20 million
2014: $25 million
2015: $25 million
2016: $25 million
2017: $23 million club option with $10 million buyout
The deal also included a limited no-trade clause and awards bonuses.
In 2016, the final guaranteed year of the deal, Howard will be 36 years old.
Howard is making $19 million in 2010. He is due to make $20 million in 2011. So Howard will not see a raise in his salary in the first two years of the extension, which has to be considered a coup for the Phillies. If Howard would have gone on the open market after the 2011 season, he assuredly would have had an instant raise in 2012.
The $125 million contract extension is the 14th largest contract ever signed in baseball history. When the deal kicks in, Howard would be the highest paid first baseman in the majors based on average annual salary. Of course, by 2012, that could very well change considering Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder and Adrian Gonzalez are all due new contracts.
Obviously, the Phillies have put their eggs in one very large basket. What does this mean for impending free agent Jayson Werth? Hard to say. The Phillies' chances of re-signing Werth after this season were already slim. If Werth wants a five- or six-year deal similar to those given to Jason Bay and Matt Holliday this past off-season, the Phillies could decide they already have too much invested.
As it stands, with Howard's $20 million added to the equation, the Phillies have $84.45 million committed to seven players in 2012. (That includes a $1.5 million buyout on Brad Lidge's contract.)
But consider this: One of the Phillies' buzz words in the off-season was "cost certainty." The Phillies locked up players like Shane Victorino, Joe Blanton and Carlos Ruiz to three-year deals. Because Howard won't see a raise in his salary until 2014, the Phillies remain somewhat flexible in their payroll. Enough to sign Werth? It will be challenging.
The last time the Phillies invested this much in a first baseman, they signed Jim Thome to a six-year, $85 million contract. Thome was 32 when he signed his deal.
Howard's last contract he signed with the Phillies before the 2009 season was for three years, $54 million
Howard, a fifth-round pick in 2001, is hitting .275 with three home runs and 16 RBIs this season. Since becoming an everyday player on July 1, 2005, Howard leads all major league players in home runs (222) and RBI (650).
He is fifth on the Phillies' all-time home run list.
Howard, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. and manager Charlie Manuel will meet with reporters at 7:30 p.m. (East Coast time) before Monday night's game at AT&T Park.
Much, much more to come...
He doesn't get $25 million until 2014. He's getting $20 million already in 2011 and then $20 million in 2012 and 2013. By 2013, there will be plenty of stars getting $20 million per year or more. By the time we get to 2014, that $25 million per year won't seem as high compared to the other top-players.— JimG- Howard is absolutely worth the money now here is one more MUST sign. Jayson Werth.. Getr rid of Ibanez and then we will win pennants for the foreseeable future as we will have ALL of the principal players locked up. (Ibanez is old and we have young talent ready to step in. If anything, our pitching sucks so after Werth and Moyer doesn't have much value due to his inconsistency— hrlevine
- Of course Howard is not worth it. No ballplayer is "worth" what they get. Only Obama is worth $25 million per year. The Hedge fund guys are not worth $4 billion either. My auto mechanic is worth the $30,000 he makes.— 4thand10
- I hope Aumont becomes dominant so it makes this Lee deal worth it.— ronin32
- Seriously, I have not read the comments for any article since Lee was traded that hasn't mentioned him, regardless of how little he has to do with the topic. It's long past annoying and laughable. You folks who keep harping on Cliff Lee are like Eric the Clown of George Costanza "hung up on some clown from the 60s, man!!!" Let it go and if you want to give your $.02, give it about something relevant to reality.— Jrod00
- eyre might be a decent option at this point. if hamels doesn't improve we may be looking to trade this year, oswalt anyone?— dreinterests
- Love it Howard is the face of this franchise every team in the mlb fears our lineup because of Howard and Utley now lets get Utley locked up then Werth— Joey0210
- You guys are all forgetting that with The government taxes and Agents fees, he is only going to end up with 12 mil out of the 20 mil per year, and at todays rates the interest is only around $500,ooo per year!— dan39564
- Great! Now go get some good pitching.— Gus L.
- If anyone thinks the Philsa re going to trade Werth in the middle of a run to get back to the World Series you really have to look at your logic tables.— mundiff
- Everyone needs to let Cliff Lee go. He was great while he was here, but he's gone. Roy Halladay more than makes up for the loss of Lee anyway, and although Hamels has struggled, it doesn't negate the fact that he was the WS MVP...he HAS the ability. All pitchers slump - including Halladay and Lee, who were both sent down early in their careers for performance issues.— kat20
- Also, to the people that want Utley extended right now, he signed a 7 yr extension back in 07. He's signed through 2013 already.— kat20
- Salaries have become so obscene that it is a statement on the values of the American public. While Doctors, teachers, etc are accused of greed and there is no money to pay for vital services, knucleheaded sports fans pay exorbitant ticket prices and are almost ecstatic when a team wins. How many bills does a winning team pay for the average fan?— ww2buff
- Now hopefully he can concentrate and get out of the habit of trying to pull everything as in the last 8-10 games-----every year he gets into the same bad pulling habit for spells.— jwatson
- I hate to mention it, but the differnce between winning and losingthe world series is having cliff lee. With lee its halladay and lee vs CC/burnett or halladay/hamels vs CC/burnett. No thanks.— xMikelaw19
