From Jim Salisbury, Inquirer staff writer:
The Phillies today agreed on a three-year, $54 million contract with slugger Ryan Howard, a source close to the situation told The Inquirer.
Howard, who led the majors in homers and RBIs the last three seasons, had been scheduled to have a salary arbitration hearing late this week. The hearing will no longer be needed.
“I’m happy to have this done and to know that I’ll be in Philadelphia for at least another three years,” said Howard in a statement. “Both sides are happy and now I’m just focused on getting the season started and having fun.”
Howard had sought $18 million in arbitration, while the Phils offered $14 million. The average annual value of his new deal is $18 million.
“We’re very pleased to have avoided the arbitration process, not just for this year, but also for the next two,” said Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. “Ryan is clearly one of the top power hitters and run producers in the major leagues and is a very important part of our championship club.”
Howard, 29, is eligible for free agency after the 2011 season.
Nice now neither party has to go though an acrimonious arbitration process.— hillbillybirdsfan
I sure hope the Phils put some performance standards into whatever agreement they sign.— wlkelly- wow this is great— wearethechampions
- There is no way Obama is going to stand for this kind of salary. Watch out Howard!— wlkelly
- Great news, He deserves the deal and it will cement an already great team for the next few years. I expect Howard to have a "break out year".— ATL WILL
- Good deal for the Phillies, and good deal for Howard.— Gmilst1
- that's nice.— jearnha
Comment removed.- Hope that buys some infield practice— ChekUrFax
- Is that A Rod money?— Muck the Fets
- Now that have all of this contract stuff out of the way, Let's Play Ball!!!— rcfoot
- this is good for the phillies because now howard can lead the league in homeruns and rbi's this year and the phillies avoid paying him 20 + million that he would be awarded in next years arbitration hearing.— ConservativePatriot22
- I'm somewhat shocked Howard agreed to this. Heck of a job by Rueben to get this done and avoid a yearly arbitration battle.— fiveforone
- Phillies 2009 MVP: Bernie Madoff— Muck the Fets
- Great news. Now, let's get down to business and win the NL East again!— 4 for 4 Guy
Bob Brookover and Matt Gelb team up for their third straight season covering the Phillies for the Inquirer and philly.com.
This is Brookover’s second stint writing about the Phillies, having joined the coverage team after seven years as an Eagles beat writer. Brookover was hired by The Inquirer in 2000 as the Phillies beat writer after spending 13 years writing about the team for two suburban newspapers. While on the Eagles beat, Brookover, who had covered just two winning Phillies teams in 15 seasons, saw the Phillies move into a cash-cow new ballpark and begin playing a brand of the game he found unrecognizable. Follow him on Twitter here.
Gelb is in his third season covering the Phillies. He was hired by The Inquirer in August 2009 after graduating from Syracuse University. He has also covered baseball at The Star-Ledger and Cape Cod Times. Born and raised in Bucks County, he attended Central Bucks High School West. Follow him on Twitter here.
To submit a question for Matt Gelb's Phillies mailbag, click here.
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