Ryan Howard
There was a time when Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard was one of the most feared power hitters in Major League Baseball. In 2005, Howard hit 22 home runs as he became the first Phillies player since Scott Rolen in 1997 to be named as the National League’s Rookie of the Year. Howard would follow this up in 2006 with a .313 batting average, 58 home runs, and 149 runs batted in. Howard’s 58 home runs would become a Phillies single-season franchise record as he would be named as the NL’s MVP. From 2006-2009, Howard would hit at least 45 home runs in each campaign and he was also a part of the Phillies core that helped them win the World Series in 2008. But since then things have changed drastically for Howard and the Phillies.
Ruben Amaro Jr.
In 2010, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., decided to give Howard a five-year contract extension worth $125 million. Amaro did this in spite of the fact that Howard was still under contract for three more years. Howard would go on to make the final out of the 2011 National League Divisional Series and in the process he would rupture his Achilles tendon. Howard’s injury would severely limit him in 2012 as he was only able to appear in 71 games that season and he only managed to hit 14 home runs.
This season Howard is coming off of a year in which he led the NL in strikeouts with 190 and he hasn’t been able to do that much better to begin the 2015 MLB season.
So far in 2015, Howard is coming off of a season in which he has already struck out 12 times and he is only batting .175 with a .214 on-base percentage, a pair of runs batted in and he has yet to hit a homer. Howard’s production has forced Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg to drop one of the most prolific power hitters in the franchise’s history to seventh in the batting order last week against the Washington Nationals. Howard has never been a player to rock the boat and he has taken the demotion with a grain of salt, but he, Sandberg, and Amaro need to figure something out.
Howard is owed $50 million from the Phillies over the next two seasons while the team has a $23 million option on him for 2017 which I doubt that they’ll pick up; but stranger things have happened with Amaro in charge. If the Phillies will decline to pick up Howard’s option for 2017, then they will still be on the hook to pay him $10 million.
At 35-years of age, Howard is no longer the player that he once was which is no fault of his as an Achilles injury is very difficult to come back from. And it also hurts Howard and the Phillies that they play in the National League as opposed to the American League which incorporates the designated hitter. Under Amaro, the Phillies may have waited one or two years to long to begin the rebuilding process as they would love to trade Howard, but no team would take his contract unless Philadelphia would be willing to eat a huge chunk of the remaining salary and it doesn’t help that Philadelphia has gotten off to a slow start this season as they are expected to finish in the basement of the NL East. The Phillies gave Howard his contract extension and he has become one of the poster boys in Major League Baseball as to why teams should tread with caution when they intend on giving a player who is at least 30-years of age a massive extension on his deal. We’re still in the infant stages of the 2015 MLB season, but with declining numbers, it doesn’t appear that it’ll get any better any time soon for Howard or the Phillies.
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
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