Phillies Howard Will Receive $10 Million in 2008 After Winning Arbitration Case

The Phillies' first baseman Ryan Howard won his arbitration case, and will be paid $10 million in 2008. The Phillies proposed a salary of $7 million, but with baseball salaries spiraling out of control the last few years, there was little doubt that was a wee bit on the cheap side for Howard, who was the National League's MVP in 2006, and was in the race in 2007 as well.

Howard was the 2005 NL Rookie of the Year, the 2006 NL MVP, and followed up those impressive years with 47 HR and 136 RBI in 2007 (both 2nd in the NL). Howard made $900,000 in 2007, and is the first player in MLB history to make $10 million plus via the arbitration process.

Los Angeles Angels of Aneheim closer Francisco Rodriguez goes to arbitration today, and will likely be the second player to break the $10 million arbitration mark. Rodriguez, who made $7.1 million last year through arbitration, is asking for $12.5 million, and the Angels have countered with $10 million for 2008.

The baseball arbitration process is a mechanism in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Major League Baseball Player's Assocition (MLBPA), in which a player and a team can submit written proposals to a jointly agreed upon arbiter to analyze the situation, and ultimately decide what the player will be paid in the coming league year.