Ryan Howard Stays With Phillies

PHILADELPHIA (GaeaTimes.com)- Ryan Howard has been signed on with the Philadelphia Phillies, for five more years. His present contract holds him with the Phillies till 2012, and the extension will keep him playing with the team till 2017. The deal also includes a club option for the Philadelphia Phillies, which would be effective in 2017, and would be worth $10 million.

It can be well expected that the deal, which has been signed at a staggering amount, is likely to raise the bar in other deals that will be struck. The deal comes just second to that signed by Alex Rodriguez, so far the most expensive player in the circuit. The contract has been signed for a whopping $125 million, and will earn Ryan Howard an amount of $20 million in the first two years of the contract, and in the next three years, his yearly income will extend to $25 million. Besides being one of the biggest in the history of the game, the deal is also the biggest in the history of the Philadelphia Phillies.

However, the Phillies themselves are pretty confident that the deal is not going to be wasted. The General Manager of the team, Ruben Amaro Jr, commented that it is Ryan Howard’s dedication and prowess that got them around to signing him on for five more years in the first place. He exemplified, saying that Ryan Howard has a score that few have been able to duplicate so far, and that with each passing year, he becomes better, making him a prize for any team. Ryan Howard himself seemed pretty complacent about the deal, saying that he knew this is what he would like to do, so it took him no brainstorming to decide.