(Get) A Sporting Life

It seems Ryan Howard is worth $10 million dollars a season. No shit Sherlock : Ryan Howard won his salary arbitration case against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday when he was awarded $10 million, the highest figure given a victorious player. The 2006 NL MVP, who had been offered $7 million by the Phillies, became the first player to win in six arbitration cases this season. Howard tied the record for the highest salary awarded in arbitration, received by Alfonso Soriano in his losing case against the Washington Nationals in 2006. Soriano had sought $12 million. "I'm sure he's very pleased," Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "This has been a negotiation that has been very amicable and very professional. It's just a part of the process." Translation: "Hey, we just tried to screw you out of $3 million dollar this year. Nothing personal." Wow, the Phillies brass sure are stupid.

Sheer mind-numbing stupidity is what ya call it: Salary dispute could be first chapter in Howard's end The Philadelphia Phillies face the first big challenge in their attempt to build a long-term relationship with powerful first baseman Ryan Howard. In the past two seasons, Howard led the majors in homers with 105 and RBIs with 285. Among National Leaguers, Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals was second for homers in that span with 81, and Matt Holliday of the Colorado Rockies was second in RBIs with 251. Howard did the damage at a super-bargain rate. Without the leverage of arbitration rights, Howard was paid $1.255 million for the past two seasons combined. The system dictated that. Howard's service time meant more than his performance. That changes now. Howard has the hammer of arbitration rights, and the Phillies will pay. How this plays out will go a long ways to determining what happens with Howard and the club. The Phillies and Howard face the largest gap of the ar...