Ryno signs 3-year deal

The Phillies opened up their wallets this morning, locking up Ryan Howard for $54 million in a 3-year deal. Ryan was seeking $18 million in his arbitration hearing, but the Phillies decided to avoid the process, giving him an average of $18 million for 2009, 2010,and 2011. There will be room to work out an extension somewhere over the course of the contract, but by doing what they did, the world champions avoid having to go to arbitration with their big slugger and do not have to worry about losing him to free agency for another 3 years.