Whew! That's a relief.OK, bad pun. Terrible, in fact. But the Phillies have to be relieved today to have avoided salary arbitration with relievers Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson.
Lidge, the closer acquired in a November trade with Houston, agreed to a one-year, $6.35 million contract, a $1 million raise from his 2007 salary. Madson, meanwhile, will make $1.4 million this season, up from $1.1 million in 2007. Both contracts also include performance bonuses.
That leaves only Ryan Howard and Eric Bruntlett as the Phils' remaining arbitration-eligible players. Tomorrow should be interesting. Barring a last-minute settlement, the players will exchange salary figures with the Phillies. It'll be fascinating to see how close (or how far apart) they are. From there, the sides have until a to-be-determined hearing date in February to reach an accord. If they're unable to strike an agreement by that date, a three-person panel will listen to arguments from both sides and decide on a salary. The Phillies haven't gone to a hearing since 2001 with Travis Lee.
Of course, they also could lock up Howard with a long-term deal. Will they? I'm not so sure, considering he can't become a free agent until after the 2011 season. I'm also not so sure they should rush to a long-term deal with Howard.
I expect to have the salary figures sometime on Friday, so check back for those numbers.
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