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60 Comments
- KimmyGibbler, on 01/21/2009, -0/+21This guy doesn't deserve that much at all. He strikes out more than anyone else in the MLB and was almost completely dormant during the playoffs.
Full disclosure: I live in Philadelphia and am a Phillies Phan - stellarceltic, on 01/21/2009, -0/+14Agreed. He either homers or strikes out. All or nothing. I fear Chase Utley FARRRRRRRR more than Howard because he's a professional hitter. Homers, doubles, singles, walks..... everything.
Full disclosure: Mets fan. - ricker2005, on 01/21/2009, -1/+11Howard has an enormously inflated sense of his own value. Especially for a guy who strikes out 200 times a year and sucks in the field. Albert Pujols makes around $14 million a year. And he's a gold glove caliber first baseman who hits 30 homeruns a year and hits .350 instead of .250 like Howard does. Also, Howard sucks for the first two months plus of the season. There's no way Howard should be making more than Pujols does.
As a Phillies fan, I would love to see Howard stick around. But at the rate he's going, the Phils are just going to take him to arbitration as long as they can and then let him get paid by someone with more money than brains (Yankees). - inactive, on 01/21/2009, -0/+8What? They 'only' offered him a $4 million a year raise? What an insult!
How can a man feed his family on just $14 million a year? - malonie, on 01/21/2009, -3/+11Even if you are the best player in Baseball, nobody deserve to earn more than 15 million a year just to play the game. Blame on greed and their agent
- inactive, on 01/21/2009, -1/+8Sorry, not every story that makes the front page can be pictures of cats.
- pervy_the_clown, on 01/21/2009, -0/+7He's very much like Adam Dunn - HR or K. NOT worth 18 mil
(Mets fan) - DarkNemesis618, on 01/21/2009, -0/+6Amen to that, I'm also a huge Phillies fan and while I like Howard, he's not worth that much...sure he can carry the team when he's hot, but if he's not then all he does is strike out.
- stellarceltic, on 01/21/2009, -0/+6Albert Pujols average season: .334/.425/.624/1.049, 42 HR, 91 BB, 66 K, making $16MM next year
Ryan Howard average season: .279/.380/.590/.970, 50 HR, 94 BB, 196K, asking for $18MM
Pass me whatever you're smoking Ryan. - Laputian, on 01/21/2009, -0/+6Very basically when a player comes up to the majors he has 6 years under team control. For the first 3 years the team has no obligation to pay the player anything more that the league minimum salary. From years 4-6 the player gains the right for arbitration, so while technically he is still under the teams control he doesnt have a contract and the player can chose to go year to year with their contract. Nowadays, more and more teams and players are signing mutiyear contracts to cover arbitration years, the teams save money/can set a long term budget and the players have more security in case of injury or poor performance. After the sixth year, if not under a long term contract, the player reaches free agency.
- opiv421, on 01/21/2009, -0/+5The phils offered him 14 mil - a good figure. If he gets less then 200 strikeouts give him a bonus, maybe 15 mil. Coming from a city that lets too many good players go because the franchises refuse to pay anybody I was saying just pay the man however 18 mil is a bit ridiculous.
- Dancon7, on 01/21/2009, -2/+7That's assinine. A player should get what the market will bear. Baseball is a 6-7 billion dollar business. Who gets all of that money if the salaries are capped at 15 million a year? The hot dog vendors?
Players deserve more money than they are getting, not less. They are the product. - trpnblies7, on 01/21/2009, -0/+4I'm a die hard Phillies fan, and like every fan of Philadelphia sports teams, I'm fully qualified to tell the players what they're doing wrong.
- PhillyOC, on 01/21/2009, -0/+4Dugg all of you above me. Philadelphian here and I'll tell you, he used to be an awesome hitter but as of last year just kept sliding down more and more. What the hell is wrong with getting a base hit once in a while? It doesn't have to be a homer or strikeout. (Way more strikeouts than homers BTW)
- inactive, on 01/21/2009, -0/+4Took the words right out of my mouth. Albert Pujols is by far the best overall first baseman in the game and is only getting $14 mil/year. While Howard had the numbers last year in the "sexy stats" like HRs and RBIs, his OBP, SLG, BB, and BA have all plummeted from 2006 levels, while his strikeouts have sky rocketed. While some of the drop in numbers can be attributed to the shift, which does take away around 20-25 hits a season, it does not explain the shift in all the other stats.
$14 mil is more than fair for a streaky player who unfortunately looks to have already peaked. - wolfing, on 01/21/2009, -0/+4Please explain to me as I don't know about these rules about arbitration, free agency and what not. Isn't he under a contract? So, because he did good he's asking for more than the contract stipulated? If that's fair, shouldn't teams also be allowed to lower players contracted salaries if they don't perform? Why have contracts at all?
- arlok789, on 01/21/2009, -2/+6Shouldn't a player that is making money for a team by selling shirts and filling seats get their fair share? Why should the owner be able to pocket that money when they are doing pretty much nothing at all. This is America and when somebody can generate wealth, they are supposed to get paid for it, thats the whole point of capitalism.
- BinaryDelt, on 01/21/2009, -1/+5Believe it or not, some Digg users actually like sports. (Indians fan)
- serif69, on 01/21/2009, -0/+4Maybe the Yankees can pick him up. We're good at overpaying people for less than satisfactory performance. *sigh*
- arlok789, on 01/21/2009, -2/+5Lets ask a serious question. How much revenue does Ryan Howard generate? How many seats does he fill and shirts does he sell? How many viewers turn on the TV (creating ad space) to watch him hit or complain when he strikes out? How many games does he win increasing the chances of the Phillies winning another World Series (which generates tons of extra $$$).
Now once you have that number, (which I promise you is more than 18 million) subtract 14 million and thats how much the owner is pocketing. Howard deserves a large portion of the revenue he generates for the team. Yeah a Salary Cap might sound good in theory but all it does is keep the owners relatively far wealthier than players. If you provide a good or service, you deserve to get paid. Thats Capitalism. Find a way to make a company 18 million and you are going to be pissed if you don't get a fair percentage of that. - CaptainNoPants, on 01/21/2009, -0/+3Who cares that it's someone on digg? He's right. If you disagree, and think that Howard doesn't strike out a lot, go ahead and say why.
And please, let us all know how your power meeting with Casey goes. - trpnblies7, on 01/21/2009, -0/+3If he would learn not to swing at every pitch, maybe I could see giving him that much. Trying to knock every pitch out of the park is not how you play baseball.
- SlyT862, on 01/21/2009, -0/+3As another huge Phillies fan, I've felt (at least for the past two years) that Ryan Howard was simultaneously one of the most overrated and underrated players in baseball.
The overrated side is easy: he should not have got nearly as many MVP votes as he did. He was batting below the Mendoza line for WAY to long, and strikes out more than anybody in history! A .250 hitter for MVP? That doesn't seem right.
On the other hand, you look at a thread like this, and you can see how many people only look at his B.A. and strikeouts. He's a very very good player. His power numbers are consistently out of this world. That's EXACTLY what you want in the 4/5 spot. So he strikes out, at least he's not grounding into double plays, and his B.A. with RISP is not bad at all.
Look at some of the ridiculous salaries around the league. 18 Mil is not that much in baseball any more. So for the guy who leads the league in HR and RBIs... it's reasonable. - jdotter, on 01/21/2009, -0/+3And we have our winner! Nicely played-
- CaptainNoPants, on 01/21/2009, -2/+5I care. At least another 100 people care. The question is, why are you here if you don't care?
Ah, troll. - RealmDown, on 01/21/2009, -2/+5*waves wand* "RIDICULOUS !"
*poof*
( Howard turns into a college player who will HUSTLE down the first base line. - dcmcderm, on 01/21/2009, -0/+3I must agree - Pujols is a far superior all around player.
Go Yankees! (sorry just had to throw that in there) - inactive, on 01/21/2009, -0/+3Bonus for less than 150 strike outs. He had 199 Ks last year, which was way too many.
- CaptainNoPants, on 01/21/2009, -1/+3"Nobody deserve to earn more than 15 million a year just to play the game."
That's not your call. They deserve to earn whatever the market is willing to pay for them.
"If you overpay a player, the more you will be paying for a ticket, you will feel it in your pocket really, think about it."
That isn't true. Ticket prices change according to a number of factors, player salaries being the least important.
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-12-03 ... - CaptainNoPants, on 01/21/2009, -0/+2I would love that.
- FlippityFlipz, on 01/21/2009, -0/+2I, too, agree. Howard used to be amazing. You could count on him to at least get a hit. But this past year when you're the league leader in HRs AND strikeouts then you know there's something wrong with that. As soon as the Phils entered the postseason Howard's bat was quieter than Mets fans. It was all in his head that since he was a slugger he had to KEEP slugging. What did the Rays do to keep up the fight? They moved base runners on base hits. No fancy schmancy slugging it out of the park like Howard thought he was expected to do.
If he wants 18 million he better learn to hit like Utley - analogkid01, on 01/21/2009, -1/+3How about 10 million plus a few blowjobs by Kelly Kapoor?
- talonstriker, on 01/21/2009, -0/+2>> If that's fair, shouldn't teams also be allowed to lower players contracted salaries if they don't perform?
A team can only reduce a player's paycheck by 10% from the previous year's amount. You've got the hand it to the player's union for raping MLB this badly. - thegreenspanput, on 01/21/2009, -0/+22006 was a sparkling year. 2007 the avg was below par. 2008 looks like he's turning into Andruw Jones.
- wolfing, on 01/21/2009, -0/+2Thanks for the explanation, makes sense now.
- pjhorrex, on 01/21/2009, -0/+2Hate to break it to you but if he has another year like he did this year the Phillies won't sign him. He'll ask for a ridiculous amount of cash and a long term contract despite him being a liability at first base and a major flaw in his swing.
The Phillies won't sign him and he'll spend the rest of his career in the AL where a flawed one-dimensional player like him belongs. - stellarceltic, on 01/21/2009, -1/+3"How many seats does he fill and shirts does he sell?"
Not that much more than Hamels, Rollins, Utley, Lidge...
"How many games does he win increasing the chances of the Phillies winning another World Series"
Based on statistics, not as much as you'd think. - Pedobear, on 01/21/2009, -0/+2I just looked up Howard's stats and noticed that in '08, his BABIP (batting average per balls in play) fell from its usual level of about .330-.360 to .289. The lower rate of hits converted from batted balls might indicate a few things: that Ryan Howard was a little unlucky last year, that opponents are defending against him a lot better (perhaps due to the shift), or that his contact with the ball has been less solid because of the increase of breaking balls faced.
His decline in OBP can be attributed to a lower BA (caused by a lower BABIP) and the fact that pitchers aren't intentionally walking him as often now. His Unintentional Walk rate is still similar to those of 2007 and 2006, so it's not that he's far less patient.
Do I think he deserves $18 million? No. But he's not as bad as you might think. - FlippityFlipz, on 01/21/2009, -0/+2Yeah! This is Ryan Howard we're talking about here, not Matt Stairs!
- SlyT862, on 01/21/2009, -0/+2Yeah he strikes out a lot. He's still much better than Adam Dunn. Consistently at the top of the NL in power numbers; that's what you're supposed to do in the 4th spot in the lineup.
You can't argue with results, and something is working for the Phillies with Howard as their power hitter...
As a Met's fan, you should realize that more than anyone. - PrometheusBorn, on 01/21/2009, -0/+2It kind of is our call when we're the ones paying the money for all the stuff that is the source of baseball's fortune.
But to your point, if people ARE willing to pay that much on tickets then the money does need to go somewhere... and why not to the players we're actually paying to see play? - CDollars, on 01/23/2009, -0/+1Athletes, actors, some CEOs... they all get paid obscene amounts of money. There are plenty of people out there who should be getting paid millions of dollars for saving lives, curing disease, and just generally improving the state of the world. Unfortunately, we pay more for entertainment than we should but that's how it is. RyHo doesn't deserve 18 mill but not just because he's incredibly inconsistent. No athlete deserves that much money- not Manny, not Lebron, not even one of the Mannings. I don't care how difficult your sport is, it's not worth that much. However, I think because the Phils did win the WS, we'll see Ryan Howard's goofy face again this season. The team will essentially stay in tact.
LET'S GO PHILS! - mgadalsky, on 02/11/2009, -0/+1So... sweet! http://drinkster.info
- devfeed, on 02/11/2009, -0/+1Beautiful! Sweet, dugg it. http://homemasters.info
- sportyguy2334, on 01/23/2009, -0/+1you really are an ignorant fool...especially if you think that baseball is easy. takes a 90 mph fastball LESS THAN a second to get to the plate...takes the human brain at least a second to process anything...hitting that pitch shouldnt be possible...then you get the 96 mph fastball...oh and not to mention once you've got the fastball down then you have to decide if it's a curveball 20 mph slower and oh yeah when it gets to the plate and you're ready to swing it drops a foot....and then if you get those down you have to decide if it's a strike...if you can hit it...if it's coming at you're head...and that's just the hitting part...yeah their salaries are completely insane but dont you dare take away from this game because of that....it's a business and once one person started making more than the president..i.e. babe ruth...everyone else who thought they were better than him said if he's making that much i should be making that much...yeah it's greed....the problem with every part of the world which is exactly why once you get your millions and stop working at mcdonalds you try to keep all you can
- benderillo, on 01/21/2009, -0/+1You're gay.
- soccerman90, on 01/21/2009, -1/+2you forgot that ryan had lead the MLB in rbis with and albert had 116. runs are what count and howard produces.
- CaptainNoPants, on 01/21/2009, -0/+1"But no, no sports player should be paid the gross salaries they are given. Regardless of the sport, they aren't contributing anything worthwhile to society."
That is only your opinion. Who are you to define what the population gets out of sports? Do you think you know everyone in this country?
"Explain to me why teachers, who are probably have the most important profession in the world, get paid one of the smallest salaries?"
As soon as teachers are as sought after as athletes, as soon as they are responsible for bringing in millions upon millions of dollars to their school system, then they deserve more money.
"As for myself, its easy to say one thing or another, but yes, I do believe if I was rich via any means, I would live well below my means and donate a vast portion of my money to others who need it. Believe it or not Captain, there are still people in this world who have hearts and care about others"
Spare me. I couldn't care less what you do with your money. None of my business. Just like what these organizations do with their money is none of your business. You hate sports? Fine, don't contribute any more money to them at all. Problem solved.
"No one likes an ignorant fool."
Yet that's exactly what you are coming off as.
btw - I don't think Howard is worth 18 mil. Maybe 14, 15 tops. - Dancon7, on 01/21/2009, -0/+1No. Ticket prices are decided by supply and demand.
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