--1B Ryan Howard is eligible for arbitration for a second consecutive year, and yet again, the Phillies may discuss a long-term contract for the slugger. But GM Ruben Amaro Jr. said recently that a multiyear deal for Howard isn't high on the Phillies' agenda, especially since Howard can't become a free agent until after the 2011 season. Among the Phillies' eight arbitration-eligible players, RF Jayson Werth and RHP Ryan Madson are eligible for free agency after the 2009 season. Howard won a record $10 million arbitration award last year, and after hitting 48 homers and collecting 146 RBIs in 2008, it's reasonable to believe he could make $15 million through arbitration in 2009.
--LHP Cole Hamels is eligible for arbitration for the first time and could get a sizable raise after being named MVP of both the NL Championship Series and World Series. The Phillies could reach a multiyear agreement with Hamels, but there's no rush. Hamels can't become a free agent until after the 2012 season. If he goes to arbitration, Hamels' career regular-season numbers (38-23, 3.43 ERA in 543 innings) are comparable to Yankees RHP Chien-Ming Wang's totals through three seasons (46-18, 3.74 ERA). Wang's salary jumped from $489,500 in 2007 to $4 million last season after he lost his arbitration case. But Hamels' career postseason numbers (3-1, 2.16 ERA) are vastly superior to Wang's (0-3, 7.58 ERA) and could push his salary higher at a faster rate. --C Carlos Ruiz has agreed to play for his native Panama in the World Baseball Classic in March. Ruiz, 29, batted only .219 last season but secured his standing as the Phillies' starting catcher with superior defense and game-calling. Ruiz also batted .313 (5-for-16) in the NL Championship Series against the Dodgers and .375 (6-for-16) with one homer and three RBIs in the World Series against the Rays. Ruiz played for Panama in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2006.
--RHP Brad Lidge confessed that his struggles with the Astros in 2006, after competing in the inaugural World Baseball Classic, helped convince him to decline an invitation to pitch in the tournament again in March.
"I loved playing in the first one, I really did," Lidge told the Philadelphia Daily News. "I think the experience of it was awesome. At the same time, the 2006 season (1-5, 5.28 ERA) was far and away my worst one. How I felt pitching, my mechanics, trying to repeat pitches, I just struggled the entire year.
"Obviously, a lot of that's my fault. We should be able to make adjustments at the major league level. But, for whatever reason, I had a tough time. And I don't want to get in a bad way and have to battle through that again. ... I feel like that might not happen again. Or it might. I don't want to take that chance. I signed a (three-year, $37.5 million) deal with the Phillies (in July), and I want to perform at the highest level I can every year now."
BY THE NUMBERS: 8 -- Phillies players who are eligible for salary arbitration.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Now that it's over, my wife will say something, or one of my friends will be like, 'Dude, you were perfect.' And instead of having to cringe because of the jinx, now I can be like, 'Wow, I guess everything did go well and I got pretty lucky.'" -- Superstitious Phillies closer Brad Lidge, on going 48-for-48 (including playoffs) in save opportunities in 2008.
