Howard Gets $125 Million

1B Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies has signed a new extension for 5 years that's worth $125 million. With this contract, he will be making $25 million a year, second to New York Yankees 3B Alex Rodriguez. Howard has certainly put up great numbers since coming into the league in 2005. Howard is the fastest baseball player in history to reach 200 career home runs, and in his second season, his MVP season of 2006, he hit 58 home runs. Howard's contract can reach up to $138 million if the Phillies pick up the option on the last year of his deal.

While Howard has been a productive player, this contract is outrageously high. When Rodriguez received a 10-year, $252 million deal in 2000 from the Texas Rangers, that deal was also not smart. Howard strikes out way too much to be considered that valuable. While Howard has been productive, it has been the bats of 2B Chase Utley and SS Jimmy Rollins that has won them important games. The Phillies have been successful the past couple of seasons because they have gotten the job done as a team.

If Howard is paid $25 million per season, how much is 1B Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals going to make? Pujols is clearly way better than Howard and rodriguez, and he makes much less than them right now. Pujols is looking for a new contract as well, and they are probably going to negotiate during the offseason. Pujols deserves $30 million per season if those two can make that much. That puts pressure on the Cardinals because they probably can't afford that much money. That would probably mean Pujols won't be back with the Cardinals for much longer. We'll just have to see how it plays out with Pujols.

Rockies President Found Dead

Colorado Rockies team president Keli McGregor was found dead in his hotel room in Salt Lake City. He was only 48 years old. McGregor did not respond to any of his associates in the morning. When someone entered the room, they found him unconscious. Efforts to revive him were not successful.

The death of McGregor left the team in a state of shock. This man was only 48 years old, and has been with the Rockies since their inception to the league in 1993. 1B Todd Helton has been with the Rockies for much of that time, and built a relationship with McGregor. It must've been awful and hard for Helton once the news was broken to him.

Manager Jim Tracy didn't exactly know how to break the news to his team once he was informed. It is reminiscent of what the St. Louis Cardinals had to go through once P Darryl Kile was found dead back in 2002 in his hotel room before a game. Kile was the first active player to die during the regular season since New York Yankees C Thurman Munson died in 1979 of a plane crash.

The Rockies now have to continue the season with the death of McGregor on their mind. It's not an easy thing to do. The Cardinals made it to the NLCS in 2002, the year Kile died, but lost to the San Francisco Giants. The Rockies have a good team, so they should be able to be in contention this year. Only time will tell if this tragedy has an effect on their performance.

Mets-Cards Go 20 Innings

The New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals were involved in a baseball classic early in the season, which resulted in a 2-1 win for the Mets. Both teams did not score a run until the 19th inning, when RF Jeff Francoeur hit a sacrifice fly that drove in SS Jose Reyes for the Mets. In the bottom half of the inning, C Yadier Molina hit an RBI single to tie the game at 1. In the next inning, the 20th inning, Reyes hit a sacrifice fly to put the Mets back ahead for good. P Francisco Rodriguez, who blew a save opportunity, got the win, and P Mike Pelfrey got the save. CF Joe Mather, who was summoned by manager Tony LaRussa to pitch, suffered the loss.

This game is an instant classic, but it was eerily reminiscent of a game that happened exactly two years ago to the day. Two years ago, the San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies engaged in a 22-inning affair. The Rockies won that game 2-1 as well. Reyes had an eventful game, going 0 for 7, while being responsible for the winning run. This game was important for the Mets because they have not gotten out to a good start so far this season.

The Mets have been projected to have a bad season, but with baseball, anything is possible. It is also so early in the season, so the Mets have no reason to panic. They fought very hard against a quality opponent to get the win, so the Mets should definitely look at this game and build off of this game. As for the Cardinals, this is just one game. Their record is still decent early in the season. They will continue to get victories because they have quality pitching.

Rowand Breaks Cheek Bone

San Francisco Giants CF Aaron Rowand suffered two small fractures in his left cheekbone and a mild concussion on Friday after he was hit in the face and the helmet with a pitch. It happened in the Giants game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, courtesy of Dodgers' P Vicente Padilla. A CT scan revealed his injuries. It is not clear how much time Rowand will miss because of his injuries. Earlier in the game, Giants P Todd Wellenmeyer threw tight to Dodgers CF Matt Kemp. Kemp hit a home run off of him earlier in the game.

This injury is unfortunate for Rowand because he seems to be the player to suffer bizarre injuries. Back in 2006, when Rowand was with the Philadelphia Phillies, he made a spectacular catch but his face violently hit the center field wall, and he ended up breaking his nose. The Giants are off to a good start this season, and they are going to need Rowand healthy for the majority of the season if they are going to continue to succeed.

While this injury is unfortunate, there isn't much baseball can do to prevent injuries of that nature. Sometimes, pitchers lose control of the ball and throw wild pitches. That was the case with Rowand's injury. The only way to prevent a player from getting hit in the face is to put a face guard on every batter's helmets.