Phillies, Ryan Howard ink five-year extension through 2016

Jim Salisbury of CSNPhilly.com reports that the Philadelphia Phillies are about to extend first baseman and 2006 National League Most Valuable Player Ryan Howard through the 2016 season, with a deal reported to be worth $125 million.

Even though Howard has lost a ton of weight and is looking much better in the field, committing that much money to a large-bodied first baseman seems like a risky proposition.

Edit: done, per Murphy. Five years, $125 million, with an option year that would raise it to six years, $138 million. I hope he remembers how to draw walks.

Edit #2: the excellent Cot's Baseball Contracts has the financial breakdown.

12: $20M, 13: $20M, 14: $25M, 15: $25M, 16:$25M, 17:$23M club option ($10M buyout)

More in-depth analysis will follow -- both here, and elsewhere around the interwebs -- but I'll leave you with this nugget for now: only once in Howard's career, according to Fangraphs' WAR metric, has he been worth more than the $25 million AAV (average annual value) that this deal will pay him: his MVP season back in 2006.