Follow the money

Cole Hamels is on the right path. Understanding that it's going to take a lot more effort and diligence off the field to be able to take the ball every five days, the Phillies' ace lefty did a total makeover to his training regime a few years ago. It wasn't just the pedantic stuff like cleaning up his diet and getting plenty of rest, either. Nope, Hamels researched and consulted people close to him and determined that in order to be the best baseball pitcher, he was going to have do things that athletes do.

That meant beer was out, which, as Hamels said a few years ago: "It's really the worst thing for you."

In a sport that clings to its old mores and traditions like grim death, beer is still a clubhouse staple in a lot of cities. Even the storied St. Louis Cardinals are nearly synonymous with the Busch family and Budweiser. But according to Chris Carmichael, the fitness guru and longtime trainer for Lance Armstrong, Hamels is definitely onto something.

Says Carmichael:

"The dehydrating impact of alcohol trumps the benefits from the carbohydrate, and it's also important to realize that alcohol itself is primarily metabolized to fatty acids rather than to usable carbohydrate energy. Yes, it originated as carbohydrate-grains, grapes, corn, whatever-but now it's alcohol and your body treats it differently. There's actually not much usable carbohydrate energy in beer or wine."

More notably, Hamels was the catalyst behind the Phillies relenting and hiring a cadre of chiropractors around the league so that players can visit for adjustments or active release treatments, which is a combination of deep-tissue massage, stretching and manipulation to alleviate problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves. Again, chiropractic treatments are nothing new for athletes in other sports - it's old news, in fact. But in baseball, unless it's a cortisone shot followed by a paper cup filled with beer, it's innovation.

Nevertheless, Hamels is the pitcher of the new generation. Soon, guys like him will be the norm instead of just a handful of open-minded baseball players.

So yeah, in terms of putting together a long, successful baseball career, Hamels (still just 24-years old) is doing all of the right things.

It's just that he really hasn't done much yet to be considered any contract offer "a low blow."

That's how Hamels described his current contract with the Phillies which was renewed yesterday when he and the team did not come to terms. Though he made $400,000 last season, Hamels characterized the $500,000 renewal as disappointing.

"They do want to keep you happy, and that will affect down the line with certain things that come up because 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 he's still got check marks for what they didn't do in the years before.
"I felt like it wasn't necessarily equal compensation for what I do and for what I can do," Hamels said.

Clearly the team's best pitcher, Hamels won a team-best 15 games last season, went to the All-Star Game and finished sixth in the Cy Young Award balloting. More importantly, Hamels is the pitcher the Phillies tabbed to start the first post-season game in 14 years for the franchise last October. Clearly, in regard to his pitching, the Phillies like Hamels very much.

" I'm a little surprised. It's about respect, and when people don't show that to you, you're caught off guard. I thought it was a low blow.
"I felt it wasn't necessarily equal compensation for what I do and for what I can do. I have to follow the ladder of other guys, some who play every day, and I know I'm not in that category, but you want to feel like you're getting equally compensated for what you do on the field compared to other people that are in the same league."

Oh, but that's not how it works, young fella. Not in baseball, anyway. Or at least, not usually. Sure, there are a few players who received large contracts based on future potential as opposed to accomplishment, but teams have a way of closing up the check book after getting burned. Could it be that Hamels is being penalized for other bad deals?

Or could it be that Hamels is a victim of the Phillies' team-record $106 million payroll? Considering the Phillies are still paying Jim Thome for the next two seasons, perhaps there isn't much left over for the lefty ace?

Or could it be that Hamels is drawing a very fair salary for someone with his Major League service? At similar points of their careers, Hamels is making more than Chien-Ming Wang, Dontrelle Willis and Scott Kazmir. Plus, with another big season in '08, Hamels could do really well next winter if he becomes eligible for arbitration as a "Super Two" player.

But the idea that Hamels can make it through an entire season without some kind of setback doesn't seem realistic. Oh sure, he's as fit and strong as any pitcher on the team, but history is difficult to argue with. After all, Hamels has never made through an entire season without an injury or a stint on the disabled list. Even last year when he led the team with 15 wins, Hamels only made it to the mound for 28 starts.

Better yet, in his first four pro seasons Hamels pitched just 201 innings in 36 starts. In 2006, with a two-week disabled-list stint mixed in, the lefty went 181 innings. Last year he pitched 183 and missed a chunk of the later portion of the season with tendonitis.

In other words it's show-and-prove time for Hamels. If he wants the money he thinks he deserves, he has to go out there and pitch for it. And it's not just 25 to 28 starts or 180 innings for 15 or 16 wins. Instead, Hamels has to figure out how to go all 162. If he does that, he won't get low-balled any more. ... even though he's signed up with the Phillies until 2012.

So far, though, Hamels is on the right path.

Priced out?

Somewhere the brass for the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees quietly noted the landmark $10 million payout to Phillies' slugger Ryan Howard and stashed away the information for later. After all, depending upon what type of season Howard puts together in 2008 it's not out of the realm of possibility that the slugger could wind up with one of those teams in 2009 and/or beyond. Seriously, after the arbitration panel ruled on Thursday that Howard has earned a $10 million salary for 2009 after just two full big-league seasons, the big question is this:

How much longer will the Phillies be able to afford him?

Think about it - the Phillies and Howard will more than likely be back in the same position again next year, only this time the slugger won't be asking for a measly $10 million per season.

At least that's the way the trends skew. Howard not only has set precedents in terms of salary for a player with his limited Major League experience, but he's also operating in unchartered territory when it comes to prolific power statistics. In fact, his 105 home runs and 285 RBIs during the past two seasons could be the greatest debut power years (non-alleged steroid division) ever. Forget the first full two seasons, there aren't too many players in baseball history that have hit 105 homers in two consecutive seasons.

So where does that leave the Phillies now that Howard and his camp swayed arbitrators to break precedent? And what happens if the big fella clubs 60 homers and 150 RBIs for a playoff team in '08? Can the Phillies afford not to work out a long-term deal with Howard just so they can avoid record payouts in arbitration year after year until 2011?

Or, did Howard price himself out of Philadelphia? Though Howard won in arbitration, like a majority of the fandom thought was appropriate, have the fans really lost? After all, there is chatter out there that Team Howard is seeking a long-term deal in the A-Rod strata. Surely the Phillies can't be pleased with that development and where it could be the negotiations for here and beyond.

"This is too fresh in our minds right now to even start dealing with that kind of stuff," assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. told reporters in Clearwater, Fla., Thursday. "I think what we're focused on now is, one, it's over with. And two, we have to go play baseball now."

Howard wasn't sure, either.

"I'm not Miss Cleo, I can't predict the future," he said.

Oh, but even the omniscient Miss Cleo cannot gaze into a crystal ball and figure out this riddle. Because what she sees can't bode well for the Phillies - a team that has a recent history of allowing some high-priced talent to deal with other clubs. Sure, the Phillies were creative when they signed Pete Rose in 1979, they had Mike Schmidt when he was the highest-paid player in the game, and they signed Lance Parrish for (relative) big money when the other owners had been judged to have colluded against free agent players. But the Phillies have never dealt with something like Ryan Howard.

Not many teams have.

But the Phillies and Howard will be back to do it all again next year. Again they will row out into unchartered - and deep - waters with their greatest slugger ever. Only next year there's a good chance that Howard won't be alone when asking for a record payout.

Pitcher Cole Hamels could be there, too.

Who knows what will happen in another year. Maybe the Phillies will empty out their pockets and dig into the sofa cushions and find a $200 million check sitting around. Plus, there will likely be a lot of fans willing to shell out plenty of money for tickets to watch the Howard and his Phillies' teammates attempt to repeat as NL East champs in 2008.

A bake sale ain't getting this one done, folks.

Still, the important question remains:

Could Howard envision playing the rest of his career with the Phillies?

"It would be nice," he said. "It's one of those things we'll have to wait and see what happens."

It's sure to be eventful, that's for sure.