The battle of the heavyweights, otherwise known as Ryan Howard vs. the Philadelphia Phillies, unfolded here WednesdayAfter a last-ditch effort to avoid arbitration between the slugging first baseman and the team failed to reach an accord, the two sides spent almost five hours presenting their respective cases to a three-member panel of arbitrators.

Phillies assistant Mike Arbuckle was one of the first to emerge, but had no comment.

He was followed by Tal Smith, the longtime baseball exec who handled the hearing for the Phillies.
Smith said the case went smoothly and he detected no hard feelings on either side.

“There is no animosity or ill feelings,” Smith said. “To me it’s more of a continuation of the debate that the parties had during negotiations. The only difference is you are presenting your argument to the arbitrator. I don’t think there is anything that is denigrating or demeaning about it at all.”

Smith made a point of stressing two aspects of the team’s case, service time.

“That’s certainly a major portion of the criteria, length and consistency of the career,” Smith added. “That’s basically what the discussion is about. There’s no denying his performance. It’s a question of how that slots in with the rest of that criteria.”

Howard had not yet emerged from the hearing at 2:30 and was unavailable for comment.

A meeting early Wednesday morning between Phillies Assistant GM Ruben Amaro and Casey Close, Howard’s agent, failed to result in a contract agreement.

The two sides met outside the designated conference room at the Renassance Vinoy Resort and Golf Club shortly after 9 a.m. in what appeared to be a last-minute effort to hammer out an agreement before heading into the arbitration hearing.

But after Close met with Howard briefly outside the same conference room, all parties retreated inside the Abbott Avery Chancellor Cook room.

Howard, the Phillies’ star slugging first baseman, is seeking $10 million; the team has offered $7 million.

The three-member arbitration panel listened to arguments from both sides and now will pick one number or the other to award as Howard’s salary.

The owners have won all five of the arbitration cases held so far this spring.

It is not clear if the ruling will be made immediately, or could be put off until tomorrow.

Credit DailyLocal.com