An arbitrator ruled in favor of Phillies 1B Ryan Howard today, awarding him $10 million in salary for the upcoming season, at the same time rejecting management’s offer of $7 million. Until today, MLB owners have gone undefeated in arbitration hearings, and this is the first time the Phillies have ever lost in arbitration. What does this mean for the Phillies? It means that Howard’s long-term demands are now going up, and the Phillies had better be ready to pay.
The Phillies’ offer of $7million was just another example of how Phillies refuse to be the team that sets new salary precedents. They offered Howard $7 Million for the same reason they renewed Howard’s contract for $900,000 last season; because no team had ever offered more, and they are loathe to be the team that raises the bar. This is a similar to the JD Drew situation. When the Phillies drafted Drew, they refused to capitulate to his demand of a guaranteed $10 million to sign, mainly because nobody had ever done it before. They ended up losing Drew, who re-entered the draft and was selected the next season by the Cardinals, who gave him his money, which forced the Phillies to pay a large bonus to #1 overall pick Pat Burrell. All the Phillies got in return for taking their “stand” was wasting a top 5 draft pick. The fact that the Phils were better off not paying Drew is beside the point. The point is that the move was made with money in mind, not winning. They have been doing the same thing in the Howard situation, and only bad things can come of it if the Phillies continue their current course of action. To Howard’s credit, this process has yet to affect his play.
Howard is going to get paid one way or another; why risk alienating another superstar to the point that he won’t stay now matter how large the offer? This is why the Phillies suffer the perception of being cheap despite a 2007 payroll over $100 million.
Shutting down Gagne the right move
A concussion specialist yesterday recommended that Simon Gagne, who has suffered three documented concussions this season, sit out the rest of the season to recover. As big of a loss as Gagne’s is, this move is a no-brainer. With or without Gagne, the Flyers are probably not a contender for the Stanley Cup this season, and risking Gagne’s career for a long-shot playoff run would just be silly.
Other Flyers thoughts
Calling up # 1 pick Claude Giroux from Juniors was a good story, but probably a bad idea. The fact that he will probably be sent back this weekend just makes it sillier. With the Flyers battling injuries, Coach John Stevens needs to try and patch together his lines with the players who are going to be here for the duration, which is already a tough task without trying to find ice time for Giroux. Giroux looks like a keeper, and I am looking forward to seeing him next season, but he doesn’t belong here right now with the Flyers trying to come out of their current slump.
Jim Vandermeer was traded to Calgary yesterday. A quick end to a failed experiment. This was a move that needed to be made.
Calling Danny Briere? Hello? Danny? Where are you?