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One new writer joining our ranks before we head home for the evening: Ashley Humienny, a Philly-ish native, Penn student, and hard-core sports fan. When she told us sports was her religion, we told her we'd be happy to have her proselytizing here. Welcome, Ashley!
A sign that, perhaps, our expectations are getting a little too high, eh?
As of a few hours ago, Phillies first baseman remains the only player eligible for arbitration: OF Jayson Werth just signed what Comcast SportsNet reports to be a multi-year deal. Also, the Phils and pitcher Chad Durbin agreed today to a one-year, $1.635 million K. But Howard certainly didn't waste anyone's time being passive aggressive.
Howard's request for $18 million in salary is the third-highest in the history of MLB's arbitration process, lagging only behind that of Yankees staple Derek Jeter and former Houston pitcher Roger Clemens.
This is like déjà vu on serious crack for the city and the Phillies front office. When the team offered a mere $7 mil to Howard last year, following his notch as the fastest MLB player to clock 100 homers, the powers that be felt that it wasn't enough, awarding him the $10 million he asked for.
Howard promptly made good on his courtroom victory and plummeted into an early-season slump, closing out April 2-for-25 with a .172 batting average.
But as we all know, the Phillies' momentum has ridden the caboose for the past two years, and that's when Howard began to get hot—well, along with the rest of his team.
We don't know about this one. The team will have more bargaining power this year, though arbitration usually falls in the player's favor. His plate numbers haven't improved, and the Phils went ahead and won the first two games of the World Series without him.
And seriously... asking for that much money in this economic climate? Baseball is doing just fine, sure, but that might not hold up in his case. Everybody's cutting corners—we certainly haven't heard a peep about Koby Clemens getting his third Hummer.
Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons user Googie Man
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Baseball makes a lot of money, Ashley. Should the ownership get to keep the lion's share? Or should the player's get their fair share?
the powers that be felt that it wasn't enough, You mean an arbitration panel, who the players and owners agreed (in their collective bargaining agreement) would resolve their disputes for players with between 2.5 and 6 years of MLB service time (experience). It's not like the team or the commissioner gets to determine salaries.
The team will have more bargaining power this year, though arbitration usually falls in the player's favor. Actually, the owners win a majority of the cases. Which is one of the reasons Howard's victory was such a surprise. Also, I don't understand why you think the team will have more bargaining power. The higher the player's service time the higher the arbitration award, so Howard is right to seek more money this year.
Howard promptly made good on his courtroom victory and plummeted into an early-season slump, closing out April 2-for-25 with a .172 batting average. I don't see the relevance. Correlation is not causation. Howard's final production for 2008 was tremendous and easily worth $10M.
the Phils went ahead and won the first two games of the World Series without him So we should determine the player's worth based on a two-game sample size? In game 2, btw, he went 2 for 5 with a double.
And seriously... asking for that much money in this economic climate? Again, MLB and particularly the Phillies did very well last year, making more than ever. I'm not sure why you think ownership is entitled to keep most of the gains.
Baseball makes a lot of money, Ashley.
Thanks, Dad. I feel like you're also about to tell me that mom hasn't been going to Grandma's house for rummy four nights of the week now, too.
But yes, I know what arbitration is, and who makes the calls - which is why I described them as the very specific "powers that be" - and I still think it's too much money. Perhaps he's smart to attempt it, but you either get one number or the other in arbitration, not some settlement in between, and I have a feeling that the league will opt for the $14M.
I don't see the relevance. Correlation is not causation. Howard's final production for 2008 was tremendous and easily worth $10M.
There is definitely something to be said for players coming out of free agency contracts and arbitration court victories, and there have been studies that point towards players having a tendency to underperform afterwards. (See some of the cases in The Business of Sports by Scott Rosner/Kenneth Shropshire.)
Sure, Howard picked up his numbers, and I never said he wasn't worth the $10 mil he won last year, but to know that a player can slump so horrifically at any point in the season is unnerving. What if that pick-up never occurs, or not at the right time?
And yes, I absolutely will judge a player based on a 2-game spectrum - when that spectrum happens to fall in the World Series, and preceding playoff games. There's a reason that NY doesn't love A-Rod...
However, I will concede that - and I just looked this up - arbitration has been favoring the clubs more in recent years (58% of the cases, in fact.) So I apologize on that misstatement.
None of that deters from the fact that I believe $18M is too much for one year - with or without the jokes about the economy, with or without how much money the Phils have lying around now. It's all about establishing a market and a precedent in most of these cases, and I'm hard-pressed to believe the arbitration panel will let either happen.
Howard's number might be high, but it makes sense for him. If he sees a decline in production his chances for inking a long-term deal go down significantly, so he needs to shoot high while he can.
But since his request is so high right after an off-year, he's probably guaranteed that he'll go to the arb table and lose. And $14 million seems about right for Howard's potential.
Throw in the facts that he didn't make the majors until he was 26 and that several stars with his body type fizzled out in their early 30s (Mo Vaughn is the best example, Big Papi is in danger of becoming the next one), he has a small window to maximize his earnings (something, I think, everyone of us tries to do).
I think $18M is too much and he won't get it, but I don't blame him.
Ah, and yes - it was nice of him to show up for Game 2 - unfortunate that we also lost that one. I was just pointing out that we were able to get throughout most of the postseason without him.
Ha! I love the reference to MLB arbitrators as "the powers that be." Let's see, who's got it better, a lawyer who specializes in professional labor mediation -- or the "phantom five" billionaires who own the Phillies?
http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20090126_Smith_experienced_voice_in_baseball_arbitration.html
Interesting article to follow up with that sentiment...