Breaking news

Well, that was unexpected.

Even though it's been hinted at over the past few weeks, I didn't think Ryan Howard would sign an extension. But he did, and now we have the big man in a Phillies uniform for the next three years. And for a not completely outrageous amount of money - only $54 million. Product of the economy, or does he want to stay in town?

So Howard will be a free agent at 32 years of age. I'm glad to know that we have him for his prime and that we don't have to revisit the topic of Howard's contract until after the Phillies fourth consecutive World Championship in 2011.

(Greg thinks this is all going too smoothly for the Phillies and that half of the team is going to break down in April - perhaps my biggest secret fear of this off-season.)

Game-day update

The Phils signed a three-year extension with Brad Lidge this morning - perhaps a shot across the bow to young, err, demoted Brett Myers that he's not going to be a rock star in Philadelphia anymore.

Yesterday was a nice SoxandPhils doubleheader, with the Red Sox on Fox leading into a Phillies night game. Unfortunately, the teams took a dive. We'll be able to see both teams again today - heading to the park in a few minutes to take on the Mets while the Sox and Yankees play on ESPN tonight.

Uh-oh

I woke up cranky enough because I overslept. To make things worse, I then read Josh Beckett left a spring training game because of back spasms. I don't have to say that losing Beckett for any major stretch would be catastrophic.

He came to Boston with a reputation for not being able to hold up for a full season. But in his two seasons with the Red Sox, he has averaged more than 30 starts and 200 innings - marks he never reached with Florida.

Hopefully, he will be ready to go in Japan in little more than two weeks. Terry Francona is optimistic but vague:

Sox manager Terry Francona had a good report on Josh Beckett who left Saturday's game with back spasms after throwing six warm-up pitches. The manager said Beckett "looked way better than we expected,'' but would not commit as to whether Beckett would be ready for the opener in Japan.

More bad news on the pitching front: Clay Buchholz continues to impersonate Adam Eaton this spring, but there is hope it's just a mechanical problem. Speaking of the $24 million dollar man, the candidates to replace him haven't exactly been jumping at the opportunity, but Kris Benson threw all of his four pitches in a minor league game, topping out at 88 mph, giving himself a shot of opening the season in Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, opening day starter Brett Myers continues to exhibit class with a new T-shirt that reads: "You mess with me, you mess with the whole trailer park."

Real class: Thanks to punks such as Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon, it is a story when athletes such as Beckett or Jimmy Rollins care more about winning than money. Rollins took a gamble in 2005 with a five-year, $40 million contract. At the time it was debatable whether the Phillies overpaid. After an MVP season, they have underpaid, but J-Roll doesn't gripe:

I knew there was a chance I would play better and the Phillies would be getting a little bit of a bargain. But there was also a chance I wouldn't produce as much. I knew the market could change after I signed it. I knew all that when I signed.

That column reads like a text the new wave of players should read to learn how to portray themselves and their pay in the press.

Baseball Mogul update: Despite another 90+ win season, I won't be making the playoffs for the first time. I don't know what happened, other than the Braves, D-Backs and Dodgers had better years. I need better starting pitching - it would help if Cole Hamels stopped pining to be a Royal.

Baby shower update: We had a good time yesterday. I learned that it's harder than it looks to drink out of a sippy cup. Don't ask.

Finally, a reason

Good news: Adam Eaton's godawful 2007 can partially be explained by a bad back. Bad news: He was awful in the first half of the season before injuring his back in a batting cage ... a batting cage? And, I don't know, how to classify this news ... he's still hurting in 2008.

Remind me again why the Phillies signed him before last year? I know, compared with Jon Lieber and Freddy Garcia, he was quite productive.

Getting injured in the batting cage isn't a typical way to lose a pitcher, but it won't be the most unusual injury of Eaton's career. Stabbing yourself in the gut while opening a DVD trumps that. I hope he now owns the Shark Pro.

Shhhh: Jonathan Papelbon is pleased with his contract. He thinks he won his standoff. I won't tell him if you won't.

Now one of them can shut up

As I recommended, Jonathan Papelbon signed a contract in between the $550,000 Bobby Jenks signed for, but not quite the $900,000 Ryan Howard got a year ago. There seems to be no squawking from Paps tonight - hopefully a sign that he's clamming up to focus on getting ready for the repeat.

It's kind of interesting the hierarchy the Sox placed on their pre-arbitration players (especially since Delcarmen's been around longer than any of them):

Papelbon - $775,000 plus $25,000 All-Star bonus
ROY Dustin Pedroia - $457,000
Jon Lester - $421,500
Manny Delcarmen - $421,000
Jacoby Ellsbury $406,000
Clay Buchholz - $396,000

Scary lede:

Look at Chuck LaMar, and what do you see?

The man who traded Bobby Abreu for Kevin Stocker? The man who gave Greg Vaughn $34 million? The man who captained a ship in Tampa Bay that took on water as quickly as he could bail it out?

Also: The Inquirer has a good piece dispelling the notion that strikeouts kill offense. It's nice when a sportswriter doesn't blindly adhere to old school principles and keeps an open mind to sabermetrics. I have a healthy respect for statheads; I just wish I understood them better.

Spring training update: Adam Eaton still stinks. Get healthy soon Kris Benson!

More whining

Amid all of the week's whining from Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon, I forgot about the wine.

I finally got around to trying Manny Being Merlot, one of three Red Sox wine labels launched in the name of charity last year. Thanks to Brian and Liza for buying us a bottle when they went to Maine.

I'm no wine connoisseur, but I liked it. It was different. It was billed as a combination of fruit and pepper. At first there's the fruity Merlot taste, but on the aftertaste comes the pepper, more like table pepper, but definitely interesting. I'd have it again, or try Schilling Schardonnay or CarberKnuckle.

Back to baseball whining: John Smoltz tells Cole to stop worrying about money and focus on pitching. Smoltz, who'll probably go to the Hall of Fame, says he was angry when the Braves renewed his contract in 1991. He went 2-11 before he stopped worrying about it and finished that season on a 12-2 tear. Oh, and the Inky reminds us that Smoltz's career earnings will be more than $130 million after this year - a mark I figure Hamels will eclipse in his first contract after free agency.

Memo to Paps and Hamels:

-You have large crowds every time you pitch.

-Your front offices surround you with $100+ million worth of talent.

-You play on teams that can expect to win.

In other words, you don't play for Florida, which gave its pre-arbitration star, who might be more valuable than either of you, only $439,000. This story is a bit dated, but I hadn't noticed with all the whining coming from Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon.

Hanley Ramirez has every right to complain; he's getting the "low blow" and getting sold "short." Here's his take:

That's OK. Whatever they think I deserve. I don't care.
...
I just want to stay here for my career. If not, whatever. I think they treat me good from the bottom all the way to the top. I feel comfortable here.

Kind of makes me wish Hanley and the Marlins beat Cole Hamels in Game 7 of the NLCS, then hit a game winner off Paps in Game 7 of the World Series. Nah, but it would be justified.

Police blotter: Eww. I think we need a better employee background check.

Cole proves me right and shares his bad attitude with Paps

A day after I questioned Cole Hamels' attitude, he sinks lower, complaining that the Phillies gave him only $500,000:

"It was a low blow," Hamels said, later adding:

"That will affect down the line certain things that come up. You can't just all of a sudden throw everything out at [a player] at the last second and think that's really going to make him happy, because you still have checkmarks for what [the team] didn't do in the years before."

Chill, Cole. So you make a few thousand less than you want this year. You know when you make that up? When you hit the free agent market, which you'll do before you're 30 years old. That means if you concentrate on your pitching and avoid injury, you'll be marketed as the best lefty in the game and command a nine-figure contract.

The media has been floating the comps - $489,500 for Chien-Ming Wang and $424,300 for Scott Kazmir at the same stage of their careers. Hardly a low blow, Cole.

In the Red Sox camp, our dancing queen, Jonathan Papelbon is also getting his nose bent out of shape over his pre-arbitration contract:

"I can’t sell myself short. I know they’re not going to give me what I want, so the question becomes, ‘How close can we get?’ If I can’t get close, they can just renew me.”

Then:

"Ryan Howard got $900,000 in his third year. There it is. It’s staring (the Red Sox) right in the face."

Boston media reminds him that Bobby Jenks, with identical service time, got $550,000 from the White Sox this year. Papelbon is the premier closer in baseball, thus he should get more than Jenks. But the best closer isn't worth as much as an everyday player who has won the MVP and Rookie of the Year. Negotiate somewhere in the middle. Then, when you hit free agency, go to the highest bidder if you no longer care about winning.

Until then, Cole and Paps, enjoy that you're on competitive teams and don't worry about money until it's time to shop your services.

Manny's going to be a bad man for quite some time ...

For the first time since the last time the Sox were reigning champs, Manny has reported on time. He's not making any contract demands or creating controversy. And his workouts in Arizona have done him so much good that he's saying he may play until he's 50:

You've said you want to be like Julio Franco. How long are you going to play?

"I'm going to go until the wheels fall off. I'm going to keep going. API, they're one of the greats. They're great people to go and work out and I'm going to keep doing it."

He'd like to finish his career in Boston, but he won't demand a new contract.

Philly's big man got his new contract - an arbitration record win of $10 million. Did the Phillies mind losing this one since it assures one year of contract peace with Ryan Howard? Or will it make the long-term deal he wants harder to reach?

MVP Jimmy Rollins, scraping by on a five-year, $40 million contract, isn't complaining. His pay has been subsidized by Nike:

Nike rewarded the Phillies shortstop with his own custom-made sneakers. They are red, white and blue, and feature a Liberty Bell logo and, of course, the letters MVP.

"They definitely look nice," said Rollins, hoisting one of the shoes from a box yesterday. "Definitely hooked up."

How does no one have a picture of this masterpiece?

He also responded to Beltran:

One, there are four other teams in our division who are going to make sure that doesn't happen. And, two, has anyone ever heard of plagiarism?

Uh-oh. Is J-Roll fearing the Nationals this year?

Put me in coach

Coco Crisp, the leading Red Sox cheerleader since being supplanted by Jacoby Ellsbury in Game 6 of the ALCS, doesn't want that job anymore:

"I want to play. Like I said, I wouldn't be happy sitting on the bench. A lot of people say, well, I don't deserve it. Well, that's understandable too. I didn't have a good offensive year like I did in the past. I think I proved myself that I can win healthy and shown that my defense is way better than what people thought. People think that my offense is terrible. Now it's time to show them that my offense really isn't. Went through a couple of bruised up years, everybody goes through that. Unfortunately I just went through that when I came over here to mega-media central."

Sounds like he has a good attitude. He acknowledges his weak offensive years in Boston, touts his defensive strength (he plays the best CF in baseball) but hints he'd rather start than win. Sounds like it could be a bad sign, but really, do you want a player who doesn't want to play?

If the Sox get a good offer - obviously hasn't happened since he's still on the roster - then Coco should be traded to a team he would start for. Until then, hopefully he realizes that he won't be traded to a team that has a better chance of winning than the Red Sox and that he'll get plenty of playing time as Manny's late-inning defensive replacement. Also, J.D. Drew has played at least 140 games in each of the past two seasons, meaning he's overdue for an injury. (I know, I promised myself no more griping about that signing since his Game 6 grand slam.) {That grand slam was meaningless. As is J.D. Drew.}

G.I. Manny: Manny Ramirez reports. Then he leaves. The Globe has a picture of him ... well, his car, at least. Maybe if Ryan Howard wins his arbitration hearing he can buy a set of wheels like this:

A tale of two first basemen

It seems like the Phillies and Ryan Howard are entering their now annual contract tiff. Arbitration figures show they're $3 million apart. Some say the Phillies should bite the bullet and just give him a deal eclipsing the 7-year, $85 million given to Chase Utley.

I'd prefer them to just overpay in the short term. Avoid the negative arbitration process this year and offer $9 million or so.

I dunno, there's something about Howard that just screams Mo Vaughn. Remember him? I do. I still wear his shirt.

Dan Duquette, who is owed an apology for getting grilled on the Clemens career twilight comments, got hammered for letting MVP Mo walk, but ask the Angels and Mets whether he made a mistake. (When did I become a Dan Duquette apologist again?)

Howard could be a Hall of Famer. Or he could be Mo, or the others on his list of comparable players whose careers flamed out, like Cecil Fielder, Tony Clark or Ryan Klesko. He's already shown a warning sign with a balky knee.

Toward the end of '06, Ryan Howard was a clean Barry Bonds. Pitchers wouldn't pitch to him, and during the rare times they did, he punished them. In '07, with so many strikeouts, it got to the point where in a big spot you no longer had the same faith and would hope for a sacrifice fly instead of another embarrassing swing and miss.

The next few years may be better, but I wouldn't bet a ton of years on him. Let some other team get saddled with the big contract.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, are only $1.2 million apart from Youkilis. They might be working on a long-term deal, but if he's only asking for $3.7 million this year, ink him at that. Some argued that last year he was more valuable than Howard when counting defense. I don't know if I quite buy it, but Youk gets on base and plays flawless defense.

In other sports: I went 2-2 last week picking all favorites. But I'm not complaining since one of the upsets involved the Giants and the other didn't involve the Patriots. I've been enjoying the Giants' run, but my head still can't jump on the bandwagon, so I'll back the favorites again. When the two teams thaw, it'll be perfection vs. America's QB in the Super Bowl.