Over the past few days there have been several noteworthy events that I want to quickly comment on. First and most importantly, the Phillies resigned Ryan Howard to a 3 year $54 million deal. This deal buys out the rest of Howard's arbitration years, keeping him a Phillie until the end of the 2011 season. I love this move. Howard is THE premier power hitter in the game today. He led the league in home runs and rbis last season and finished second in the MVP voting. After Howard won the largest arbitration contract in the history of league ($10 million for last season), there was all kind of talk about how bitter this year's round of arbitration would be. Well now we don't have to worry about those talks anymore. Personally I would have loved to see the Phils lock Howard up in an even longer deal, but I can live with three years. I don't care what all the haters say about Howard's strikeouts because the large number of them isn't all that important for a slugger like him. He is paid to hit the long ball and drive in runs with runners in scoring position. He does that better than anyone in the league, so what if he strikes out sometimes. You gotta swing hard to hit it far, and who cares if Howard doesn't move the runners with less than two outs. That's not his job. And hell, a strikeout is better than a double play.
This was one of the few bright spots in the current World Series champions off season. I hated the Raul Ibanez signing. We let one of my favorite Phils, Pat Burrell, go, and in exchange we signed a much older player, and he signed for more money and years than Burrell agreed to with the Rays. Not to mention we lost our most powerful right handed bat in a left heavy lineup and replaced him with a lefty. And worse of all, we didn't offer Burrell arbitration so even though we lose a pick in the 2009 draft for signing Ibanez (Type A free agent), we don't get one back for losing Burrell. Not a great start to the Amaro era.
Lastly, I would like to write a few paragraphs mourning the loss of the Blind Pig. For those who don't frequent the Austin bar scene, the Blind Pig is one of Austin's most popular bars on 6th Street and unfortunately it burned down early Friday morning. When I first moved to Austin, the Blind Pig was my first bar on sixth street, and it was most likely the bar I frequented most often when I was downtown. The only people I don't feel bad for are the bouncers. I hope this causes some of them to lose their jobs. They are assholes. Even my buddy Mark, who has only been to Austin once, remembered the Blind Pig fondly and was devastated (ok maybe not devastated) to hear the news. Now I'm sure this won't be the end of the Blind Pig, as it will surely be reopened within a month or two, perhaps even with a few renovations, but it is still a big loss for downtown Austin. That's all I got for now.
The Rat Cap Podcast: Episode 13
3 years ago
Mr. Joe K,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your article about the Blind Pig it struck me how many similarities I found. I too am a young bar-seeker in the Austin area and Friday morning was one of the sadder days in my life. Over the past few months the Blind Pig has served as a home away from home. Between the frat parties, the Wednesday night country band and the heaters I've puffed on over the railing, the memories have all been individually special. The ashes of the Blind Pig contain many of our greatest party moments, but as far as wishing the remains of the bouncers, I have not had a similar negative experience as you have had Mr. Joe K. This is something that you need to self reflect and wonder, was it something that I caused? These bouncers deal with drunk people all the time, and I would imagine it's not too glamorous of a job to spend Friday/Saturday nights sober keeping intoxicated people under control. Now I do not know you personally, but I would imagine if you had a similar job you would cross the boundary into an asshole persona at some point. The people, the atmosphere, and the night club will all be missed. RIP Blind Pig and come back soon!
I agree with you that the Howard signing was good for the team. They are basically getting three years at the number that Howard put in for arbitration this year. I have to disagree with you on wanting to see a longer contract. First off, any more years would have definitely been more expensive than the first year (they always are past arbitration-eligible years). Second, by that point his career is very likely to not only be in decline, but very likely a sharp decline. Unathletic first baseman tend to not age particularly well (Howard is already 29). Take a look at Cecil Fielder and Mo Vaughn once they get past 32 and you'll see what I'm talking about.
ReplyDeleteYou are right that strikeouts are not the issue with Howard and will not be in the future. The issue is defense. Howard is terrible. He has no range and cannot throw. If he were capable of playing merely league average defense it would likely save 15-20 runs a year. That said, he is still one of the better players in the league and the three-year deal is good for him and the Phils.