The Philadelphia Phillies signed first baseman Ryan Howard to a contract extension earlier this week worth $125 million. It is second biggest contract in the history of the game.

The slugger already makes $19 million this year and was set to earn $20M in 2011. Now with the new deal he'll make $20 million in 2012 and 2013 as well, and $25M per year for 2014, 2015 and 2016. There's a team option for 2017 at $23M with $10M buyout.

Howard is 30 years old and is one of only four players (Babe Ruth, Sammy Sosa, and Ken Griffey Jr.) in Major League history to hit at least 40 home runs and have 130-plus RBIs in four straight seasons.

We can debate all day long whether Howard was worth it or not, but my short answer is no way.

To put the numbers into prospective let’s take a look at what the dollars translate into from the terms of production.

If you assume Howard will continue the production he has averaged during a season (per 162 games played), he averages 167 hits in 598 at-bats (.279) with 48 HR and 141 RBI, but has struck out 193 times each year.

Now, let's just keep the math simple and apply that to $20 million per season he’ll make in 2011 through 2013.

Here's how much Howards makes per...

AT BAT - $33,444.82

HIT - $119,760.48

HOME RUN - $416,666.67

RBI - $141,843.97

STRIKEOUT - $103,626.94

MLB philadelphia phillies, ryan howard, ryan howard's contract extension