Ryan Howard makes arbitration history

I'm not sure what the Phillies were thinking with this decision, but they decided to go to arbitration with 1st baseman Ryan Howard on Thursday.

Howard made $900k last year, but after hitting .268 with 47 HR's and 136 RBI's last year, he tied Alfonso Soriano for the highest amount ever given to a victorious player after being awared $10M.

The Phillies tried to get something done prior to the hearing, even negotiating right before the start of the hearing. Phillies assistant GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said, “We negotiated right up to the courthouse steps with Ryan in a variety of ways and unfortunately we couldn’t get it done.”