How Much Is Ryan Howard Worth? | The Sports Simpleton

How much is Ryan Howard worth? To the Phillies fan, he might be worth something like fifty million dollars a year, especially if he can bring another World Series title home. To the Phillies organization, he is worth a little as they can pay him, which is why they will let him go into arbitration and fight paying anymore that is awarded. To Major League Baseball, his worth continues to grow every time a home run sails into the stands of Citizens Bank Park.

MLB has a setup where players who come up through the ranks have their salaries placed in brackets based on length of major league service, and this has generally worked pretty well. In 2007 Ryan Howard received a salary of $900,000 which was a figure decided upon because it was what Albert Pujols received at that point on the scale. There were some small attempts to sign Ryan to a long term deal, but nothing solid. Last year, through arbitration, Howard was awarded a one year salary of 10 million dollars, which is more than teammates Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley.

Ryan Howard is arbitration eligible again and there is, again, no real prospects for a long term contract. Both sides are pretty far apart when it comes to money. The Phils would probably like to keep his money in the Pujols range (Albert has averaged between 13 and 14 million the past three years), however the Howard clan are looking 20+ million. Twenty million may be a bit excessive considering a comparison between the two main NL power hitters. Pujols has been a top 5 MVP candidate 7 of 8 years (2007 he finished 9th) and is averaging 42-128-.334 (HR, RBI, BA). Howard has been good as well (50-141-279), and has been a top 5 MVP guy the last three years.

The Phillies have a couple options. They could play hardball with Howard, which will not sit well with him and increase the chances of him leaving when he become eligible for free agency. They could give try to give him Pujols money, but then there is no guarantee that he’ll take it. The third thing they could do is screw the Cardinals, offer Ryan Howard bigger money, enough so he takes it. Pujols will want a new deal and the potential for discord arises. Whatever the Phillies do, they should try to keep their core players together and that Howard, Utley, Rollins, and Hamels, should be the ones they try to keep happy. In turn, barring injury, the Phillies should remain competitive, which will in turn, keep the Phillies fans happy and the money coming in.

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