Ryan Howard Lands A 5-Year Extension For $125 Million

[Twentytwofifty]

Phillies sign Howard through 2016

Ryan Howard will remain in a Philadelphia Phillies uniform through the 2016 season after agreeing to a five-year extension worth an average of $25 million per year.

The slugging first baseman has agreed to a $125 million extension that will kick in starting with the 2012 season. If the team picks up its option for the 2017 season, Howard could earn $138 million.

There are no escalators in the contract, a source familiar with the details of the contract, told ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.

The contract contains standard award bonuses. And Howard has the right to name a small group of teams to which the Phillies can trade him. He would become a 10-and-5 man, with full trade-veto rights, in May of 2015.

The $25 million guaranteed average salary in the extension will be baseball's second-highest behind Alex Rodriguez's $27.5 million average under a 10-year contract with the Yankees running through 2017.

Howard will earn $20 million in each of the 2012 and 2013 seasons and $25 million per season from 2014-16. The Phillies hold a club option for the 2017 season that is worth $23 million with a $10 million buyout.

The 30-year-0ld Howard, who is 6-feet-4 and weighs 255 pounds, has 225 career home runs in 750 games. This season he is hitting .275 with three homers and 16 RBIs.

His 225 home runs are good for fifth in club history behind only Mike Schmidt (548), Del Ennis (259), Pat Burrell (251), and Chuck Klein (243). His .583 slugging percentage is the best in Phillies history.

He was named the National League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in back-to-back seasons (2005-'06). In his 2006 MVP season, Howard hit a club single-season record with 58 home runs.

The two-time All-Star was named the 2009 NLCS MVP and his 27 postseason RBIs are the most in Phillies playoff history.

In 2009, Howard became just the fourth player in baseball history to total at least 40 home runs and 130-plus RBIs in four consecutive seasons, joining Babe Ruth (seven straight seasons), Ken Griffey Jr. (four) and Sammy Sosa (four).

He also reached 200 home runs the fastest of any player, achieving the milestone in just his 658th game.

 

[Twentytwofifty]

What Are the Phillies Thinking?
by Matthew Carruth - April 26, 2010 - Share this Article

When the news first broke and the details started to emerge, I was tempted to fill this entire article with just me laughing. My co-writers convinced me that while an appropriate response, that was not quite informative enough so I have relented and will actually map out the value of Ryan Howard’s new extension. I’m laughing pretty hard, though, in case you wanted to picture it.

Howard receives $20 million in 2012 (his age 32 season) and ’13, $25 million per from 2014 through ’16 and there is a team option on 2017 (his age 37 season) for $23 million that costs the Phillies $10 million to buy out. They even threw in a limited no trade clause.

The extension kicks in after Howard’s current 3-year, $54-million deal ends in 2011. I wrote about that deal back in February of 2009 when the Phillies avoided arbitration with him by signing it. I was not a fan of the deal at the time but pointed out the Phillies were bound by the arbitration process and the way it tends to overvalue the skills that Howard had in excess and marginalize the skills that he lacked. There is no such rationalization here as this new deal covers only free agent years.

Howard did well in 2009, besting projections by about a win. That made him a solid bet to produce the amount of value needed to match his salary from 2009-11. Projecting Howard’s performance from 2012-7 is incredibly difficult. We’re not only looking very far into the future, but we’re doing so with a hitting profile that historically ages awfully. Richie Sexson, Cecil Fielder, Mo Vaugn, David Ortiz, Tony Clark and others are among Ryan Howard’s most comparable hitters according to Baseball-Reference. All of them dropped off harshly in their early 30s. About the only success story in Howard’s top ten comparables in Willie McCovey.

Even if you think baseball’s salary per win goes up to $4.25 million this coming offseason and rises at a 5% clip every winter through 2017, Howard will need to produce an average of 4.75 wins from 2012 through 2017 just in order to justify his salary. If you factor in that Howard gets (even more) long-term security from this deal, then that average production levels goes up to 5.3 wins.

In other words, Howard will need six seasons that were better than his 2009 season, except over his 32-37 years. I’m not sure I would lay even money on him achieving even half of that. This contract is both incredibly risky and unnecessary since Howard was already signed through 2011. Say hello to baseball’s newest worst contract.

[Chamillitary Click]

Ryan Howard getting paid.

[Javier]

Might be worse than what the Astros are dealing with Carlos Lee right now. 

[S P I C E]

Might be worse than what the Astros are dealing with Carlos Lee right now. 

If you guys think this is a terrible deal then Im curious to hear what you thought about the Matt Holliday deal lol.  Compared to that deal this contract is a steal for the Phillies.

[BOX5 the best poster on this site yell]

he deserved it, now big al "the networth machine" is jumping for joy, he's going in and should get nothing less then 200 mill yell

[The Come Up Shuffle]

Players with Ryan's skill set tend to fall off fast.  It may seem like a a good deal now but in a few years.  Say this contract bought out his current contract the fact that this is an additional 5 years is a risky move.

[Twentytwofifty]

If you guys think this is a terrible deal then Im curious to hear what you thought about the Matt Holliday deal lol.  Compared to that deal this contract is a steal for the Phillies.

Okay, we'll look at that.

Here's Holliday's contract:

# 7 years/$120M (2010-16), plus 2017 option

    * re-signed by St. Louis as a free agent 1/10
    * 10-16: $17M annually, 17:$17M club option ($1M buyout)
    * club must exercise or decline option within 5 days of end of 2016 World Series
    * 2017 option guaranteed with top 10 finish in 2016 MVP vote
    * $2M annually deferred without interest, to be paid from 2020 to 2029 in annual installments of $1.4M or $1.6M, depending on whether the option vests or is exercised (present value of $113,580,723 per MLBPA)
    * full no-trade clause
    * award bonuses: $0.2M for MVP ($0.1M for 2nd in vote, $50,000 for 3rd); $0.15M for WS MVP; $0.1M for NLCS MVP; $50,000 each for NLDS MVP, All Star election, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger; $25,000 for All Star selection
    * perks: suite on road

They are easy to compare age wise because Howard is only a few months older.
I don't have the exact details of Howard's contract but he's averaging $25 million for the years 2012-2016.   Holliday get $17 million a year for those years. And the buyout for the last year for the Cards is $1 million whereas the Phillies have to pay Howard $10 million.

I think Holliday's contract is safer.  $8 million less a year, less chance of a decline in production compared to Howard IMO, he's an OF not a 1B and the buyout is way better. 

[Javier]

Might be worse than what the Astros are dealing with Carlos Lee right now. 

If you guys think this is a terrible deal then Im curious to hear what you thought about the Matt Holliday deal lol.  Compared to that deal this contract is a steal for the Phillies.

It's going to be terrible for the last years of the contract.  The thing is was it necessary?  There is nothing wrong with huge ass deals that are short 3-5 years. The team is saying that they think he'll be doing this good 5-7 years from now. Why couldn't they do a 2-4 year extension? Holliday won't have a huge drop off in numbers, he's an athletic OF that will of course decrease as he reaches the end of his contract but he isn't in any danger of exploding downward like Power 1B do.    

[Twentytwofifty]

It's crazy too that this kinda contract isn't even going to the best player on the team...or even the second best player. 

[white Boy]

^ chase, whos their 2nd, halladay? .. i dont mind the deal, its long, but they are gonna let werth go after this year, and its not my money they are spending, i think howard will be good through 2016, and he has really picked up his work at 1st base... 

[OG Hack Wilson]

Howard is the most valuable asset on this team (for position players)


he strikes out like a motherfucker but dude gets 140 RBI and 40+ homers each year and without him they ain't shit


they can get by when utley misses some games and they can get by when rollins misses some games

[DJ SUGAFREE QUIK]

Well you gotta admit, the last 2 years the phillies have been doing the darn thing, making moves to succeed.  Maybe the 1st to 10,000 losses did it for them.  Now if they can go back to their best look, the 80's uniforms & logos so they can look like a real legitimate baseball team.  I prefer that teams who play good should look good as well.

[Twentytwofifty]

Howard is the most valuable asset on this team (for position players)


he strikes out like a motherfucker but dude gets 140 RBI and 40+ homers each year and without him they ain't shit


they can get by when utley misses some games and they can get by when rollins misses some games

Utley is more valuable than Howard, and I don't think it's even that close.  HRs and RBIs aren't everything. 

[J.D. Wykid, Esq.]

it scares me where player salaries are going.   in 10 years $35/40MM a year contracts will be the norm.  

we all in the wrong business.