Power has never been Howard's problem. He's adequate at best defensively, which counts in a league w/ no DH. And though he's shown increased ability to handle lefties and breaking pitches, he's still a strikeout machine.
But if the Phillies want to blow a huge wad of money on this guy for the next 7 years (2 years still left on current deal), more power to them. I originally had issue with it because I thought it might drive the price of free agent 1B this winter...but I've since been talked down on that.