Howard upbeat after arbitration hearing ends

Ryan Howard's salary arbitration hearing with the Phillies ended today and the slugging first baseman was upbeat when he emerged from the Renaissance Vinoy hotel in St. Petersburg.

"It was cool, it was a different experience being in there," Howard said. "As for the result, we will find out tomorrow."

Tal Smith, who prepared and presented the case for the Phillies, said the hearing was not contentious. "It doesn't need to be [contentious]," Smith said.

Howard wasn't so sure. "I don't know about that," Howard said. "We'll see tomorrow. I'm always upbeat, you'd think I'd be anything different? Regardless, we went in, we had a process and we find out tomorrow how it goes. But either way, it is what it is."

At that point, Howard's agent Casey Close, ended the interview.

Earlier, Smith talked about the Phillies' side of the issue. "It's nothing more than a continuation of the debate that the parties had during the negotiation [process]. I don't think it is anything degrading or demeaning at all."

Howard had asked for $10 million, the Phillies were offering $7 million. Results of the hearing are expected tomorrow.

Howard has less than three years of service time and it will be four years before he becomes a free agent. He is in his first year of being arbitration eligible.

"That's certainly a major portion of the criteria - length and consistency of a career. Basically, that's what the debate is about," Smith said. "There's no denying his performance, it's a question of how that slots in with the rest of the criteria."