Ryan Howard and the Phillies exchanged salary arbitration figures on Tuesday with Howard asking for $18 million. The Phillies offer of $14 million would give Howard a $4 million pay raise, but news has surfaced that Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has also offered the commemorative Special Edition Barack Obama DVD in hopes of swaying the arbitration panel.

“Being able to re-live the November election and Tuesday’s inauguration is priceless,” said Amaro. “I almost feel like now that the DVD is on the table, we’ve tipped the scales too much and now Ryan has the upper hand.”

The Phillies also reached an agreement with Chad Durbin today, on a one-year contract worth $1.65 million, avoiding arbitration. Durbin’s deal also included the same Obama DVD involved in the Howard arbitration case.

“Yeah, it was completely bootleg,” Durbin said. “It was just Ruben [Amaro Jr.] literally holding a video camera up recording CNN coverage.”