Phils extend Howard for $125 million

Sports fans can sometimes take certain productive players for granted and moan about their failures rather than celebrating their successes, and the fans in Philadelphia may be the toughest anywhere in this regard. There are those in Philly who decry Ryan Howard’s high strikeout totals and sometimes less than stellar defense, but the reality is that the man is one of the top two or three run producers in the game of baseball. Whether the fans appreciate him or not, the management has certainly shown their respect by extending Howard’s contract for five years at a price of $125 million, which is the second highest salary in baseball behind only Alex Rodriguez.

“I tell you what, it’s a great feeling to have that security and know where you’re going to be. I feel what I’ve been doing over the last couple of years, I feel pretty confident that down the road, I’ll be right where I want to be and still doing the same things,” said Howard.

Howard has been an everyday player since 2006, and he has hit at least 45 home runs and driven in at least 136 runs in each of those four seasons. He has led the Phillies to the National League East title in each of the last three years, including back to back World Series appearances and a championship in 2008. Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is happy to have his slugger in the fold for the foreseeable future.

“This is absolutely great. We signed Ryan Howard quite a few years ago and that means we’re keeping him. He’s one of our guys, he is a Phillie. It’s big for our team. That’s what you set out for. He’s very worthy of it. He is a great player and he is going to continue to be a great player for a while. Everything about it’s good